The Graceful Bodhisattva Gunayin, Viewed Over The Himalayas - Brocadeless Thangka

Padmapani Avalokiteshvara is the most widely loved Bodhisattva. In Sanskrit, ‘avalokita’ roughly means ‘to look on’, which makes this deity the guardian supervisor of the human realm. Some interpret His name to mean ‘ishvara (lord) of all that is drishyam (seen/perceived)’. The figure you see on this thangka is the female form of Avalokiteshvara. Her name is Guanyin, which in Chinese means ‘one who hears’. Note how Her head is tilted slightly downwards at an angle, as if She is listening to the longing of Her devotees as She looks upon.

Like most Buddhist devis, She has the tall, slender form of the Himalayan ascetic. Her silken skirts drop to Her feet, barely revealing a long leg; while Her torso is strategically concealed by tigerskin and a hand raised in blessing. Coiled amidst Her eight arms is a sea of sashes floating about Her like the gorgeous black hair across Her shoulders. The quintessentially Buddhist five-spired crown and gold kundalas frame Her lovely, youthful face. It bears an expression of maternal comfort and bliss.

Indeed She is the Devi of compassion and mercy. In one of Her anterior hands She holds the mythical healing potion of Tibetan medical folklore. Generously She dispenses of it upon this loka. Surrounded by flowers (from Her pedestal to Her aureole) and offerings (in the foreground), the pristine stupa in the background completes the composition.