Jonathan Cohen's photos with the keyword: bodhisattva

In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is an enlightened (bodhi) being (sattva). Traditionally, a bodhisattva is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has experienced a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. In Mahayana Buddhism, Manjushri is a bodhisattva associated with transcendent wisdom. In Esoteric Buddhism he is also taken as a meditational deity. The Sanskrit name Manjushri can be translated as "Gentle Glory", "Soft Glory" , "Wondrous Auspiciousness." In the mural Manjushri reaches his hand out in a mudra gesture, symbolizing assistance to others. His other hand holds a lotus flower, a symbol of purification and his sword cuts through ignorance.The mural merges iconic images from 17th century Tibetan Art with elements borrowed from Latin American art. It is dedicated to the Dalai Lama. Marta Ayala is a Latin American woman artist specializing in public murals and paintings. A native of El Salvador, Marta has been a resident of San Francisco since 1968. Her work combines colorful and vibrant images and forms evoking memories from her childhood, ancient cultures and above all, rocks, stones and water. In a sense, Ayala’s work falls into the mainsteam of American art. Her cultural heritage is evident in her primitive approach. In a statement to [me], Marta Ayala sums up her philosophy: "My vision is called primitive because the vivid colors and naive representations call forth ancient emotions. They are a vibrant and powerful affirmation of life."

In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is an enlightened being. Traditionally, a bodhisattva is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. Avalokitesvara (from the Sanskrit "Lord who looks down") is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. Avalokitesvara is one of the more widely revered bodhisattvas in mainstream Mahayana Buddhism, as well as unofficially in Theravada Buddhism. The Chinese name of Avalokitasvara is Guanshìyin – which means "Observing the Sounds (or Cries) of the World." The name is often shortened to Guanyin. Commonly known in English as the Mercy Goddess or Goddess of Mercy, one Buddhist legend presents Guanyin as vowing to never rest until she had freed all sentient beings from the samsara or reincarnation. Avalokitesvara was originally depicted as a male bodhisattva, and therefore wears chest-revealing clothing and may even sport a moustache. Although this depiction still exists in the Far East, Guanyin is more often depicted as a woman in modern times. Additionally, some people believe that Guanyin is androgynous (or perhaps of neither gender). The Lotus Sutra describes Avalokitesvara as a bodhisattva who can take the form of any type of male or female, adult or child, human or non-human being, in order to teach the Dharma to sentient beings. This text and its thirty-three manifestations of Guanyin, of which seven are female manifestations, is known to have been very popular in Chinese Buddhism as early as in the Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty. Additionally, Tan Chung notes that according to the doctrines of the Mahayana sutras themselves, it does not matter whether Guanyin is male, female, or genderless, as the ultimate reality is in emptiness. This statue in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum dates from the Yuan dynasty (around 1300 CE) and comes from the Chinese province of Shanxi.