Tibetan Goddess Of Mercy Religious Culture Research

Avalokitesvara is one of the four major Buddhist Bodhisattvas, and the beliefs in this Buddhist deity came to Tibet with Buddhism. Avalokitesvara has been revered by Tibetans of all ages. Believers are in thrall to this god-like Bodhisattvas. He is worshipped as a god of fate in association with the most popular mantra in Tibet known as the Six-syllabus-mantra-"Om-mani-pedme-hom" And the Tibetan people address him affectionately as "kang-ri kong-pu, " or "the Protector of the Snowland." It is evident that Avalokitesvara's position in believers' minds is very important.This dissertation focuses on the research of Tibetan belief in Avalokitesvara. From the rational and academic perspectives the author has analyzed the histories and folk stories of Avalokitesvara in literature, religious texts, archaeological and cultural relics. By combing through the cultural and religious history of Avalokitesvara, the author summed up the characteristics of Tibetan culture and analyzed their values and elements of this unique religious belief in relation to Tibetan cultural traditions, social habits, and other linked factors.The author argues that Avalokitesvara is essentially the center of Tibet religious culture, which represents the Buddhist personification of compassion. This Bodhisattva was humanized and deified on the basis of Mahayana Buddhist thought. According to the doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism, Buddhists are not supposed to venerate idols but develop rational understanding of the cycle of birth and death. In this sense Avalokitesvara is a purely spiritual entity divorced from material objects. However, from the perspective of the religious studies, icon is a necessity for religious adherents. Thus, Avalokitesvara has various iconic images.With the spread of Indian Buddhism cultur development to other parts of Asia, Avalokitesvara has also made home in nearly all Asian countries. This dissertation argues that when the cult of Avalokitesvara came into Tibet in the 4th century AD in the period of Tupo empire., it was introduced to the royal family's "Ningbu consenvoye" (meaning mysterious secret fetish) in the year of La-tuotuo-ri.In this dissertation, the author has analyzed the problems about basic content, systems and characteristics about the cult of Avalokitesvara, based on textual and iconic analysis. The author asserts that among Avalokitesvara believers the soul is immortal but is subject to rebirth with the possibility of being born in the englighed world. Avalokitesvara is believed to possess incredible divine power for making changes. To the Tibetan believers, there are different practices of this unique Buddhist cult, such as recitation of prayers, translating sutra, constructing statues, and lighting incense.The author argues that through its historical evolution in Tibet the cult of Avalokitesvara has developed three systems known as the exoteric, the esoteric, the folk cultural systems. The three systems have commonality; and yet each has its own system of beliefs and cultural characteristics. Among them, the esoteric or the tantric system visualizes the speech, the act, and the volition of the believer and his personal deity as one body. The author argues that the most prominent characteristic of the Tibetan Avalokitesvara is the fusion of Tibetan culture and the cult of Avalokitesvara. Ancestors of the Tibetans are said to be a monkey who was an incarnation of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. And King Songtsan, the founder of a unified Tupo empire. is also said to be an incarnation of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. The tulku system or the reincarnation system is said to be the incarnation of Avalokitesvara. In this dissertation, the theory of interpretation of cultural function of this Buddhist cult is used to interpret the mythology concerning how the monkey became human in "the History of the Thousand Buddhas" in the Mani Collections. The purpose of this mythological association of the money with Tibetan ancestors was to establish Buddhist culture as the cultural basis for the social order of Tibetan Buddhist society. This later affected tribal, religious, and lineage associations as the fabrics of Tibetan society based on the cult of Avalokitesvara. This religious culture of Avalokitesvara cult was materialized in King Srong-bstan sgam-po as he was said to be an incarnation of the Bodhisattva. This belief reinforced the social and religious order of Tibetan society and solidified later development about deification of incarnation lama.The author argues that the cult of Avalokitesvara is the manifestation of many aspects of both Mahayana and Hinaya Buddhist traditions; and of tantric practice. Its practices show the characteristics of different lineages, ritual performances, and iconic variations. In the political front, the cult was functioned to create a unified Tibet. Buddhist values and moralities from the cult of Avalokitesvara also appear in "The Sixteen-Precepts for Lay Morality" during Tupo empire. Thus the cult of Avalokitesvara has played a critical role in forming the moral values, social norms, and cultural practices in Tibetan history. Its moral values came to being based on the cultural needs of Tibetan people. It thus has played an effective part in Tibetan history.