Kuan Shih-Yin Daoist Immortal and Buddhist Bodhisattva!

Kuan Shih-Yin Daoist Immortal and Buddhist Bodhisattva!

Are Buddhism and Daoism really so different or is their one source for the two? Shaolin Martial Arts for instance celebrates Daoism's fundamental association kung fu's origins in conjunction with the tremendous development of Martial Arts following the arrival at the Shaolin Temple, in 520 BCE, of Bodhidarma' First Patriarch of Chan Buddhism. Regarding further links between the two belief systems this article considers the origins of Kuan Shih Yin--Daoist Immortal and Buddhist Bodhisattva!

"Confucius") contemporaries during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese History (around 500 BCE) Kuan Yin was well-known throughout China as a Daoist Immortal. In fact she has even been identified with the Queen Mother of The West, the Immortal Ci Hang Ren (also intriguingly androgynous) and an unnamed woman from the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE) who was subsequently elevated to Immortal status (1).

Kuan Yin (sometimes Kuan Shih Yin) is also a Buddhist Bodhisattva (Saint) and is regarded by many as a Buddha ('Enlightened One'). A patron deity of the Shaolin Temple, her statue stands in the Main Hall alongside that of Sakyamuni (2) illustrating the inter-relaton of the two belief systems, with Daoism as the progenitor, and suggesting the dialectic springing from their fusion/separation,

Many Chinese people are both Buddhist and Daoist and thus may view issues from first a Buddhist and then a Daoist perspective,or vice-versa. This process is sometimes referred to as triangulation: the triad made up of issue plus the two perspectives:enables a more holistic view of the first-mentioned.

Kuan Yin's Chinese antecedents identify her as unmistakably female ('Yin'). and she would probably be known to Buddha in this fashion as Nepal where Buddha was originally a warrior prince, shares a long (over six hundred miles) border with China and there would, inevitably, be a considerable amount of cross-border traffic between the two realms-many artistic images of Buddha portray him with a yellow aura suggestive of a profound Chinese influence upon him and his beliefs.

At this point in Nepal's history, however the dominant religious belief system was Hinduism i.e. the study of The Vedas (the 'knowledge'). Embodied within Indian Vedic tradition is the Male deity Avelokitsevara 'he who listens' whom Vedic authorities claim as the original figure on which Kuan Yin was based, implying that this figure was borrowed by the Chinese who 'feminised' him. However the most eminent Vedic scholar His Divine Grace, Bhaktivedanta Srilla Prabhupada (founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness--the 'Hare Krishna' movement) regularly cites Buddha's dissatisfaction with and criticism of Vedic beliefs (3). The very nature of Brahma, for instance, Buddha taught, was imperfectly understood by Vedicists-- because Hinduism had 'borrowed' Chinese Daoism's Jade Emperor and 'Vedicised' Him! (Author's italics).

Obviously Kuan Yin came next! Hence Buddha's determination to found a new religion free from Vedic Dogma, one which owed its existence to and sprang from Daoism. Like Daoism (and unlike the Vedas) there was no caste system and there was also a very strong warrior/martial tradition (and let us not forget Buddha's own very considerable accomplishments in this field) in which all men and women were allowed to participate. 'Dao' in Chinese means 'curved sword/sabre' as well as 'Way' although different Chinese characters are used to represent the two terms. Like Daoism, red (heaven energy) and yellow earth energy) are prominent official 'sacred' Buddhist colours with the addition of gold symbolising noble ideals and refinement (and of course gold springs from the earth--like Buddhism from the Dao).

All this is reflected in the day-to-day activity of the Shaolin Temple in Songshan where Kuan Shih Yin's statue stands, centrally, alongside that of Buddha--a transcendental combination of Yin and Yang with both working together in the heavens for the good of mankind! Hopefully, this helps to explain why many Chinese people (and Chinese Martial artists) are both Daoist and Buddhist.

Notes and References

(1) Wapedia 'Guan Yin'

(2) www. China org 15/09/2010

(3) For example, Light of the Bhagavata p.54 Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

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