Six Guanyin


In East Asian Buddhism, the Six Guanyin or Six forms of Avalokitesvara / 六观音 is a grouping of six manifestations of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, known as Guanyin in Chinese and Kannon in Japanese.

Overview

A list of six incarnations of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara first appears in the Mohe Zhiguan by the Tiantai patriarch Zhiyi, where these are equated with the six syllables of the dhārāṇī contained in the Dhārāṇī Sūtra of Invoking Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva to Dissipate Poison and Harm and associated to each of the six states of existence. These six, representing Avalokiteśvara's six qualities, are said to have the power to destroy the three kinds of obstacles in these realms.
  1. Avalokiteśvara as Great Mercy - Savior of beings in Naraka
  2. Avalokiteśvara as Great Compassion - Savior of pretas
  3. Fearless Lion-like Avalokiteśvara - Savior of animals
  4. Avalokiteśvara of the Universally Shining Great Light - Savior of asuras
  5. Avalokiteśvara as the Divine Hero - Savior of humans
  6. Avalokiteśvara as Mahābrahmā the Profound - Savior of devas
A variant of this list was imported to Japan from China by the Tendai monk Enchin. By the end of the Heian period, the Shingon monk Ningai, claiming the authority of "earlier masters," associated the six incarnations of the Mohe Zhiguan with six esoteric forms of Avalokiteśvara:
  1. Great Mercy - Āryāvalokiteśvara
  2. Great Compassion - Sahasrabhuja
  3. Horse Head - Hayagrīva
  4. Great Light - Ekādaśamukha
  5. Divine Hero - Cundī
  6. Mahābrahmā - Cintāmaṇicakra
The Japanese Tendai school eventually adopted the new list, substituting Amoghapāśa for Cundī.