Avalokiteshvara and Shiva
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 12:03 pm
Avalokiteshvara and Christ have abundant correspondence, but it seem that Avalokiteshvara has also been closely linked with Shiva. David B. Gray, in his essay "The Purification of Heruka - On the Transmission of a Controversial Buddhist Tradition to Tibet" (from the book "Tantric Traditions in Transmission and Translation", edited by David B. Gray and Ryan Richard Overbey, Oxford University Press, 2016, pages 232 and 248), writes that "the very figure of Avalokiteshvara, it has been argued, is a Buddhist appropriation and transformation of Shiva. While there has been debate regarding this, it seems to me undeniable that the term ishvara, "lord or god", contained within his name is, to use [K.R.] Norman's calssificaton, an example of a Hindu theological term "taken over by [Buddhist] but used with [a] new [sense]..."
And from the footnote: "these deities were in many ways functionally equivalent or overlapping from an early period".
I do not remember who the writier was (perhaps Aland Danielou) who remarked, if Jesus' life was interpreted in Hindu theological terms, he would have likely been an avatar of Shiva.
Avalokiteshvara is known to be quite a flexible deity, as in Japanese Buddhism he has transformed into the immensely popular female Buddha Kannon or Guanyin.
And from the footnote: "these deities were in many ways functionally equivalent or overlapping from an early period".
I do not remember who the writier was (perhaps Aland Danielou) who remarked, if Jesus' life was interpreted in Hindu theological terms, he would have likely been an avatar of Shiva.
Avalokiteshvara is known to be quite a flexible deity, as in Japanese Buddhism he has transformed into the immensely popular female Buddha Kannon or Guanyin.