SUTRA MAP: THE WAY OF BODHISATTA AVALOKITESVARA

Abstract

Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara is one of the most important figures of southern Buddhism, the image of which is very popular in the XXI century. Avalokitesvara embodies precisely those qualities that have found a response in all social circles and strata of the population for many centuries – a universal symbol of kindness, compassion, forgiveness and peace.In this article, we traced the emergence and spread of this image of the Buddhist pantheon through the analysis of texts-sutras, namely – through their distribution in the region (preachers, translators, influential figures of their time). Within the scope of our work, it is important for us to follow the path of distribution of sacred texts by means of the pilgrims (readers, translators, and content writers) in East Asia. To do this, we turned to the very first translations of sacred texts related to the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and to sacred sculpture, which is a reflection of key historical and cultural processes.We can find clues about the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara in such sacred texts as: The Sutra of the White Lotus of the Supreme Law, the Saddharmapundarika Sutra, the Sutra of Unfinished Life, the Great Sukhavati Sutra, the Karanda Sutra, the Nilakantha Dharani, the Shurangama Sutra, the Sutra of the Heart of Accurate Wisdom, the Prajnaparamita Hridaya Sutra, the Avatamsaka Sutra.Today there are several examples of sutras preserved in their authentic form without transformation, but it should be noted that their number and state in which they have been preserved do not provide much room for research.However, these are historical monuments, from which “everything began”. After examining the lives of the leading representatives of Pilgrimage and the translators of Chinese Buddhism who worked with the texts of the Theravada and Mahayana, which are directly related to the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, make it clear that the propagation of this religious image in the cultures of East Asia would not be possible without them. Thanks to the translations into accessible language the doctrine “came out” from the walls of the monasteries, the common people gained access to it, which in the future resulted not only in the spread of the image of bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, but also in the emergence of local adaptations and manifestation of “cultishness” in the essence of this phenomenon.