dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

Today I’d like to introduce you to someone so important, she may change your life. She has been a highly revered VIP for years, and is a household name in Japan, China and India. Although she is relatively unknown to the Western world, her accolades abound. She is Kannon, the goddess of mercy. I’d like to introduce you to her because she has some real estate I think you might be interested in.

If you live in Japan, you’ve seen Kannon many, many times. You may not have even realized who she was. Just in case you’re interested, I’d like to offer a formal introduction.

Kannon presides over her Pure Land in the South called Fudaraku, an island-mountain paradise. You can catch a glimpse of this magnificent place in paintings that depict the goddess descending the mountain to welcome those who seek her salvation. She is also prominent in sculpture, and her icons grace Buddhist temples all over Japan. Many of these icons have been designated national treasures.

Kannon is a Bodhisattva, which means she has prolonged her own eternal enlightenment to stay behind and help everyone who suffers in this world. Now that’s compassion!

Twenty-nine of the temples on the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage are dedicated to Kannon. Here are just a few of the legends surrounding them:

Temple No. 10, Kirihataji, is famous for the story of a beautiful young woman who wove cloth for the priest Kobo Daishi during his seven-day ascetic practice there. Upon completion, the woman told him of her loyalty to Kannon and the Daishi carved a statue of Kannon, “bowing three times before each cut of the blade into the sacred wood.” When he finished, the girl asked the Daishi to ordain her a Buddhist nun, and as he did, she was transformed into Kannon herself.

At temple No. 27, Konomineji, the image of Kannon is hibutsu, meaning it is so sacred it cannot be shown to the public.

At the southern tip of Shikoku on Cape Ashizuri, temple No. 38, Kongofukuji, sits on a cliff. Kannon worshippers would set out in boats from this coast, never to be heard from again. They left in pursuit of Kannon’s Pure Land of Fudaraku.

In the 6th century a man from Kyushu, named Mano, was saved by Kannon from a shipwreck while en route to Osaka. He thanked Kannon for her supreme intervention by building temple No. 52, Taisanji, for her.

Kannon is also the symbol of the divine mother. At temple No. 62, Hojuji, a Lord Ouchi’s wife prayed to Kannon for an easy childbirth. When her wish was granted, she returned the favor by writing a goeika chant in Kannon’s honor, which remains a part of this temple.

The goddess of mercy even has entire pilgrimages dedicated to her, the most famous being the Saikoku Kannon Pilgrimage in Kansai. Kannon pilgrimages have 33 sites of worship, symbolizing the goddess’s 33 different appearances she can take on to save people. Followers who visit 100 sites on combined Kannon pilgrimages can gain everlasting life. Even the founder of Zen Buddhism, Daruma (of Daruma doll fame) is considered to be an incarnation of Kannon.

Here are a few of the more popular images of Kannon which can be seen around Japan.