Popular Deities of Chinese Buddhism (Illustrated)

 

C XI

i sang ’usa

sitigarbha odhisattva

Ti Tsang P’usa is an extremely popular Bodhisattva among
the Chinese and Japanese Buddhists. ‘Ti Tsang’, meaning
‘Earth-Store’ is a direct translation of the Bodhisattva’s name
K in Sanskrit. Among the countless Bodhisattvas
in the universe, he and three others have firmly captured the
hearts of the Mahayanists. ese four main P’usas are depicted
in the Chinese Buddhist Pantheon and they represent four basic
great qualities:

K S Y as Great Compassion

W S as Great Wisdom

P H as Great Love and Perfect Activity

T T as Great Vow to help and to deliver all beings.

His greatest compassionate Vow being: “If I do not go to the hell

to help the suffering souls there, who else will go? ...if the hells

are not empty I will not become a Buddha. Only when all living

beings have been saved, will I attain to Bodhi”.

e Sutra of the P V O T E S B-

, one of the most popular Chinese Buddhist Sutras, tells

of the great filial piety which the Bodhisattva practised that led

to his illimitable vows to save all living beings. is Sutra was

spoken by the Buddha towards the end of his life to the beings