528 george a. keyworth
(Collection of Essentials for the Attainment of Buddha-
hood through Complete Comprehension of Both Exoteric and Eso-
teric Means, T. 1955).
Some Buddhists in China, predominantly, though not limited to,
the north, and specifically Mt. Wutai , employed tantric aspects
and forms of Buddhist practice that accord better with Tibetan tantric
forms of devotion to Avalokiteśvara (and Mañjuśrī), specifically the
eleven-headed and thousand-armed manifestations. In tantric Bud-
dhist practice, it is often the case that fierce, intimidating feminine dei-
ties, the ḍākinī (tuzhini ), are understood to quickly break the
passions they control that bind practitioners to the world of samsara.
Avalokiteśvara is the ultimate liberating bodhisattva in China whose
feminine aspect may indicate the absorption of tantric female potency
in a uniquely prominent position within Chinese Buddhist cosmology
(Iyanaga 2002).
Tārā, the female form of Avalokiteśvara in Tibeto-Mongolian tan-
tra, plays nearly as significant a role in Tibetan cosmology and sote-
riology as does Guanyin in later Chinese Buddhism, which begs the
questions that scholars are beginning to ask about the implications of
the connections between Chinese and Tibetan Buddhists over the last
eight hundred years. The fact that the Chinese characters for the six-
syllable mantra of Avalokiteśvara can today be seen on the island off
the coast of Zhejiang province , Putuoshan (Potalaka),
considered by the Chinese to be Guanyin’s earthly paradise, is strong
evidence of the extent to which Avalokiteśvara remains a vital link for
all Buddhists living within the borders of the People’s Republic and
beyond.