The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (298 page)

). He responds instantly to all who ‘with all their mind call on his name’.
In China, Avalokite
vara is known as Kuanyin, ‘he who hears the sound of the world’. In addition to the characteristics and representations of Avalokite
vara, Kuan-yin frequently has a child on one arm, and appears (under Taoist influence of complementary properties) increasingly with feminine characteristics. She becomes the all-compassionate mother-goddess, perhaps the most popular deity in China, represented in a flowing white robe, holding a
lotus
.
In Japan, ‘he’ (see below) is known as Kannon (Kanzeon, Kwannon), the Bodhisattva of Compassion, one of the most popular deities in Mah
y
na Buddhism. According to the
Lotus
S
tra
, Kannon perceives the sufferings of all sentient beings and devises ways to assist them, to answer their prayers, and to lead them to salvation. This compassion of the Bodhisattva is reflected in his fuller name Kanzeon, meaning ‘He Who Regards the Cries of the World’. In Japan, as in China, Kannon was frequently portrayed in feminine form, possibly stemming from the
Lotus S
tra
's statement that the Bodhisattva will take on the guise of a woman or any other figure in order to lead sentient beings to salvation, and perhaps suggesting feminine representation to be more expressive of compassion.
In Tibet, he is known as sPyan-ras-gzigs, or in the West as Chenrezi. The king Songsten-Gampo who brought Buddhism into Tibet (see
TIBETAN RELIGION
) is regarded as an incarnation of Avalokite
vara, as are the successive
Dalai Lamas
.

 
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Avanti
:

see
SACRED CITIES, SEVEN
.

 
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(Skt. ‘condition’, ‘state’). In Hinduism a state of consciousness or condition in a world (
loka
,
bhuvana
). A common classification of different states of consciousness (
avasth
) is found in the
Upani
ads
, notably
M
nd
kya
.