佛像网

尺寸：48.3 x 45.7 x 25.4 cm
年代：13世纪(1230-1250) Kamakura period (1185–1333)
质地：木雕彩绘(Wood with traces of gilt and pigment)
风格：日本
来源：美国肯贝尔艺术博物馆
参阅：外部链接
鉴赏：
Seated Nyoirin Kannon, c. 1230–50

Kannon is the Japanese name for the Indian Buddhist deity Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Because of the boundless love he offered to all beings, this was the most popular of all the Buddhist deities throughout Asia. The Nyoirin Kannon, a prominent deity in the Japanese Esoteric Buddhist pantheon, is one of the six “changed forms” of the bodhisattva Kannon especially associated with the granting of desires. The word nyo-i refers to the cintamani, the wish-granting jewel; the term rin, which means “wheel,” refers to the turning of the wheel of the law. The Nyoirin Kannon was widely worshiped by those who hoped to gain riches and see their requests fulfilled.

This gracious image shows the deity seated in a pose of royal ease. Although drawings frequently depict this god as a bodhisattva with two arms, the six-armed form was also popular in Japan. As in this sculpture, one hand is often shown touching the cheek, with a left arm braced against the lotus pedestal (now missing). Of the other four arms, one of the right hands holds the jewel, and one of the left hands holds a lotus. The raised left arm would originally have had a wheel balanced on the upright finger, and the lowered right arm would have held a rosary.

观音（Kannon）是印度佛教圣者观世音菩萨在日本的称谓，这位慈悲菩萨因对众生怀有无尽慈爱，成为全亚洲最受崇奉的佛教本尊。在日本密教体系占有重要地位的如意轮观音（Nyoirin Kannon），正是观音菩萨六种化身之一，尤以满愿功德著称。“如意”（nyo-i）喻指能满众生愿的如意宝珠，“轮”（rin）则象征法轮常转。古往今来，无数信众虔心礼拜此尊，祈愿资财丰饶、所求遂意。

这尊典雅造像中，菩萨结游戏自在坐。虽常见图像多作二臂相，然六臂如意轮观音在日本亦广为流行。此像一手作思维相（托腮），左臂倚莲台（原物已佚）。其余四臂中，右上手执如意宝珠，左上手擎莲茎。原初造像的左上举臂指尖应承法轮，右下手当持数珠。

来源:
(Harry Packard, Kyoto); purchased by Kimbell Art Foundation, Fort Worth, 1985.