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Looking for a Buddhist God - "Chair-eh-see"

MarkMeMarkMe
edited May 2011 in Faith & Religion
Greetings,
I have an acquaintance with a nice Buddhist shrine and a few figurines. The first one I want to figure out is pronounced "chair-eh-see", as pronounced by the owner. Any ideas as to the actual spelling or who this god is? This person doesn't speak much English, and comes from (we're not exactly sure in) the east.

Shalom,
Mark

Comments

  • dorjedorje
    any pictures? It would be easier to help you identify and give you information.
  • genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
    The only thing close I can think of is Chenrezig (or Avalokiteshvara), the embodiment of compassion in Tibetan Buddhism. All (I think) Buddhist schools include such an embodiment, but the names differ.
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    Are you sure it's a Buddhist figure and not a Chinese figure?

    At least in SE Asia, you typically either see a statue of Buddha, or Kuan Yin at Buddhist temples.
  • dorjedorje
    The more I think about it the more I tend to go with @genkaku. In Tibetan Chenrezig is sometimes pronounced "chen-re-see", with the "n" being nasal it can sometimes be thought of as silent.

    You can read about Chenrezig by chicking this link.

    There are basically 2 main forms:

    The 4-armed Chenrezig
    image

    and The Thousand-Armed Chenrezig
    image
  • MarkMeMarkMe
    Hi,
    I took a picture and we talked, and I think Chenrizeg is the one.

    Here's the pic...
  • MarkMeMarkMe
    He's got something in each hand, and something important on the top of his head.
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    Its hard to tell from that picture but it looks like Padasambhava also known as Guru Rinpoche, maybe they have some other name for him in a different language. Its definately not Chenrezig though.
  • dorjedorje
    Now this changes the game. Your picture is of Padmasambhava or Guru Rinpoche as the Tibetans call him.

    image

    You can read about Padmasambhava from the Wiki page here.
  • MarkMeMarkMe
    Wow. That is fascinating. He attributes meanings to the thing on the head and in each hand, and I think I'll have to ask again about the naming, or if there are different names. I don't understand the meanings he's giving at this point for these things. Our original statue is pic'd here on the left, and I got this shot of all three statues in his shrine with garb as he likes to do it. They are heavy, too.

    Comments I did get, re: on the left... "very powerful", and he's holding a thing in his left hand, just above his lap, that has to do with his heart. That's under the garb in this shot. From the wiki entry on Padmasambhava from Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo...

    " in his left, which rests in the gesture of equanimity, he holds a skull-cup in the centre of which is a vase of longevity filled with the nectar of deathless wisdom "

    From Patrul Rinpoche...

    " In his left hand he holds a skull-cup brimming with nectar, containing the vase of longevity that is also filled with the nectar of deathless wisdom and ornamented on top by a wish-fulfilling tree. " imageimage
  • SherabDorjeSherabDorje
    It looks like the one on the right might be Chenrezig, but of course the picture is blurred.
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    Sometimes when you buy a Buddha statue in Thailand, the shop owner will ask you what is your purpose. If it is for decoration, you might be refused. If it is for Buddhist worship, you will usually be accommodated, although I once had a shopkeeper ask me to prove I was Buddhist. I simply stated, "To the Buddha I go for refuge, to the Dhamma I go for refuge, and to the Sangha I go for refuge." That satisfied him.
  • dorjedorje
    The one on the right might be Chenrezig.

    Or it might be Tara
    image

    Or Amitayus.
    image

    My personal feeling is that it's Tara because it's traditional for the Tibetans to place the Buddha, Guru Rinpoche, and Tara on the altar together like how you placed them. It represents the Three Roots: The Guru, The Meditational Deity, and The Dakini.

    Without a clearer picture it's difficult to tell.
  • MarkMeMarkMe
    edited May 2011
    Hi there,
    I've made a couple of new pictures. By the way, that is the arrangement of the 3 that he makes (pictured together). Here are better pics, I used "gamma correction" and adjusted contrast, the best I could get with this little web-cam, for the middle and right. I think Tara may be right for the one on the right. I left one piece of garb on her, since it was tied on pretty well (green).
    The original one from the left looks a lot to me like Padmasambhava a.k.a. Guru Rinpoche at this point (pics previously).

    image
    image

  • dorjedorje
    Yup you're right. It's Tara.

    So you have Sakyamuni in the middle, Guru Rinpoche in the left and Tara in the right. A typical Tibetan altar. Very lovely.
  • MindGateMindGate United States Veteran
    Medicine Buddha? The one holding the cup? Maybe?
  • dorjedorje
    @MindGate

    The Medicine Buddha would have the myrobalan plant growing in the begging bowl.

    image
  • MarkMeMarkMe
    I'd like to thank people here for the help. It is nice to know each of the statues. I found out a little more. I wasn't sure if they might be from India. I think they are from Tibet, from my friend's (this fellow's) parents (who are now living in India).

  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    edited May 2011
    Many of the Tibetan style statues are made in the Nepali city of Patan, a southern suburb of Kathmandu. There's a long history of artists there, you can wander the shops and see them being made as well as many other religious items and handicrafts.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patan,_Lalitpur

    "A substantial portion of the population is engaged in various trades, notably in traditional handicrafts and small scale cottage industries and some residents work in agriculture. Lalitpur is the city in Nepal that has produced the highest number of renowned artists and finest craftsmen ever recorded in the history of Nepali art.

    Patan has maintained a culture of craft work even in the face of rapid urbanization and many social and political upheavals.

    The city is less urbanized than Kathmandu, north of the Bagmati river, but is home to many workshops, stores, restaurants, hotels, schools, embassies and other important sectors of the Kathmandu Valley economy."

  • SimonthepilgrimSimonthepilgrim Veteran
    You may be interested to know that traditional Tibetan arts are being preserved and taught among the community in exile, at the Norbulinka Institute, a wonderful place to visit if you are ever in the vicinity. Thangka painting, sculpture and metal-work are among the crafts that I saw there.
  • MarkMeMarkMe
    OK. That's good to hear about the people in northern India. That is where his parents live.

    It's nice to have a shrine. Actually, he lives in the common area of the house where I live. He uses candles from the restaurant where he works. At one point, a fellow was complaining. He didn't want the house to burn down, or to be made so the deer could smell him. Yada yada. So this buddhist fellow went out and got battery-powered candles. They're little lights made to look just like candles. He also got a lantern to put a candle inside of. Very resourceful!

    Of all the things in life, when I've seen a shrine, I've never been worried about it.

    Peace,
    Mark
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