Table of Gods

The Bestower of Children and Wealth

This refers to the boy, Sudhana, standing on the left side of Avalokitesvara in Chinese temples and monasteries. This bodhisattva of the Buddhist faith is an instance of the possibility for one to attain Buddhahood through self-cultivation in this life, as preached by Mahayana Buddhism, instead of three lives (previous life, this life and after life). The practice of placing Sudhana on the left side of Avalokitesvara in the porch of the main gate to temples of the Zen sect is based on the story of Sudhana paying respects to fifty-three teachers and finally acknowledging Avalokitesvara as his teacher. This practice started in the Yuan Dynasty. Since then, Sudhana became the errand boy handling the bestowal of children and wealth by the Goddess of Mercy. Few people knew the myth which says that many treasures emerged automatically at the time of Sudhana's birth. They gathered that the boy must be good at managing money matters or good at mak- ing money, because Sudhana in Sanskrit ancl the Chinese translation, Shancai, literally means good at money. For this reason many rich merchants and landlords in the old days paid homage to Sudhana as a God of Wealth.The vase and willow wand in Avalokitesvara's hands originally symbolized the bodhisattva spreading the dharma all over the world. Later, as they were described by some people as the talismans with which Avalokitesvara con- trolled the weather, people in many areas would pray to the god for rain when there was a drought