Don’t buy the wrong one, here’s how to choose the four great jade bodhisattvas

Jade carvings are of various shapes and forms, with objects of various meanings. Among them, jade pendants with Buddhist themes have become the mainstream purchase. Bodhisattvas are the main themes in Buddhist carvings, but there are many types of Bodhisattvas. In order to prevent you from buying the wrong ones, today I will tell you how to distinguish different Bodhisattvas and what they represent.

There are four great Bodhisattvas in Chinese Buddhism, namely Guanyin Bodhisattva, Manjushri Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. It symbolizes four ideal personality qualities, namely: willingness, action, wisdom and compassion.

First: The one we see most often is Guanyin Bodhisattva. Guanyin Bodhisattva is the symbol of wisdom and compassion in Buddhism, and the Thousand-armed and Thousand-eyed Guanyin has different instruments or hand seals in each hand, representing different methods of salvation. What we are familiar with is the Jade Purity Bottle. The Purity Bottle represents purity and is filled with nectar from the willow twigs. It can transform the heat and annoyance of ordinary people into coolness, and always comply with people’s wishes to save all living beings. There are many kinds of mounts for Guanyin Bodhisattva. The most common ones we see are dragon, turtle, and lion. It is said that the lion is the son of the Dragon King and has the habit of watching over, which means conveying the will of heaven and the feelings of the people.

Second: Manjusri Bodhisattva is called the Prince of Dharma, a symbol of wisdom. His body is purple-gold, and he looks like a boy with five knots on his head. He holds a diamond sword in his right hand (indicating the sharpness of wisdom), which can kill demons and cut off all troubles. He holds a blue lotus in his left hand, on which there is a diamond scroll, symbolizing his supreme wisdom. He rides a lion.

Third: Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, Samantabhadra recruits talents. Samantabhadra is a master who imparts his experience and knowledge everywhere. His magic weapon is Ruyi and his mount is an elephant. Moreover, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's face faces all directions, representing being comprehensive, thorough and decent in doing things.

Fourth: Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. There is a legend that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva saved his mother from hell five times in his early years, but the last time he suddenly realized that all living beings are suffering, and the ghosts in hell are even more miserable, so he made a vow that there would be no ghosts in hell before he became a Buddha. Therefore, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva actually represents great compassion, great kindness, and great filial piety. The carved images of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva are mostly bald or wearing a Vairocana crown, holding banners, pearls, etc., and his mount is Di Ting, which has a tiger head, a single horn, dog ears, a dragon body, a lion tail, and unicorn feet. The single horn represents fairness, the dragon body represents auspiciousness, the tiger head represents wisdom and courage, the dog ears represent good hearing, the lion tail represents patience, and the unicorn feet represent stability, so it is also called the six unlikenesses.

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