-
Advertorial
-
FOCUS
-
Guide
-
Lifestyle
-
Tech and Vogue
-
TechandScience
-
CHTF Special
-
Nanshan
-
Futian Today
-
Hit Bravo
-
Special Report
-
Junior Journalist Program
-
World Economy
-
Opinion
-
Diversions
-
Hotels
-
Movies
-
People
-
Person of the week
-
Weekend
-
Photo Highlights
-
Currency Focus
-
Kaleidoscope
-
Tech and Science
-
News Picks
-
Yes Teens
-
Budding Writers
-
Fun
-
Campus
-
Glamour
-
News
-
Digital Paper
-
Food drink
-
Majors_Forum
-
Speak Shenzhen
-
Shopping
-
Business_Markets
-
Restaurants
-
Travel
-
Investment
-
Hotels
-
Yearend Review
-
World
-
Sports
-
Entertainment
-
QINGDAO TODAY
-
In depth
-
Leisure Highlights
-
Markets
-
Business
-
Culture
-
China
-
Shenzhen
-
Important news
在线翻译:
szdaily -> Travel -> 
Changmei and Tanshou arhats
    2016-10-24  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

    

James Baquet

    jamesbaquet@gmail.com

    FROM time to time, we have encountered the figures known as the 18 (or sometimes 16) Arhats, and we have looked more closely at one of them, Jivaka, the open-hearted arhat. Let’s meet some of the others.

    One notable member of the group is Changmei Luohan, meaning the Long Eyebrow Arhat. He is easy to spot: an old, old man with very, very long eyebrows.

    Changmei (called Asita in Sanskrit) was a monk in a previous life who, trying as he might, could not attain enlightenment. He lived for so long that his eyebrows grew to extraordinary lengths. After death, he was reborn as a small baby — with the same eyebrows! In that life, then, he became an arhat, an enlightened disciple.

    In the year 891, a monk named Guan Xiu had a dream in which the arhats revealed their true appearance, and asked him to paint them. Centuries later, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) visited these portraits at Shengyin Temple in Hangzhou, and was so impressed that he ordered them to be reproduced and distributed to other temples. (Good thing, as the originals were later destroyed.)

    The emperor also wrote eulogies for each arhat. For Changmei he wrote:

    Compassionate elder,

    A monk who has attained enlightenment.

    Perceptive of the infinite universe,

    With tacit understanding.

    Another arhat’s story is much simpler. Tanshou Luohan (Sanskrit Panthaka) is the Raised Hand Arhat. He is stretching because he has just emerged from a long meditation!

    We’ll meet more arhats next time.

深圳报业集团版权所有, 未经授权禁止复制; Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved.
Shenzhen Daily E-mail:szdaily@szszd.com.cn