Buddhism spread to China over 2,000 years ago, and down the centuries countless holy places have come into being. Foremost among these are the four famous monasteries associated with the principal bodhisattvas: that on Mt. P'u-t'o dedicated to Avalokitesvara (better known in Chinese as Kuan-yin), that on Mt. Wu-t'ai dedicated to Manjusri, that on Mt. O-mei dedicated to Samantabhadra, and that on Mt. Chiu-hua dedicated to Ksitigharbha.

In Buddhist thinking, Kuan-yin is characterized by compassion, Manjusri by wisdom, Samantabhadra by moral action, and Ksitigharbha by moral resolve. These four concepts of compassion, wisdom, moral action and moral resolve embrace the entire spirit of Buddhism. Consequently these four bodhisattvas are widely worshipped and venerated and have profoundly penetrated into the consciousness of the common people.

Most Buddhist believers know that the ultimate ideal of Hinayana Buddhism is to become an arhat, an enlightened and saintly man who has freed himself from the trammels of life and death. The ultimate ideal of Mahayana Buddhism, however, is the bodhisattva spirit of forsaking individual salvation and instead striving to redeem the souls of all sentient beings.

Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, with his vow not to become a Buddha until all sentient beings have been saved and hell is left empty, is the finest exemplar of the Mahayana Buddhist teaching that one should first redeem others before seeking to save oneself.

Ksitigharbha was first among the bodhisattvas in compassionate resolve, and moral resolve lies at the very root of all correct thinking and correct action. In view of this Sakyamuni, the Buddha of the Present, held a conclave shortly before his earthly extinction at which he particularly entrusted to Ksitigharbha the task of ensuring the salvation of all sentient beings until the advent of Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future, after the passage of 56 kalpas. This great commission demonstrates the high honor in which Ksitigharbha was held.

Most of us make a vow one day and forget it the next. How was it that the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, the "first in compassionate resolve," should have made a vow which he meant to keep for eternity?

The answer lies in piety of heart.

The Sutra of the Vows of Ksitighabha relates how the bodhisattva maintained this vow through many different generations. Two important precedents of piety sustaining the vow of compassion were the Brahmin Saintly Woman and the Bright Eyed Daughter, two former incarnations of Ksitigharbha.

These two legends, which are almost identical in content, tell of a pious woman (actually Ksitigharbha in a previous existence) whose earthly mother often killed living things and committed sinful deeds. So far from respecting the doctrine of karma, the ineluctable modality of cause and effect in the moral realm, she would often disparage the Three Treasures of Buddhism (the Buddha, the Dharma or law, and the Sangha or Buddhist priesthood). Naturally her pious daughter was aware that such conduct was destined to consign her mother to the sufferings of hell in the hereafter. As a result she begged the Buddha to reveal her deceased mother's whereabouts so that she could absolve her of the sinful karma she had acquired in her lifetime. Her piety moved heaven and earth, and the Buddha escorted her into hell to meet her mother. The sight of the pain and tribulation her mother was suffering there was unbearable to the daughter, who resolved to devote herself to good deeds in order to absolve her mother from the karmahindrance impeding her progress along the Buddhist Way and at the same time to convert all sinful beings from their evil ways through spreading the teachings of the Buddhist canon.

Interestingly enough, we find that with the introduction of Buddhism to China the legend of Ksitigharbha was adapted to suit the local Chinese context. According to an account in the Biographies of Eminent Monks, Ksitigharbha descended to live on earth 1,500 years after the death of Sakyamuni in the form of a monk from the kingdom of Silla, in what is now Korea. He sailed to China in the year A.D. 653, during the reign of the T'ang Emperor Kao-tsung, and took up residence in a monastery on Mt. Chiu-hua, in modern Anhwei province. There he lived for 75 years before passing away on the 30th day of the seventh lunar month in the year A.D. 728, during the reign of the T'ang Emperor Hsuan-tsung, at the ripe old age of 99. After death, his body remained miraculously preserved. Thenceforth the 30th day of the seventh lunar month was commemorated among the people of China as Ksitigharbha's sacred anniversary.

Of course many Buddhist believers have never heard of the legendary Brahmin Saintly Woman, the Bright Eyed Daughter, or the monk of Mt. Chiu-hua. But they do retain a clear impression of Ksitigharbha as a bodhisattva who roamed through hell in search of his mother. This idea is clearly influenced by the legend of Mu-lien redeeming his mother.

According to the Buddhist scriptures, Mu-lien was originally one of Sakyamuni's ten great disciples, Maudgalyayana. He not only roamed through purgatory in order to save the soul of his deceased mother, but vowed to hold a rite on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, at which he beseeched the Three Treasures of Buddhism to save the souls of all sentient beings from hell. This became the Ullambana rite, popularly known as the feast of All Souls.

The story of Mu-lien saving his mother has become intertwined with that of Ksitigharbha, besides which the 15th day of the seventh lunar month is also celebrated as the sacred anniversary of the Taoist lord of the underworld Ti-kuan Ta-ti, while Ksitigharbha's anniversary is celebrated on the 30th of the same month. All this has contributed to making the seventh month in the lunar calendar popularly regarded as "ghost month."

With the introduction into China of the cult of Ksitigharbha, the Chinese also absorbed Buddhist concepts of the cosmos, deities and spirits of the dead. Taoism expert Liu Chih-wan, formerly a research fellow of Academia Sinica's Institute of Ethnology, points out that the Chinese originally only distinguished between "this world" and the "other world." "This world" meant the world of men, and the "other world" was a general term for the mysterious spirit world unknown to man. It included places where the dead lived on in an afterlife in much the same way as they had lived on earth, not characterized by any unusual degree of joy or suffering. So the concept of purgatory or hell, as a place of endless suffering, was actually an alien importation.

According to Buddhist doctrine, everything in the cosmos--including hell--comes about as the result of the power of karma. This is the power of good or evil acts which produce good or evil effects. An evil person's entry into hell is entirely the result of his own evil karma, not the result of any condemnation by any Buddha or bodhisattva. In fact, the purpose behind Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's preaching of Buddhist salvation is precisely to destroy evil and encourage conversion to good, so that hell will be empty of the souls of all sentient beings and the idea of punishment will cease to exist for ever!

[Picture Caption]

With his downcast eyes and drooping eyebrows, the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha is called "first in compassion" in the Buddhist pantheon.

In cemeteries and stupas the figure of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha and his attendant mythical creature T'i-t'ing ensure that no harmful spirits dare approach near. (photo from Sinorama files)

In Taipei's newly completed Ksitigharbha Temple the figure of Ksitigharb ha Bodhisattva is not depicted in the traditional seated posture of meditation, but standing up as if poised to dash to the aid of those in distress.

In cemeteries and stupas the figure of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha and his attendant mythical creature T'i-t'ing ensure that no harmful spirits dare approach near. （photo from Sinorama files）

In Taipei's newly completed Ksitigharbha Temple the figure of Ksitigharb ha Bodhisattva is not depicted in the traditional seated posture of meditation, but standing up as if poised to dash to the aid of those in distress.