Shinsunwa: The Visualization of Avalokiteshvara’s Spiritual Energy (2023)
What is Shinsunwa?
Shinsunwa is a unique form of spiritual art where drawings emerge through spontaneous, flowing movements. Artists tap into their subject’s energy and let Qi(氣) guide their hands, creating geometric patterns that serve as a universal language.
Commentary on a Shinsunwa: Avalokiteshvara
Most people, even those who have never set foot inside a Buddhist temple, know the name Avalokiteshvara—known as Gwanse-eum Bosal in Korean. For a long time, Avalokiteshvara was on my list of works to create for Shinsunwa, but it took years before the right moment arrived to start painting her. The opportunity finally came when a reader of my blog made a request. I was busy at the time, but there was something about the sincerity of that request that opened the door for me, and so I began the work.
There’s a small story I’ve carried with me that feels tied to this painting.
Seeking a Way Through
Several years ago, after finishing a Shinsunwa for a private client, I was offering them some guidance for spiritual cleanse and daily practice. During that process, it became clear that the client was hitting an unseen barrier. Looking for a way to help, I traveled to a temple in Gangjin called Muwi-sa.
Under the Four Kings
As I entered through the gate guarded by the Four Heavenly Kings, my body naturally responded with movements I know as ‘Qi-Dongjak.’ From there, my steps led me to the Hall of Kṣitigarbha, the Bodhisattva who vowed not to enter Nirvana until every being trapped in the hells has been freed. In that dimly lit hall, surrounded by the Ten Kings of the Afterlife, I found myself standing before the figure of Kṣitigarbha. It felt like a space connected to the world beyond death. Standing before Kṣitigarbha, my body instinctively lowered into Buddhist prostrations, which continued for more than half an hour, until suddenly I heard the words: ‘Avalokiteśvara.’
Name Like a Rising Tide
They were not carried by sound, but instead steadily arose from deep within me. The name repeated—“Gwanse-eum Bosal(Avalokiteshvara), Gwanse-eum Bosal(Avalokiteshvara)”—in a rhythm as natural as breathing. I tried to ignore it, but the voice swelled, as if joined by countless others, until it surged into the fullness of a great choir. For a moment, I felt I had no choice but to join, and so, silently and inwardly, I did.
Clarity After the Chant
Time blurred. My body moved, yet I seemed to float outside it. And then a sudden clarity broke over me, sharp and cool, like a scattering of mint across the mind. When at last the movements of Qi-Dongjak came to rest, I stepped back out into daylight. The strange thing was, when I described this to the client later, they told me they had experienced exactly the same thing at the same moment. Whatever burden they had been carrying—it lifted. The problem that weighed on them dissolved, and it never came back.
Living Presence of Compassion
This is why Avalokiteśvara has remained a living presence in the world for centuries. Compassion that listens, that leans toward pain without hesitation, has always shown itself not just as an idea but as lived experience. Yet, if treated simply as a devotional practice for blessings, its depth is easily lost. The vow of Kṣitigarbha—to remain until every last soul is freed—reminds me of this. Perhaps that is why, in his hall, I heard her voice echoing.
Universal Gateway, Endless Response
The Lotus Sutra, in a chapter known as the ‘Universal Gateway of Avalokiteśvara,’ describes her this way: whenever she hears the cries of suffering beings, she responds tirelessly. In the early centuries she was depicted as male, but as time passed, her forms shifted—child, elder, woman, even animal—until the image most people recognize today carries the softness of the feminine. For this Shinsunwa, I chose to honor that aspect.
Meaning of the Name
Her name in Sanskrit is Avalokiteshvara: ‘Ava’ meaning downward, ‘lokita’ meaning to observe, and ‘īśvara’ meaning lord or guardian. Together, the name can be heard as “the one who gazes down upon the world” or simply “the one who sees things as they truly are.” In that meaning is a reminder of the path: true seeing is the first step along the Eightfold Way.
A Thousand Arms, A Thousand Eyes
In my depiction, her radiant aura connects to her hands, suggesting the ‘thousand arms’ that reach toward suffering. From her eyes extend a ‘spiral energy symbol,’ representing the ‘thousand eyes’ that witness the world. The number thousand is not numerical but infinite, pointing to compassion without boundary.
Prismatic Halo, Cosmic Frame
Her halo is drawn in waves of color that resemble light split through a prism—echoes of one original brilliance that cannot be shown directly. Around the outer edge, repeating patterns symbolize the cosmic principle, and all of it is held within a larger mandorla, a full-bodied radiance that contains everything.
Practice in Sound and Form
Chanting a mantra, copying sutras by hand—these have long been essential practices of Avalokiteshvara devotion. Shinsunwa shares that same root but also extends it, guiding us toward ‘Qi-Hwero,’ a framework of pathways shaped by time and cosmic position. This, too, is practice—but carried in image, shape, and symbol.
Miao Shan
It is widely believed that Kuan Yin took embodiment
as the third daughter of Miao Chuang Wang, identified with the Chou dynasty,
a ruler of a northern Chinese kingdom about 700 B.C.
The king had seized his throne by force of arms, and he desperately desired a male heir to succeed him. Instead he had three daughters. The youngest, Miao Shan, was a devout child who “scrupulously observed all of the tenets of the Buddhist doctrines. Virtuous living seemed, indeed, to be to her a second nature.”[1]
She recognized the impermanence of riches and glory and desired nothing more than “a peaceful retreat on a lone mountain.” She told her sisters that “If some day I can reach a high degree of goodness…. I will rescue my father and mother, and bring them to Heaven; I will save the miserable and afflicted on earth; I will convert the spirits which do evil, and cause them to do good.”
Miao Shan’s father determined to find a husband for her who would be capable of ruling the kingdom. The king explained his plans and told her that all his hopes rested on her. Miao Shan said that she did not wish to marry because she desired to attain perfection and Buddhahood.
The king was angry. “Has anyone known the daughter of a king to become a nun?” he asked. Then he demanded that she marry an academician or a military man at once. Recognizing that she could not openly disobey her father’s orders, Miao Shan said that she would immediately marry a physician since she could then still become a Buddha. Outraged, the king ordered his officer to take her to the Queen’s garden “and let her perish there of cold.”
Miao Shan retired to the garden glad to exchange the pleasures of the palace for the sweetness of solitude. Her parents, sisters and the ladies of the court tried in vain to dissuade Miao Shan from her purpose. Instead she asked her father’s permission to live at the Nunnery of the White Bird. The king consented but sent strict orders to the nunnery that the nuns should do all in their power to persuade Miao Shan to leave.
The nuns tried but failed. They then decided to put Miao Shan in charge of the kitchen where, if she failed, they could dismiss her. Miao Shan so joyously agreed that she touched the heart of the Master of Heaven who ordered the spirits of heaven to assist her in her duties.
The Superior of the nunnery then asked the King to recall his daughter. The king sent five thousand soldiers to surround the Nunnery of the White Bird and burn it to the ground along with the nuns. The nuns invoked the aid of Heaven but said to Miao Shan: “It is you who have brought upon us this terrible disaster.”
Miao Shan agreed that it was so. She knelt and prayed to Heaven and then pricked the roof of her mouth with her bamboo hairpin and spat the flowing blood toward heaven. Great clouds immediately gathered and showers put out the fire threatening the nunnery. The nuns threw themselves on their knees and thanked Miao Shan for saving their lives.
The king, informed of this miracle, was enraged and ordered the chief of the guard to immediately behead Miao Shan. As the execution was to begin, the sky became overcast, but a bright light surrounded Miao Shan. When the executioner’s sword fell upon her neck, it broke. A spear thrust at her fell to pieces.
The king ordered that she be strangled with a silken cord. But a tiger leaped into the execution grounds, dispersed the executioners, put the inanimate body of Miao Shan on his back and disappeared into the pine forest.
Miao Shan’s soul, which was not hurt, was taken to the lower world, hell. She prayed and hell was transformed into a paradise. She was sent back to earth to resume her life there.
Carried on a lotus flower to the island of P’u-t’o Shan—the sacred island-mountain in the Chusan Archipelago off the coast of Chekiang—she lived for nine years healing the diseased and saving mariners from shipwreck.
Picture:
Thirty-three meter statue of Kuan Yin on Mount P’u-t’o, the sacred island-mountain that became a center of devotion to Kuan Yin
Copyright © 2022 Summit Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.
https://encyclopedia.summitlighthouse.org/index.php/Kuan_Yin?fbclid=IwAR0zxKK0LtwflDtLCFBdAFpiZ5Y-m1D-mU58asbyXQp9YRnABTRMJa7QJe8#Miao_Shan
문왕(文王)[51] 희창(姬昌)[52]
서주 ; 상주혁명
1대 무왕(武王) 희발(姬發) BC 1046년 ~1043년(3년): 서주 시대의 첫번째 왕.
2대 성왕(成王) 희송(姬誦) BC 1042년 ~1021년 (21년)
3대 강왕(康王) 희조(姬釗) BC 1021년 ~982년 (39년)
4대 소왕(昭王) 희하(姬瑕) BC 982년 ~963년 (19년)
5대 목왕(穆王) 희만(姬滿) BC 963년 ~908년 (55년)
6대 공왕(共王) 희예호(姬繄扈) BC 908년 ~896년 (12년)
7대 의왕(懿王) 희간(姬囏) BC 896년 ~871년 (25년)
8대 효왕(孝王) 희벽방(姬辟方) BC 871년~ 862년 (9년)
9대 이왕(夷王) 희섭(姬燮) BC 862년~854년 (8년)
10대 여왕(厲王) 희호(姬胡) BC 854년~841년 (13년)공화 BC 841년~828년
11대 선왕(宣王) 희정(姬靜) BC 828년 ~782년 (46년)
12대 유왕(幽王) 희궁열(姬宮涅) BC 782년 ~771년 (11년): 서주 시대의 마지막 왕.
동주 ; 동천
13대 평왕(平王) 희의구(姬宜臼) BC 771년 ~720년 (51년): 동주 시대의 첫번째 왕.
14대 환왕(桓王)
15대 장왕(莊王) <— 주나라 장왕의 셋째딸이, 광세음 묘샹보살 추정.
문왕의 아들이자, 무왕의 이복동생인 주공단이, 장왕으로 환생했다는 이야기? 가 있으며,
{ 공자의 영적스승인 주공단이, 노나라 시조 } 주공단은 현 Lanto 초한이라고 함.
란토초한과 광세음묘샹보살은 쌍둥이불꽃이라 함.
https://encyclopedia.summitlighthouse.org/index.php/Kuan_Yin?fbclid=IwAR0zxKK0LtwflDtLCFBdAFpiZ5Y-m1D-mU58asbyXQp9YRnABTRMJa7QJe8#Miao_Shan
16대 희왕(僖王)
17대 혜왕(惠王) 18대 양왕(襄王) 희정(姬鄭) BC 652년 ~619년 (33년)
19대 경왕(頃王)20대 광왕(匡王)21대 정왕(定王)22대 간왕(簡王)23대 영왕(靈王)24대 경왕(景王)
25대 도왕(悼王)26대 경왕(敬王)27대 원왕(元王)28대 정정왕(貞定王)29대 애왕(哀王)30대 사왕(思王)
31대 고왕(考王)32대 위열왕(威烈王)33대 안왕(安王)34대 열왕(烈王)35대 현왕(顯王)
36대 신정왕(愼靚王)
37대 난왕(赧王) BC 315~256 (56년): 동주 시대의 마지막왕
https://namu.wiki/w/%EC%A3%BC%EB%82%98%EB%9D%BC#s-4
Kuan Yin will stay with earth
Question:
How long will Kuan Yin stay with us.
She can go on, but what is her decision or our option that she reflects her being with us? She has given a vow to be with the earth and help us.
Answer from Ascended Master MORE
through Kim Michaels (July 2013):
Kuan Yin will stay with us for the foreseeable future.
The only reason that an ascended being would move on from planet earth was
if there was no one left on earth that embodied the flame
or the divine qualities that that being holds for earth.
So as long as there are those who tune in to the heart of Kuan Yin, and strive to be the open doors for the flames of Mercy and Forgiveness,
obviously Kuan Yin is having a beneficial effect on the planet.
There can be instances where an ascended being would simply recognize that
no one on earth is the open door for that being’s flame,
and it may then decide to move on to other planets
where it could be of greater service to the lifestreams on that planet
than it is to the life streams on earth.
But in terms of Kuan Yin, she has so many followers in the East, and even many in the West,
that she will stay with the earth for a very long time.
Copyright © 2015 Kim Michaels
https://ascendedmasteranswers.com/kuan-yin-will-stay-with-earth/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBcOYUr_CMU
본래 도교에 관음신앙이 있었는데 ; 주나라 묘샹관음
힌두교 아발로키테슈바라가
중국으로 가면서 관음신앙과 합쳐져서, 현재의 관세음보살 신앙이 된 것으로 보는 견해가 있다.
그 와중에 성별도 여성화되었다.
( 당나라 이전에는 원래 쉬바의 남성관음 이었는데,
송나라말 명나라 전대에 걸쳐 여성 관셈보살 ;
백제신라, 고려초의 관셈은 남자이었다가, 고려말, 조선에서 여성관셈보살 )
산스크리트 원어(अवलोकितेश्वर, Avalokiteśvara)를 뜯어보면 관세음보살의 기원의 유추가 가능하다.
avalokite는 ‘아래를 내려다 보는’이라는 뜻이고,
svara는 ‘신(神)’을 의미한다.
즉 ‘(위로부터) 아래를 굽어 살피시는 분’이라는 뜻이다.
산스크리트 원어에는 보살의 뜻이 없으며
svara는 ishvara[10]에서 파생된 어미인데,
이는 힌두교에서 최고신 시바에게 붙이는 용어이다.[11]
또다른 증거로 관세음보살을 찬양하는 천수경의 신묘장구대다라니에서의 관세음보살은
힌두교의 시바, 비슈누에 대한 묘사와 매우 유사하다.#
관세음 신앙 자체가, 힌두교 신앙에 대한 대응으로 탄생됐다고 보는 것이 타당하다.
https://namu.wiki/w/%EA%B4%80%EC%84%B8%EC%9D%8C%EB%B3%B4%EC%82%B4
; 주공단은, 기원전 1100년 출생?
고타마와 공자, 묘향공주는, 기원전 6세기 인물.
( 불교는 중국에 한나라 초기, 기원전 2세기 전래 )
그래서, 주공단과 묘향공주는, [ 불교를 전혀 몰랐으며 ]
오히려, 환생한 주공단, 묘향공주, 공자는
싯타르타와 거의 동시대 인물 ? ; 춘추시대