Finely
wrought bronze, well carved and cast, bright golden color with patina, depicting
Avalokiteshvara seated in royal ease on a roaring one-horned chimera with curled
tail and spiraling locks of fur; its body detailed with a pierced design resembling
scales or feathers. The deity is depicted with five pointed crown, floating celestial
scarves, jeweled earrings, necklace, armbands, bracelets, and anklets. He wears
the skin of an antelope looped about his shoulders. Behind his head a golden beaded
aureole intersects with the large mandorla carved with rotating conchs, symbolizing
the glory of the teachings spreading to every corner of the world. Figure and
mount sit atop a lotus throne with open petals.
Avalokiteshvara
possesses boundless compassion and teaches that we already have everything we
need to awaken to our own limitless compassion. He vows to save all sentient beings
from the sufferings of samsara. His right hand is in vitarka mudra, the gesture
of explication, his left holds the stem of a lotus. The Mind of Bliss is free
from any samsaric stain, the way a lotus flower emerges from a swamp free of the
stain of the mud.