Who Is Dizang?

This blog is dedicated to Dizang Bodhisattva.

The word bodhisattva (boh-dee-saht-vah) is a Sanskrit term frequently used in Mahayana Buddhism to describe someone whose compassion is so immense that he or she refuses the salvation of Nirvana until all other beings are liberated from suffering. The bodhisattva devotes his or her entire existence into bringing happiness to others.

In Mahayana Buddhism, Ksitigarbha (see-tee-gar-ba) is a bodhisattva who, many aeons ago, vowed to attain enlightenment only when the hellish realms becomes vacant. Ksitigarbha means "Treasure of the Earth", "Womb of the Earth" or "Earth Store" and his story is recorded in The Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha's Original Vows which was said to have been spoken by the Buddha when he ascended to the Trayastrimsas Heaven to preach to his deceased beings and the heavenly beings assembled there.

Kisitigarbha is popularly revered in East Asia for his all-inclusive compassion and his quality of never abandoning anyone who calls on him for help. In Chinese Buddhism, he is known as Dizang Wang (地藏王) or Dizang Pusa (地藏菩薩). and is second in popularity only to the famous Guan Yin. In Japan, he is known as Jizo and he is worshipped as a patron saint for expectant mothers, firemen, travelers, pilgrims and revered as the protector of aborted and miscarried babies.

The following excerpt from a talk by Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh very eloquently expresses the significance of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva:

Ksitigarbha (Earth Store Bodhisattva) who vowed to save all living beings in hell embodies truly great qualities of the Buddha. He vowed that he would never abandon you. Wherever there are people suffering the most, there also is Ksitigarbha. In this very world there are hells where people undergo the utmost suffering. We decide never to abandon them, rather we try our best to approach and to support them. Ksitigarbha is these qualities of not abandoning. He never abandons anyone even if that person is horribly difficult.

A lot of us have been in countries where people are deprived of human rights that live in oppression. In some countries, people are so desperate that we feel that we cannot communicate the reality of their suffering with the outside world. Sometimes we even have to pour gasoline on our own body in order to burn ourselves, so people in the outside world will know that people are suffering terribly here. In the world, there are a number of those who are unfairly jailed, they are suffering a lot and they are desperate. If we don't do anything for them, we fail in our Vow. Nowadays, there are a number of people who want to be Ksitigarbha and try to relieve the suffering of people in desperate situations. We live in a society where we have plenty of material luxuries, we are jealous for this little thing, but we don't realize that there are people who are in jail unfairly and they just want to be a person living with dignity. They are thrown in jail, and they suffer a lot. To learn the way of Ksitigarbha is to reach your hand into these most desperate situations, to those who are deprived of human rights, who are put in jail in many totalitarian countries.

We must realize that there are those who have never heard the name of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva yet they manifest these qualities every day. In big cities like Chicago, New York, Manila, Washington D.C., there are a lot of hells also. In Paris there is hell, too. So we have to discover these hells and to dismantle them in order to help people and relieve their suffering. Sometimes we may have the notion that we didn't contribute to the creation of that hell. In fact, we are constantly creating this hell by our forgetfulness, jealousy and craving for money. We do not see that hell exists around us, so we continue to live our lives in a way that is harmful to other beings. We are creating hell around us constantly. We must make it clear that we do not want to make more hells. By our way of living mindfully, we will not act in a harmful way that would create hell around us.

The Zen Community of Oregon has a strong emphasis on devotion to Dizang (or Jizo). Their website describes Jizo as follows:

Jizo is the bodhisattva who plunges fearlessly into any place or situation to help those in need. For anyone who has lost a child, Jizo is a powerful image of hope and solace. Jizo's qualities include unflagging optimism, fearlessness, and gentleness.

To me, Dizang is a mythological symbol which the writers of the Mahayana scriptures created to convey the bodhisattva spirit, using the religious language of their time and culture. This does not mean that Dizang does not exist. A myth is a narrative that points to an existential reality. The story of Dizang is ultimately our story. Dizang stands for the altruistic courage that all human beings are capable of expressing. When we fearlessly plunge into the sufferings of existence and give ourselves to our fellow sentient beings, we come face to face with Dizang, for Dizang is our bodhisattva nature.

So let us manifest the dynamic compassion of Dizang in our lives. Namo Dizang Bodhisattva!