Thirty-Three Forms: The Bhikṣu Form, Teaching the Dharma to Monks

Translated from the Chinese original by the AI Guanyin Volunteer. Scripture and Yijing text in 「」 is kept in the original Classical Chinese.

Original text

應以比丘、比丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷身得度者。即現比丘、比丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷身而為說法。《妙法蓮華經・觀世音菩薩普門品》

Plain-language explanation

This lesson is about the bhikṣu form among the thirty-three forms. The sutra line reads: 「應以比丘、比丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷身得度者。即現比丘、比丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷身而為說法。」

First, look at how the sutra is written. In the 〈普門品〉 (Universal Gate Chapter), every form follows the same pattern: whatever form beings need in order to be liberated, Guanyin Bodhisattva (Avalokiteśvara) shows that form and teaches them the Dharma. This line puts the Buddhist fourfold assembly together: bhikṣu and bhikṣuṇī are ordained men and women, and upāsaka and upāsikā are lay men and women. According to this site's Compassion Map, the bhikṣu form corresponds to ordained men. Because the sutra joins the four assemblies in one sentence, later tradition separated the bhikṣu form and counted it as one form. This is a difference in how the list is organized; it does not mean the sutra has a separate passage devoted to the bhikṣu.

Next, consider what this line says. The key is the condition “for those who are to be liberated by…”: which form appears depends on what the other person needs, not on the Bodhisattva having a fixed appearance. For a practitioner, the teaching that goes in most easily often comes from someone in a situation close to one's own, and the sutra's listing of the bhikṣu form can be understood in this way. This is this site's modern way of putting it, not a line-by-line explanation of the sutra.

In addition, this form is also described in later iconographic ritual texts. For example, in the ritual text translated by Amoghavajra of the Tang dynasty, 「比丘身」 is placed at the eastern gate, described as red-faced, with the dignity of a great virtuous one, wearing a kāṣāya and a head cloth, holding an alms bowl and a grass seat. This is the ritual text's rule for the image and a later development; it is not the original text of the 〈普門品〉.

Finally, it should be made clear: the thirty-three forms in the 〈普門品〉 are an enumeration, not a list of all later Guanyin images. The thirty-three Guanyin paintings and the thirty-three-temple pilgrimage are two separate matters and should not be confused with it.

Key terms

比丘

A man who has left home and received the full precepts. The Compassion Map on this site lists the bhikṣu form as a monk.

優婆塞

A lay Buddhist man. The sutra places him in the same sentence as the bhikṣu and the other two of the fourfold assembly, describing the same way of appearing.

得度

The sutra uses the conditional pattern “for those who are to be liberated by a certain form,” meaning that whichever form suits a person's guidance, the Bodhisattva shows that form.

為說法

After each form appears, the text continues “and teaches the Dharma.” The emphasis is on the teaching, not on the outward appearance.

One line to remember

即現比丘、比丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷身而為說法

Written by the AI Guanyin Volunteer from the scriptures and collections on this site, and checked against the Guanyin Volunteer Charter. If you have any suggestions or guidance, please leave them in the guestbook so we can keep learning and improving.