Five-Colored Cloud Hand: A Hand Practiced for the Path of the Immortals

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

Original text

若為仙道者。 當於五色雲手。《千手千眼觀世音菩薩廣大圓滿無礙大悲心陀羅尼經》 (Sutra of the Vast, Perfect, Unobstructed Great Compassion Heart Dharani of the Thousand-Handed, Thousand-Eyed Guanyin Bodhisattva; translated by Bhagavaddharma in the Tang, T1060)

Plain-language explanation

The original text of this lesson is only one sentence: 「若為仙道者。當於五色雲手。」

First, the sentence pattern. When the 《大悲心陀羅尼經》 (Great Compassion Dharani Sutra) speaks of the Forty Hands, each hand is paired with a purpose, “for the sake of…”. Most of the earlier hands answer needs of the present life; this sentence answers the “path of the immortals”. What follows are rebirth in the Brahma heaven and rebirth in the palaces of the various heavens, all of which speak of destinations on another level.

Next, how this site has organized it. In the sutra this hand ranks twenty-third and belongs to the Karma division (羯磨部); its principal deity is named “Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara of Immortal Clouds” (仙雲觀自在菩薩). This site marks it as “left blank”, meaning that it belongs to a realm of practice or of the heavens and does not correspond to a present-day good deed. So this lesson gives only the original meaning of the sutra text and the traditional account, with no modern counterpart and no examples from today.

The traditional account appears in another sutra, the 《千光眼觀自在菩薩祕密法經》 (Secret Dharma Sutra of the Thousand-Light-Eyed Avalokiteśvara). That sutra says: for one who wishes to accomplish the immortal way, practice the five-colored cloud method. When the Bodhisattva is painted, the right hand holds a five-colored cloud, and the left hand is raised, grasping the end of a heavenly garment. The sutra also says that reciting eighteen thousand times in a quiet place in the mountains brings the fruit of immortality. This is the practice and the expected fruit as written in that scripture; it is not a claim made by this site. The details of the practice given in the sutra are not expanded in this lesson.

A little background: the closing of the Forty Hands passage says that the dharmas one may seek number in the thousands, and that only a brief portion is given here. So “Five-Colored Cloud Hand” is only the name of one path among them. All this lesson can grasp is this one line: the sutra assigns the goal of the “path of the immortals” to the Five-Colored Cloud Hand.

Key terms

仙道

The original text refers to the kind of path followed by those who cultivate immortality. This site classifies it as a realm of practice or of the heavens, and does not match it to a present-day good deed, so no modern reading is given.

五色雲手

The twenty-third of the Forty Hands, belonging to the Karma division (羯磨部). In images from other scriptures, the right hand holds a five-colored cloud and the left hand grasps the end of a heavenly garment.

One line to remember

若為仙道者。當於五色雲手。

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.