31  Funi Kannon

“Funi” here means “identical,” with Kannon and her compassionate gaze and the guardian Nioh with his imposing glare being both sides of the same Buddha. Kannon transcends dualities such as hesitation and enlightenment, presence and absence, and leads all sentient beings to an equal state.

In this way of thinking, there is no distinction between various things when seen through Kannon’s eyes.

There is an unmistakable relationship between a Buddha and the guardian deity of a Buddha, but in this case, the guardian deity is thought to be a Hindu god, and the elegant costumes of the Indian aristocrats worn by this Kannon were supervised by Tokuzo Yamada and expressed in a soft and refined way by Rakuzan Takahashi.