Earth Repository
Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia is now 14 years old
Our Encyclopedia recently received a wonderful opportunity for a major renewal on its 14th birthday . After many years of growing our Encyclopedia had become bit slow and sometimes even decided not to answer when people knocked on the door.
A very big thank you and blessings to Dmytro Rudiy (rudiy.nl) for his great work in upgrading the server, website and all of the infrastructure and helping make TBE fast and reliable again for everyone!
We kindly ask our readers to help us cover the cost of this important upgrade and also help with the ongoing costs of keeping the Encyclopedia alive and freely available.
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OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM 🙏🙏🙏
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Earth Repository
地蔵菩薩 (Skt Kshitigarbha; Chin Ti-tsang; Jpn Jizoﾭbosatsu)
A bodhisattva said to have been entrusted by Shakyamuni with the task of saving people during the period from Shakyamuni's death until the enlightenment of Bodhisattva Maitreya. According to the Advent of Maitreya Sutra, Maitreya will make his advent as the next Buddha 5,670 million years after Shakyamuni's death. Bodhisattva Earth Repository was originally an earth god in Indian mythology, and in China he came to be revered as a bodhisattva. The Sanskrit name Kshitigarbha represents the power and function of the earth. Kshiti means earth, soil, or abode. Garbha means the womb, which symbolizes fertility, protection, and nourishment. Belief in Bodhisattva Earth Repository prevailed in China during the T'ang dynasty (618-907) and was introduced to Japan in the Nara period (710-794), where it won acceptance among the nobility in the Heian period (794-1185). In the Kamakura period (1185-1333) and after, it spread gradually, and Earth Repository became an object of traditional folk belief. He is said to have the power of granting long life and easy childbirth. Because of the many forms he assumes in order to save people, he is sometimes called "Earth Repository of a Thousand Forms." He is usually depicted as a monk with a staff in his right hand and a jewel in his left.