National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

This manuscript, entitled Avalokitesvara Samadhi Sutra (Ch., Guanshiyin sanmei jing; J., Bussetsu Kanzeon Zanmaikyo), is an apocrypha written in China based on Guanyin (J., Kannon) beliefs and copied in Japan during the Nara period (710-94). Approximately thirty characters per line are copied onto this small formatted sutra. Although it is a short scripture written on three sheets of paper in its entirety, it is invaluable as a source with its beginning and end in tact. The characters appear stately and graceful. The text itself is important in the study of Buddhist apocrypha.