I was told that the Bodhisattva has eleven faces and one thousand hands.

One prominent Buddhist story tells of, despite the Bodhisattva’s tremendous effort,
he realised that still many unhappy beings were yet to be saved.
After struggling to hear, to see and to understand the needs of so many;
his head split into eleven pieces.

The Principal Buddha, seeing his difficult situation,
gave him eleven heads with which to hear the cries of the suffering.
Upon hearing these cries and comprehending them,
the Bodhisattva attempted to reach out to all those who needed aid,
but found that his two arms shattered into pieces.

Once more, the Principal Buddha came to his aid and invested him
with a thousand arms with which to aid the suffering multitudes.

Posted on 30 July 2008
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