Manjushree

Manjushri is the Bodhisattva of Transcendent Wisdom. The youthful prince carries with his right hand the double-edged sword able to cut through illusion and with his left hand a blooming lotus that supports a volume of the Prajna-paramita Sutra. He is depicted as a youth of sixteen years in order to convey the Buddhist insight that wisdom is not a matter of mere experience or years, but results from the cultivation of intellectual genius, which can penetrate directly to the bedrock of reality. Wisdom is the most honored virtue in Buddhism, called the Mother of all Buddhas since only wisdom makes possible the great bliss of total freedom from all suffering that is the goal of all living beings. Thus, Manjushri is one of the most important of all Buddhist deities, the veritable god of wisdom and herald of emancipation