Heavenly Creatures

Three thousand years ago, a family of four lived near a forest. The stepmother was afraid that her husband loved his sons more than herself, so she abandoned the two boys in the woods.

By nightfall, the wolves circled the boys. As the elder died, he prayed that no one would ever suffer as he did, and God granted his wish. He became the bodhisattva of compassion Avalokitesvara, who hears the cries of all those suffering in the six realms. The younger, who watched his brother die first, became the bodhisattva of wisdom Mahasthamaprapta. Their father, who found their bodies in the forest, would become Shakyamuni Buddha five hundred years later.