Kuan Yin, revered throughout Asia for thousands of years, is the Chinese Goddess of infinite mercy and compassion. Her name means "she who listens to the sounds [suffering] of the world." In the Buddhist tradition, she is an aspect of Avatokitesvora, the bodhisattva who sprang from one of the Buddha's tears. She once took the form of Miao Shan, a woman who was spurned by her father for refusing to marry; later, Miao Shan sacrificed both arms and legs in order to heal her father. Her appeal is particularly widespread because she gives assistance in this world: she provides the earthly blessings of children, health, and long life and rescues people from drowning, lightning, and poverty. She is particularly a protector of women.

          Kuan Yin is a symbol of the unlimited compassion each of us can have for ourselves. No matter what the situation, it is possible to treat ourselves with mercy and love.

The Goddess Kuan Yin (Kwan Yin) is still revered in China today, but it may well be that Kuan Yin is a relatively recent reflection of the more ancient Nu Kwa. Both Nu and Yin mean woman, while the word Kuai means earth, and although the connection is not certain, both names may refer to a concept of the Goddess as Earth or Nature. Some of the accounts of Kuan Yin, still told today, describe Her as having originally been a male who had reached the state of Buddha being, but who then decided to return to earth as a Boddhisatva, a spiritual teacher---taking the form of Kuan Yin. This idea, that the Goddess was once a Buddhist devotee, can of course only have developed after the birth of the first Buddha, Gautama Siddartha (about 560 BCE), and may reflect the influence of one set of beliefs upon the other, the newer concepts of Buddhism superimposed upon beliefs about the ancient Goddess. Images of Kuan Yin, riding upon a dolphin, may be related to the fish tailed images of Nu Kwa.

Holy Mother of Compassion who achieved ultimate enlightenment, yet chose to return to us when we called in times of trouble, though we are grown, to Her we turn in our moments of deepest need, and She heeds our childlike calls for help---the Merciful Mother, Most Holy Kuan Yin.

          In the blazing pit of fire I called and She came to take me to the cool of the river waters. When thieves overturned my wagon and left me beaten in the mud, I called and She carried me to my home, there healing and soothing my wounded body. When cruel ones threw me from the rocky cliff, I called and She came and in Her arms I gently floated down to earth unharmed. When the scorpion and the tiger hissed their anger at me in the jungle, I called and so loud did She shout that they ran in fear, and I escaped to the safety of my village. When my beloved child lay lifeless upon her mat, I called and She came and sprinkled the water of life from Her sacred willow branch, until the child breathed again and rose in health. Truly She is the Merciful Mother, Most Holy Kuan Yin.

          There once was a time when She came to live as the youngest daughter among three, watching Her elder sisters: marry a lusting warrior, marry a greedy merchant. At Her refusal to take a husband, asking only to be able to enter the temple of women, did Her father not arrange that the women of the temple should treat Her with cruelty---so that She would change Her mind and accept the bonds of marriage, as he wanted Her to do?

          Difficult was Her life at The Temple of the White Bird, for those who feared Her father's wrath assigned to Her the most arduous of tasks, but when She worked while the others slept peacefully upon their mats: the serpent came and helped Her fetch the water; the tiger appeared and gathered the wood for the fire; the birds flew busily about collecting the vegetables from the garden; the spirit of the fire rose up and helped to cook the food; the peacock even used its elegant feathery tail to sweep the kitchen floor.

          When news of these miracles reached the house of Her father, so angry was he that his plan had not worked, did he not then set fire to the shrine, willing to burn each and every woman who lived peacefully within, just to revenge the thwarting of his will? And when Kuan Yin came and smothered the fire with Her own hands, hands that did not burn nor blister, did he not then order that Her head be severed from Her body?

          Was the astonishment of the headsman not great when he tried to follow the orders of Her father, only to find that his sword broke itself in two, rather than harm Her holy body? But was not the headsman's fear of Her father even greater than his fear of the message that his sword conveyed, for it is said that he then murdered Her with his own hands about Her throat---and tied Her lifeless body to the back of a tiger, setting it loose in the jungle.

          Was it dark in the Land of the Dead when Her precious soul descended and did Her young girl heart feel fear? Yet we know, that even in the house of death, She sang sacred chants of goodness and mercy, relieving the suffering and pain of the souls that dwelled therein, until they kneeled about the hem of Her robe in gratitude and respect. This so infuriated the King of the Dead, he who delighted only in punishment and torture, that he could not bear Her perfect presence near him---and thus banished Her from his kingdom of death.

          Once again alive on earth, compassion and mercy triumphant over cruelty, Her soul rejoined Her body. So it was that She made Her way to the island in the Northeastern Sea where She now lives in peace, but never has She forgotten us as there She chants and meditates for our well being, still listening for our cries when troubles overtake us, always coming to our rescue when we call upon Her name---Merciful Mother, Most Holy Kuan Yin.

KUAN YIN/KWAN YIN/KWANNON-Great Mother; goddess of compassion and mercy; " she who hears the weeping world"; patroness of priestesses. Sometimes shown holding a child. Her main temple was on Miao Feng Shan, where pilgrims used rattles and fireworks to emphasize prayers. It is believed that this Goddess sits on her paradise island of P'u T'o and answers every prayer to her. Success, mercy, purification, fertility, children, motherhood, childbirth, healing, enlightenment.

KANNON BOSATSU/KANNON/KWANNON-A male form of the Chinese KUAN YIN. Mercy and compassion.