Kuan Yin is the compassionate savior of the Far East. Everywhere in the East there are altars in temples, houses. There are also altars on the side of roads. These are dedicated to this Mother who is full of compassion for humanity who seeks her help for all kinds of matters. Although she is still part of the culture in the East, Kuan Yin is also becoming more and more known to people in the West. These are now also beginning to recognize the powerful presence of this 'Goddess of Compassion' who alongside the Virgin Mary as an enlightened master and mediatrix of the Aquarius Age exerts its power.
The long history of devotion to Kuan Yin gives us an insight into the character of this bearer of light who not only sacrificed her life for her friends but did so again and again as a mediatrix and bearer of others' burdens. For centuries, Kuan Yin summarized the great ideal of Mahayana Buddhism in her role as a bodhisattva (literally translated in Chinese p'u-sa), "a being of bodhi or enlightenment" who was actually destined to become a Buddha but the bliss of Nirwana delayed by vowing to save all God's children.
The name Kuan Shih Yin, as she is often called, literally means "she who pays attention to the cries of distress of the world. According to legend, Kuan Yin was about to enter heaven when she paused for a moment on the threshold as the cries of distress of the world reached her ears. Different views still prevail among scholars about the origin of devotion to the female bodhisattva Kuan Yin.
White lotus and symbol of purity
Kuan Yin is considered the female form of Avalokitesvara (Sanskrit), the "bodhisattva of compassion" in Indian Buddhism. This worship was introduced to China in the 3rd century. Kuan Yin is depicted in many ways. Each image shows a unique aspect of her loving presence, such as, for example, a slender woman dressed in a white robe holding in her left hand a white lotus, the symbol of purity. She is also known by her image as the "giver of children. A large white veil covers her entire form and she sits on a lotus flower. She is often depicted with little children around her. She is also revered as the patroness of fishermen. As such, she stands on the head of a dragon amid the waves.
Like Avalokitesvara, she is depicted with a thousand arms and a varied number of eyes, hands and heads, sometimes with an eye in her palms. She is then commonly referred to as the "bodhisattva with the thousand arms and eyes. This is a portrayal of her omnipresence, as a mother who can simultaneously look in all directions and who feels the pain of humanity and stretches out her arms full of compassion. Still other symbols of Kuan Yin by which she is depicted are:
- With a willow branch with which she spreads the divine nectar
- with a precious vase symbolizing the nectar of compassion and wisdom
- With a dove depicting fertility
- with a book or prayer scroll on which the Dharma (teachings) of the Buddha or the Sutra (Buddhist text).
- with a rosary around her neck with which she invokes the Buddhas for support and assistance.
Today, Kuan Yin is revered by both Taoists and Mahayana Buddhists, especially in Taiwan, Japan, Korea and also in her homeland of China where the practice of Buddhism was suppressed during the 1966-69 Cultural Revolution.
Protector of Women
She is the patroness of women, sailors, merchants, artisans and people who have been innocently charged, and she is especially invoked by those who wish to have children. Beloved as a mother figure and divine mediatrix close to the daily affairs of her worshippers, Kuan Yin's role as a Buddhist Madonna is compared to that of Mary, the Mother of Jesus in the West. A very well-known mantra is : OM MANI PADME HUM : Greetings, Jewel in the Lotus.
Goddess of Mercy
In the tradition of the Great White Brotherhood, she is known as the ascended female master who bears the title of "Goddess of Mercy" because she mastered the divine qualities of compassion and forgiveness. She had gone through many incarnations before she was able to attain her ascension thousands of years ago but took the vow of bodhisattva to teach the not yet ascended children of God how to clear their karma and realize their divine plan through loving service to life and applying the violet flame mantras through the Science of the Spoken Word. The ascended master Saint Germain succeeded Kuan Yin as Chohan of the Seventh Ray of freedom, transmutation, compassion and justice.
Karmic council
She is now part of the Karmic Council, a kind of cosmic court that mediates in the karma of earthly peoples, offering opportunities and mercy and passing just judgments on every living soul on earth. She is the head of the ethereal Temple of Mercy above Beijing in China, where she radiates the Light of the Divine Mother for the benefit of the children of the ancient land of China.
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