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Kwan Yin - The
Bodhisattva of Compassion
There is still much scholarly debate
regarding the origin of devotion to the female Bodhisattva Kwan Yin
(also know as Quan Shi Yin and Kuan Yin). Quan means to inquire or look
deeply into, Shi means the world of people, or generations, Yin means
cries. The Boddhisatva of Compassion was inquiring into the suffering
(cries) that has come down the generations. Kwan Yin is considered to be
the feminine form of Avalokitesvara(Sanskrit), the bodhisattva of
compassion of Indian Buddhism whose worship was introduced into China in
the third century.
Scholars believe that the
Buddhist monk and translator Kumarajiva was the first to refer to the
female form of Kwan Yin in his Chinese translation of the Lotus Sutra in
406 A.D. Of the thirty-three appearances of the bodhisattva referred to
in his translation, seven are female. (Devoted Chinese and Japanese
Buddhists have since come to associate the number thirty-three with Kwan
Yin.)
| Although Kwan Yin
was still being portrayed as a male as late as the tenth
century, with the introduction of Tantric Buddhism into China in
the eighth century during the T'ang Dynasty, the image of the
celestial bodhisattva as a beautiful white-robed goddess was
predominant and the devotional cult surrounding her became
increasingly popular. By the ninth century there was a statue of
Kwan Yin in every Buddhist monastery in China.
Despite the controversy over the
origins of Kwan Yin as a feminine being, the depiction of a
bodhisattva as both 'god' and 'goddess' is not inconsistent with
Buddhist doctrine. The scriptures explain that a bodhisattva has
the power to embody in any form--male, female, child, even
animal�depending on the type of being he is seeking to save.
As the Lotus Sutra relates, the bodhisattva Kwan Shih Yin, "by
resort to a variety of shapes, travels in the world, conveying
the beings to salvation."
The twelfth-century legend of
the Buddhist saint Miao Shan, the Chinese princess who lived in
about 700 B.C. and is widely believed to have been Kwan Yin,
reinforced the image of the bodhisattva as a female. During the
twelfth century Buddhist monks settled on P'u-t'o Shan--the
sacred island-mountain in the Chusan Archipelago off the coast
of Chekiang where Miao Shan is said to have lived for nine
years, healing and saving sailors from shipwreck--and devotion
to Kwan Yin spread throughout northern China. |
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all of Lotus Sculpture's
statues of Kwan Yin
This picturesque island became the
chief center of worship of the compassionate Saviouress; crowds of
pilgrims would journey from the remotest places in China and even from
Manchuria, Mongolia and Tibet to attend stately services there. At one
time there were more than a hundred temples on the island and over one
thousand monks. The lore surrounding P'u-t'o island recounts numerous
appearances and miracles performed by Kwan Yin, who, it is believed,
reveals herself to the faithful in a certain cave on the island.
In the Pure Land sect of Buddhism, Kwan
Yin forms part of a ruling triad that is often depicted in temples and
is a popular theme in Buddhist art. In the center is the Buddha of
Boundless Light, Amitabha (Chinese, A-mi-t'o Fo; Japanese, Amida). To
his right is the bodhisattva of strength or power, Mahasthamaprapta, and
to his left is Kwan Yin, personifying his endless mercy.
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In Buddhist
theology Kwan Yin is sometimes depicted as the captain of the
"Bark of Salvation," guiding souls to Amitabha's Western
Paradise, or Pure Land--the land of bliss where souls may be
reborn to receive continued instruction toward the goal of
enlightenment and perfection. The journey to Pure Land is
frequently represented in woodcuts showing boats full of
Amitabha's followers under Kwan Yin's captainship.
Amitabha, a beloved figure in the
eyes of Buddhists desiring to be reborn in his Western Paradise
and to obtain freedom from the wheel of rebirth, is said to be,
in a mystical or spiritual sense, the father of Kwan Yin.
Legends of the Mahayana School recount that Avalokitesvara was
'born' from a ray of white light which Amitabha emitted from his
right eye as he was lost in ecstasy.
Thus Avalokitesvara, or Kwan
Yin, is regarded as the "reflex" of Amitabha�a further
emanation or embodiment of Karuna (compassion), the
quality which Amitabha himself embodies in the highest sense.
Many figures of Kwan Yin can be identified by the presence of a
small image of Amitabha in her crown. It is believed that as the
merciful redemptress Kwan Yin expresses Amitabha's compassion in
a more direct and personal way and prayers to her are answered
more quickly.
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The iconography of Kwan Yin depicts her
in many forms, each one revealing a unique aspect of her merciful
presence. As the sublime Goddess of Mercy whose beauty, grace and
compassion have come to represent the ideal of womanhood in the East,
she is frequently portrayed as a slender woman in flowing white robes
who carries in her left hand a white lotus, symbol of purity. Ornaments
may adorn her form, symbolizing her attainment as a bodhisattva, or she
may be pictured without them as a sign of her great virtue.
Kwan Yin's presence is widespread
through her images as the "bestower of children" which are found in
homes and temples. A great white veil covers her entire form and she may
be seated on a lotus. She is often portrayed with a child in her arms,
near her feet, or on her knees, or with several children about her. In
this role, she is also referred to as the "white-robed honored one."
Sometimes to her right and left are her two attendants, Shan-ts�ai
Tung-tsi, the "young man of excellent capacities," and Lung-wang Nu, the
"daughter of the Dragon-king."
Kwan Yin is also known as patron
bodhisattva of P'u-t'o Shan, mistress of the Southern Sea and patroness
of fishermen. As such she is shown crossing the sea seated or standing
on a lotus or with her feet on the head of a dragon.
Like Avalokitesvara she is also
depicted with a thousand arms and varying numbers of eyes, hands and
heads, sometimes with an eye in the palm of each hand, and is commonly
called "the thousand-arms, thousand-eyes" bodhisattva. In this form she
represents the omnipresent mother, looking in all directions
simultaneously, sensing the afflictions of humanity and extending her
many arms to alleviate them with infinite expressions of her mercy.
Click here to view
all of Lotus Sculpture's
statues of Kwan Yin
Symbols characteristically associated
with Kwan Yin are a willow branch, with which she sprinkles the divine
nectar of life; a precious vase symbolizing the nectar of compassion and
wisdom, the hallmarks of a bodhisattva; a dove, representing fecundity;
a book or scroll of prayers which she holds in her hand, representing
the dharma (teaching) of the Buddha or the sutra (Buddhist text) which
Miao Shan is said to have constantly recited; and a rosary adorning her
neck with which she calls upon the Buddhas for succor.
| Images of Avalokitesvara, thus
then Kwan Yin, is often shown holding a rosary; describing being
born with a rosary in one hand --- not unlike a similar story
oft repeated regarding the contemporary Japanese Zen master
Yasutani Hakuun Roshi --- and a white lotus in the other. It
is taught that the beads represent all living beings and the
turning of the beads symbolizes that Avalokitesvara is leading
them out of their state of misery and repeated rounds of rebirth
into Nirvana. Today Kwan
Yin is worshipped by Taoists as well as Mahayana
Buddhists--especially in Taiwan, Japan, Korea and once again in
her homeland of China, where the practice of Buddhism had been
suppressed by the Communists during the Cultural Revolution
(1966-69). She is the protectress of women, sailors, merchants,
craftsmen, and those under criminal prosecution, and is invoked
particularly by those desiring progeny. Beloved as a mother
figure and divine mediatrix who is very close to the daily
affairs of her devotees, Kwan Yin's role as Buddhist Madonna has
been compared to that of Mary the mother of Jesus in the West.
There is an implicit trust in
Kwan Yin's saving grace and healing powers. Many believe that
even the simple recitation of her name will bring her instantly
to the scene. One of the most famous texts associated with the
bodhisattva, the ancient Lotus Sutra whose twenty-fifth chapter,
dedicated to Kwan Yin, is known as the "Kwan Yin sutra,"
describes thirteen cases of impending disaster--from shipwreck
to fire, imprisonment, robbers, demons, fatal poisons and karmic
woes--in which the devotee will be rescued if his thoughts dwell
on the power of Kwan Yin. The text is recited many times daily
by those who wish to receive the benefits it promises. |
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Click here to view
all of Lotus Sculpture's
statues of Kwan Yin
Devotees also invoke the bodhisattva's
power and merciful intercession with the mantra OM MANI PADME HUM--
"Hail to the jewel in the lotus!" or, as it has also been interpreted,
"Hail to Avalokitesvara, who is the jewel in the heart of the lotus of
the devotee's heart!" Throughout Tibet and Ladakh, Buddhists have
inscribed OM MANI PADME HUM on flat prayer stones called "mani-stones"
as votive offerings in praise of Avalokitesvara. Thousands of these
stones have been used to build mani-walls that line the roads entering
villages and monasteries.
It is believed that Kwan Yin frequently
appears in the sky or on the waves to save those who call upon her when
in danger. Personal stories can be heard in Taiwan, for instance, from
those who report that during World War II when the United States bombed
the Japanese-occupied Taiwan, she appeared in the sky as a young maiden,
catching the bombs and covering them with her white garments so they
would not explode.
Thus altars dedicated to the Goddess of
Mercy are found everywhere--shops, restaurants, even taxicab dashboards.
In the home she is worshipped with the traditional "pai pai," a prayer
ritual using incense, as well as the use of prayer charts--sheets of
paper designed with pictures of Kwan Yin, lotus flowers, or pagodas and
outlined with hundreds of little circles. With each set of prayers
recited or sutras read in a novena for a relative, friend, or oneself,
another circle is filled in. This chart has been described as a "Ship of
Salvation" whereby departed souls are saved from the dangers of hell and
the faithful safely conveyed to Amitabha's heaven not unlike the
Cumeaean Sibyl and her golden bough in Greek mythology.
In addition to elaborate services with
litanies and prayers, devotion to Kwan Yin is expressed in the popular
literature of the people in poems and hymns of praise.
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Devout followers of Kwan Yin may
frequent local temples and make pilgrimages to larger temples on
important occasions or when they are burdened with a special
problem. The three yearly festivals held in her honor are on the
nineteenth day of the second month (celebrated as her birthday),
of the sixth month, and of the ninth month based on the Chinese
lunar calendar. In the
tradition of the Great White Brotherhood Kwan Yin is known as
the Ascended Lady Master who bears the office and title of
"Goddess of Mercy" because she ensouls the God qualities of the
law of mercy, compassion and forgiveness. She had numerous
embodiments prior to her ascension thousands of years ago and
has taken the vow of the bodhisattva to teach the unascended
children of God how to balance their karma and fulfill their
divine plan by loving service to life and the application of the
violet flame through the science of the spoken Word.
Kwan Yin preceded the Ascended
Master Saint Germain as Chohan (Lord) of the Seventh Ray of
Freedom, Transmutation, Mercy and Justice and she is one of
seven Ascended Masters who serve on the Karmic Board, a council
of justice that mediates the karma of earth's
evolutions--dispensing opportunity, mercy and the true and
righteous judgments of the Lord to each lifestream on earth. She
is hierarch of the etheric Temple of Mercy over Peking, China,
where she focuses the light of the Divine Mother on behalf of
the children of the ancient land of China, the souls of
humanity, and the sons and daughters of God. |
Click here to view
all of Lotus Sculpture's
statues of Kwan Yin
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