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QUAN YIN: THE
GODDESS OF COMPASSION AND MERCY
adapted from an essay by Bethleen Cole
Quan Yin is one of the most universally beloved of deities in the
Buddhist tradition. Also known as Kuan Yin, Quan'Am (Vietnam), Kannon
(Japan), and Kanin (Bali), She is the embodiment of compassionate loving
kindness. As the Bodhisattva of Compassion, She hears the cries of all
beings. Quan Yin enjoys a strong resonance with the Christian Mary, the
Mother of Jesus, and the Tibetan goddess Tara.
In many images She is depicted carrying the pearls of illumination.
Often Quan Yin is shown pouring a stream of healing water, the
"Water of Life," from a small vase. With this water devotees
and all living things are blessed with physical and spiritual peace. She
holds a sheaf of ripe rice or a bowl of rice seed as a metaphor for
fertility and sustenance. The dragon, an ancient symbol for high
spirituality, wisdom, strength, and divine powers of transformation, is
a common motif found in combination with the Goddess of Mercy.
Sometimes Kuan Yin is represented as a many armed figure, with each hand
either containing a different cosmic symbol or expressing a specific
ritual position, or mudra. This characterizes the Goddess as the source
and sustenance of all things. Her cupped hands often form the Yoni Mudra,
symbolizing the womb as the door for entry to this world through the
universal female principle.
Quan Yin, as a true Enlightened One, or Bodhisattva, vowed to remain in
the earthly realms and not enter the heavenly worlds until all other
living things have completed their own enlightenment and thus become
liberated from the pain-filled cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
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