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The Goddess Kuan Yin

Kuan Yin. The goddess of compassion. Of all the goddesses, she is most revered andbeloved throughout the world.

Kuan Yin has countless stories and countless forms. Here are but a few:

"Woman's work," the Buddhas all agreed. "Who but a gentle mother could ever dream ofbringing boundless love and comfort to all the people, easing the inevitable pains of humanlife?"

After all, the man had failed and now lay shattered at their feet.

Carefully they began to reshape the pieces of the Indian bodhisattva* namedAvalokitesvara, who was known as the Merciful Lord of Enlightenment .

He once had chosen to remain on earth to relieve thesuffering of humanity rather than to partake of thepleasures of Nirvana that he had earned.

Now he was reborn as the goddess Kuan Yin and readyto start his work again--this time in a female form that wasbetter suited to the task.

And as part of this spectacular god to goddess makeover,the Buddhas equipped her with a thousand arms (all the

better to reach out and stop the suffering of those aroundthe world) and placed eyes in the palms of her hands sothat she could easily see anyone who might be in need.

 

Read the story of Kuan Yin's creationin the myths of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.

Just as you'd expect from a goddess who figures in the mythology of so many differentcountries, there are a myriad of varying stories we could choose to retell about Kuan Yin. Sowe've selected a few of our favorites to share with you.

Kuan Yin :: She Who Sees and Hears

the Cries of the Wor ld

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As an archetype, the goddess Kuan Yin has no equal. Centuries later we find echoes of hermyths in folk-tales and literature, works as enduring as Cinderella, Snow White, and evenShakespeare's King Lear .

The Princess Who Became

the Goddess Kuan Yin.

The villagers knew at once that something phenomenal had just occurred.

At the very moment the Queen had given birth, the earth had trembled beneath their feet asfragrant blossoms sprang up through the winter snow that covered the hillsides.

The King and Queen, however, were not impressed.

They had asked for a boy, wanting a son who could consolidate their power and theirwealth.

What use was yet another daughter . . . especially one like Miao-Shan who was so kind andpure?

Eventually they decided to marry her off to a wealthy man. But Miao-Shan refused, tellingthem she would do so only on three conditions. She would comply only if the marriagewould:

relieve the suffering endured in old ageease the pain of those who are ill, andcomfort the dying and those bereaved.

She begged to be allowed to become a nun instead.

But her father was enraged and forced her to do all the menial tasks around their home forher refuson. To make matters worse, her mother and two sisters taunted her unmercifully asshe slaved away at her chores.

At night, while the others slept Miao-Shan stoked the fires andswept the floors and chopped up all the vegetables for the

next day's meals without complaint. The animals living aroundthe palace felt sorry for the poor princess who was so kind andbegan to help her with the chores so she could nap.

Her father, enraged that she could get so much done and stillseem so refreshed, eventually agreed to let her go to thetemple to become a nun.

But, still angered by her insistence on helping the unfortunate,he ordered the nuns to treat her so badly that she wouldbecome disheartened and return home chastened and willingto submit to his authority.

 

Kuan Yin: Namesand Symbols of

the AsianGoddesses

The nuns put the Maio-Shan in charge of the the food supply . . . managing the garden andcollecting water from the distant stream. They thought this would be disheartening since itwas the middle of winter.To the shock of all, crops appeared in the garden and a streamsprang up just outside the kitchen door.

When her father got word of these miracles, he decided to put and end to her life and sentone of his henchmen to kill her. As Maio-Shan knelt to bow her head for the axe, she meeklymet the henchman's eye and said, 'You must not worry for what you have to do. . . you have been forgiven.' 

Shaken, the henchman thrust his weapon on a nearby stone and the axe shattered into athousand pieces. Then the clouds came down from the hillside and carried the young nun tosafety on a nearby island where she continued her religious study, prayer and meditationwhile living on her own.

 

A few years later, the king fell ill. His doctors said he would soon die.

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Statue :: Goddess Kuan YinPorcelain figure by Chaozhong He,

photographed by Mountain at the ShanghaiMuseum, photo modified.

 

As his condition worsened a travelling monk arrived (someversions of the myth say it was actually Kuan Yin indisguise). He told the king he knew of a cure, a medicinemade from the ground-up eyes and arms of one who wasfull of love and forgiveness.

The king called his other two daughters to his side, askingthem to provide this gift of life. They, of course, refused.

Then the monk told him that he knew of someone he wassure would gladly make the sacrifice, so the king sent hisenvoy to make the request. Miao-Shan pulled out her eyesand severed her arms, telling the envoy to hurry to takethem to the king so that he might be quickly healed.

The monk prepared the medicine and gave it to the kingwho was quickly cured. He tried to thank the monk but themonk refused, saying, 'It is the one who made the sacrifice that you should thank.' 

So the king and his wife made the journey to the island andwhen they realized it was their daughter who had given up

so much, Miao-Shan told them that 'Knowing my father's love, I was honored to be able to repay him with my arms and eyes.'  And just at the moment, the clouds descended.

When the fog cleared Miao-Shan was no longer there. Theearth again began to tremble and thousands of blossomsfloated down from the sky. The royal family looked up andsaw the goddess Kuan Yin in the sky, manifesting herthousand arms and eyes.

To honor their daughter, who was now known as thegoddess Kuan Yin, they built a shrine on the place of herascension and named it Fragrant Mountain.

 

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Read the abbreviatedversion of her myths :

Goddess Kwan Yin (Kuan Yin)

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