Kuan Yin
The name Kuan Shih Yin, as she is often called, means literally "the one
who regards, looks on, or hears the sounds of the world."Kuan 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 Kuan 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. Despite the controversy over the origins
of Kuan Yin as a feminine being, the depiction of a bodhisattva as both 'god'
and 'goddess' is not inconsistent with Buddhist doctrine. As the Lotus Sutra
relates, the bodhisattva Kuan Shih Yin, "by resort to a variety of shapes,
travels in the world, conveying the beings to salvation."1The 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 Kuan 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 Kuan Yin spread throughout
northern China. In the Pure Land sect of Buddhism, Kuan 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 Kuan Yin, personifying his endless mercy.
In Buddhist theology Kuan 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. 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 Kuan Yin,
is regarded as the "reflex" of Amitabha-a further emanation or embodiment
of "maha karuna (great compassion), the quality which Amitabha himself
embodies in the highest sense. Many figures of Kuan Yin can be identified by
the presence of a small image of Amitabha in her crown. It is believed that
as the merciful redemptress Kuan Yin expresses Amitabha's compassion in a more
direct and personal way and prayers to her are answered more quickly. The iconography
of Kuan 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. 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!"