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Kuan Shih Yin

Kuan Shih Yin is one of the most universally beloved Buddhist deities. According to tradition, Kuan Shih Yin had been an ordinary person who had followed the path of wisdom and service until after many incarnations she reached the supreme goal - nirvana. Pausing a moment at the threshold, she heard a great wail of woe rising from the world. Without a second thought this noble-hearted soul turned back, determined to remain until every being without exception should precede her into heavenly paradise. Her name is translated as "the one who looks on the world and hears its lamentations."

 

As a true Bodhisattva (Enlightened One) of Mercy and Compassion, Kuan Shih Yin is unique among the heavenly hierarchy in that she is so utterly free from pride or vengefulness that she remains reluctant to punish even those to whom a severe lesson might be appropriate. Individuals who could be sentenced to dreadful penance in other systems can attain rebirth and renewal by simply calling upon her graces with utter and absolute sincerity. It is said that, even for one kneeling beneath the executioner's sword already raised to strike, a single heartfelt cry to Bodhisattva Kuan Shih Yin will cause the blade to fall shattered to the ground.

 

"Never will I seek nor receive private, individual salvation or enter into final peace alone," Kuan Shih Yin said. "Forever and everywhere will I live and strive for the redemption of every creature throughout the world from the bonds of conditioned existence."

 

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Uploaded on May 5, 2005
Taken on March 16, 2005