Kwan Yin?

[LadyCelt]

I think she is a Buddhist deity, and with love but not sure. I was wonderiing if I could find some more info on her.

thanks.

[Agaliha]

Here you go:

She is a bodhisattva-- a Buddist Goddess of compassion. Also called: Quan Yin.

http://www.crystalinks.com/quanyin.html
http://www.geocities.com/isisdownunder1/
http://www.goddess.ws/kuan_yin.html
http://www.lava.net/tribalartifacts/qunynex.htm
http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2005/471.html
http://www.mykwanyin.com/kwgoddess.html
http://thaliatook.com/kwanyin.html
http://www.holymtn.com/gods/kuanyin.htm

There are also some theads on MW about her:

http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=88985 <---has other links posted there too

http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=8809

Read those and you'll learn :)

[LadyCelt]

thanks for the help

[Agaliha]

Found another site: http://www.purifymind.com/Kuan.htm has tons of articles.

[Theres]

"Buddhist deity" is a bit of a misnomer.

in Buddhist tradition Kwan Yin is a bodhisattva, or an enlightened being.
this is someone who has reincarnated beyond the need for the human plane, but comes back anyway to help... an ascended being, if you will.

[Agaliha]

Yup, very true Theres, though there are many that see her as part of the divine and a deity.
Tara and her many forms is another one too-- seen as bodhisattva and by some a Goddess.
::shrug::

[Anubis RainHawk]

On another thread DebLipp said that Kuan Yin is actually a pre-Buddhist goddess, I think.

[Theres]

Yup, very true Theres, though there are many that see her as part of the divine and a deity.

oh i agree, absolutely. i was just refering to Her Buddhist aspect.

however i think Kwan Yin crosses over these distinct lines (as Anubis R mentioned above) and can be found in other traditions besides Buddhism, in which case She is definitely a goddess.

[MacMorrighan]

I think she is a Buddhist deity, and with love but not sure. I was wonderiing if I could find some more info on her.

thanks.

Well, Kwan Yin [also Quan Yin, Goon Yam, or Guanyin] is a Chinese Bodhisattva of Mercy-- the most popularly worshipped Goddess on the planet (Genesha is the most popularly worshipped God). Origionally male, which makes Him/Her a transgendered Deity or Avatar, He/She renounced His/Her own divinity until humanity has become more enlightened and our suffering has been ended. The Bodhisvatta is "She who hears the wails of the weeping world," and according to some Asian-Americans He/She likes the colour red-- which is of course why many of Her idols are red, the Chinese colour symbolic of luck; although, other idols of the Goddess are white and portray Him/Her holding a vessell of gold. It is also not uncommon to see Him/Her portrayed standing or sitting on a lotus.

He/She also appears to be the especial Patron of women, children, sailor, and fishermen. Kwan Yin can also transform into Her earlier male visage, Avalokiteshvara, at Will. It was in the 19th. century, and even earlier, that Chinese women belongd to societieis such as The Golden Orchid Association that paid homage to the Bodhisattva and resolved both lesbianism and feminism-- to them He/She was a God/dess that not only watches over women, but rejects heterosexual marriage in order to devote one's life to spiritual developement.

There are also, alledgedly, prophetic poems that ae attributed to Kwan Yin. See also: Kuan Yin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwan-Yin).

Take Care,
Wade MacMorrighan

[Psycmoe]

Not to take over the thread... but is a bodhisattva similar in function and such to a hindi Dakini?

[omar]

Kwan yin is called Kannon in Japan & Buddha is called Shakyamuni there. Info from Zen Mt. Monastery & Dharma Communications,P.O. Box 156 Mt. Tremper, N.Y. 12457.