Who is the Goddess of Mercy Kwan Yin?
Editors, Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
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The deva Avalokistesvara |
Kwan Yin or Guanyin is an East Asian
bodhisattva associated with compassion as venerated by
Mahayana Buddhists.
She is commonly known as the "
Goddess of Mercy" in English. The Chinese name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, meaning "[The One Who] Perceives the Sounds of the World."
Some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Kwan Yin in the
heart of a lotus and then sent to the western
Pure Land of
Sukhāvatī.
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The blessed saint Mother Mary |
Kwan Yin is often referred to as the "most widely beloved Buddhist divinity" [almost exactly like the beloved and world renown Catholic Goddess of Mercy
Mother Mary/Miriam/Muire] with miraculous powers to intercede and assist all those who pray to her, as is said in the apocryphal
Lotus Sutra and
Karandavyuha Sutra.
Several large temples in East Asia are dedicated to Kwan Yin including
Shitennō-ji,
Sensō-ji,
Kiyomizu-dera, and
Sanjūsangen-dō as well as
Shaolin Temple.
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Kwan Yin as Prajnaparamita |
Kwan Yin is beloved by all Buddhist traditions in a non-denominational way and can be found in most Tibetan Vajrayana temples under the name
Chenrezig. Furthermore, Kwan Yin can also be found in some influential
Theravada temples such as
Gangaramaya and
Kelaniya of
Sri Lanka. Statues can also be found in the Asian art sections of most museums in the world as a widely depicted subject of
Asian art and sculpture.
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I'm the most popular female figure |
It is generally accepted among East Asian adherents that Guanyin originated as the
Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara.
Commonly known in English as the Mercy Goddess or
Goddess of Mercy but
often depicted as both male and female to show this figure's limitless transcendence beyond gender Guanyin is also revered by
Taoists as an
immortal. In
Chinese folk religion, there are
mythical accounts about Guanyin's origins that are not associated with the Avalokiteśvara described in Buddhist sutras.
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