GUAN YIN

Guan Yin in the temple this morning.

Hainan 108m Guan Yin surrounded by sea.

Today, 15th march 2009 is the birthday of Guan Yin (观音) or Avalokiteśvara.

So, I am not going to talk about the opening of a new temple, Bodhi Temple here in Perth or the major lion dance (around 10 ‘lions’) I saw or the wonderful vegetarian food (but seriously the vegetarian ham is so nice) I had. Ha-ha.

Let’s have a look at stuff or some information regarding to Guan Yin.

Guan Yin is commonly accepted as a female. There are some story and even statue of Guan Yin being a male or some consider Guan Yin as neither. Sanskrit Avalokiteśvara is considered as her male form.

Guanshi'yin (观世音) is another name of Avalokiteśvara which means observing the sounds or cries of the world.

Guan Yin is usually shown in a white flowing robe with a water jar in her hand with is it bamboo?

It is also believed that Guan Yin can assume whatsoever gender and form is needed to liberate beings from ignorance and dukkha.

There are of course a lot of legends or stories about Guan Yin but the one about Thousand Arms is my favorite.

It is said that Guan Yin vowed to never rest until she had freed all sentient beings from reincarnation. Despite strenuous effort, she realized that still many unhappy beings were yet to be saved. After struggling to comprehend the needs of so many, her head split into eleven pieces. Amitabha Buddha, seeing her plight, gave her eleven heads with which to hear the cries of the suffering. Upon hearing these cries and comprehending them, Avalokitesvara attempted to reach out to all those who needed aid, but found that her two arms shattered into pieces. Once more, Amitabha came to her aid and appointed her a thousand arms with which to aid the many. ß Copy and paste from Wikipedia.

A lot more to write but I guess I better back to my studies. Monday = studies and labs.