The Guardian Angel of Buddhism

As Mary is the guiding spirit of Rome, so is Kuan Yin of the Buddhist
faith.

According to a beautiful Chinese legend, Kuan Yin. when about to
enter Heaven, heard a cry of anguish rising from the earth beneath
her, and, moved by pity, paused as her feet touched the glorious
threshold. Hence her name 'Kuan (Shih) Yin' (one who notices or hears
the cry, or prayer, of the world).

Kuan Yin was at one time always represented as a man; but in the
T'ang dynasty and Five Dynasties we find him represented as a woman,
and he has been generally, though not invariably, so represented
since that time.

In old Buddhism Shakyamuni was the chief god, and in many temples
he still nominally occupies the seat of honour, but he is completely
eclipsed by the God or Goddess of Mercy.

"The men love her, the children adore her, and the women chant her
prayers. Whatever the temple may be, there is nearly always a chapel
for Kuan Yin within its precincts; she lives in many homes, and in
many, many hearts she sits enshrined. She is the patron goddess of
mothers, and when we remember the relative value of a son in Chinese
estimation we can appreciate the heartiness of the worship. She
protects in sorrow, and so millions of times the prayer is offered,
'Great mercy, great pity, save from sorrow, save from suffering,' or,
as it is in the books, 'Great mercy, great pity, save from misery,
save from evil, broad, great, efficacious, responsive Kuan Yin Buddha,'
She saves the tempest-tossed sailor, and so has eclipsed the Empress
of Heaven, who, as the female Neptune, is the patroness of seamen;
in drought the mandarins worship the Dragon and the Pearly Emperor,
but if they fail the bronze Goddess of Mercy from the hills brings
rain. Other gods are feared, she is loved; others have black,
scornful faces, her countenance is radiant as gold, and gentle as
the moon-beam; she draws near to the people and the people draw near
to her. Her throne is upon the Isle of Pootoo [P'u T'o], to which
she came floating upon a water-lily. She is the model of Chinese
beauty, and to say a lady or a little girl is a 'Kuan Yin' is the
highest compliment that can be paid to grace and loveliness. She is
fortunate in having three birthdays, the nineteenth of the second,
sixth, and ninth moons." There are many metamorphoses of this goddess.

The Buddhist Saviour

"She is called Kuan Yin because at any cry of misery she 'hears the