Greetings from Russell's Remnant:                                                                                  www.oocities.org/dkone_us

            Russell Whitesell pointed out to his classes that, as a general rule, Bodhisattvas are great beings who have made a promise to the Planetary Deity that they will not leave this planet and proceed with their own evolution until every human, animal, plant, and grain of sand becomes a god.  What an expression of love for those holy beings who care for planet Earth!

            One of those beings is described as Kuan Yin in John Blofeld’s Bodhisattva of Compassion.

            Kuan Yin means “She-Who-Hearkens-to-the-Cries-of-the-World.”

Kuan Yin is known to many as the Chinese Goddess of Love.  Her significance as a celestial Bodhisattva, a kind of beingless being, represents one of the most exalted concepts of Mahayana Buddism.  To my mind, Kuan Yin’s gentle form is a worthier symbol than the figure of a tortured being hanging from a cross or of an awesome father god.  There are good psychological grounds for envisioning compassion in womanly form.

The Tibetan counterpart and twin is the compassionate and slyly playful Tara.

The Indo-Tibetan tertiary embodiment of compassion is Tara, a beautiful female divinity able to manifest herself in twenty-one different forms for the sake of succoring sentient beings.

Tara the Saviouress succors all who call upon her, heart full, mind one-pointed.  Tara is said to respond upon the instant should one do no more than cry aloud her name just once with heart-felt fervor.  Though it is generally considered more effective to call aloud her mantra – Om Tare Tutare Ture Svaha.

The most vital part of the Tibetan Tara meditations is the attainment of a state of void in which adept and void are one and indistinguishable; thus, the adept transcends the plane of relative truth.  Each time this is done successfully, a great blow is struck at the delusion of possessing a self.

The Chinese decided to combine Avalokita and Tara into a sort of female Avalokita, whom we call Kuan Yin.

Avalokita, bearing a lotus flower, was born from a ray of light that sprang from Amitabha Buddha’s right eye; and she straightway uttered OM MANI PADME HUM.  This is the mantra by which she should be invoked.

Kuan Yin’s or Avalokita’s mantra Om Mani Padme Hum is, of course, the best known of all mantras.

Kuan Yin is also identified as the diety, Niang Niang, the Heavenly Mother of the Taoist pantheon.

In Japan Kuan Yin goes by the name of Kwannonsama.

A Bodhisattva’s wrath is directed always at error itself, never at errant beings.

The reality of the Bodhisattva is not hard to accept, once one recognizes that even elephants and mountains are all creations of Mind – like everything else in existence.

The Bodhisattvas are real.  If you doubt it, you will be beyond their help.

Day and night I recite the Bodhisattva’s sacred name, rejoicing in the beauty of its sound.  Sometimes in multiples of 108.

When Kuan Yin assuaged my fatigue, it was because my mind willed that fatigue away, but needed the stimulation of the Bodhisattva’s presence to function thus.  Believe me, the Bodhisattvas are as real as earth and sky and have infinite power to aid beings in distress, but they exist within our common mind which itself is the container of earth and sky.

“Whence came such faith in Kuan Yin’s power to ferry sentient beings across samsara’s ocean.”     The Enigma

            She could be relied upon to behave like a fondly indulgent parent, provided only that one’s wish was not evil in itself.  No special degree of piety or strict conduct was required of the petitioners, beyond firm belief in Kuan Yin’s power to aid.

            Her chief attribute is pure, unwavering compassion.  She is reluctant to punish even those to whom a severe lesson would be salutary.

            “To hear her name and see her form delivers beings from every woe.”     Lotus Sutra

They who seek compassion must themselves be compassionate to every being alike.

Kuan Yin devotes herself to the rescue of suffering sentient beings.

Many people have been literally saved from disaster in the nick of time by calling on Kuan Yin.

I spoke to the wise one freely of my affinity to Kuan Yin.  He replied, “You think too much!  Kuan Yin is here in front of your nose.  Smell!”  Though he said no more on the subject, I recognized that one sentence as the most impressive sermon I had ever heard.

Kuan Yin.  She voiced her pure desire to liberate afflicted beings.

To hear her name or see her form, or fervently recite her name delivers beings from every woe.

Adrift at sea, one thought of Kuan Yin’s saving power would spare you from the hungry waves.

Pursued by evil men, one thought of Kuan Yin’s saving power and not a hair would come to harm.

Had you imbibed some fatal draught, one thought of Kuan Yin’s saving power would nullify its poison.

No matter what black evils gather – demons, savages, beasts, what ills of birth, age, sickness, death - Kuan Yin will one by one destroy them.

The mysterious sound of Kuan Yin’s name is holy like the ocean’s thunder – no other like it in the world.  Therefore, should we speak it often.

Call upon it, never doubting, Kuan Yin – sound pure and holy; to those who stand in mortal fear a never-wavering support.     Ta Pei Chou Mantra in China

Kuan Yin’s compassion extends to the worst of evil-doers, though she never assists them in their pursuit of evil.  Always she endeavors to turn evil to good.

When Kuan Yin comes to you, she smiles at you – such a lovely smile.  She’s so glad to see you that tears of happiness sparkle in Her eyes.  If you keep your mind calm by just whispering Her name and not trying too hard, She will stay a long, long time.  (Note: Seeing her this way was one of the deeply moving experiences of my life.)

The essence of the practice is not to know her, but to become her.

Kuan Yin on the lotus – spotless purity arising from fetid mud – is preeminently her symbol.

In her hand Kuan Yin stores the dew of compassion in a vase.

Kuan Yin’s principal emblems are a precious vase held in one hand and a willow spray held in the other, symbolizing respectively “sweet dew” (also known as marta) meaning the nectar of wisdom and compassion, and secondly her willingness to sprinkle it upon the heads of all who invoke her aid.

Another of her forms is depicted almost exactly like a Buddha figure seated in meditation.

To write in ignorance may do harm.  Should one wish to go on from here, books will not do.  The way is to practice a yoga leading to direct perception.  The adept must live frugally; and he must act selflessly, compassionately and with perfect impartiality towards all sentient beings.  Moreover, entrance to the yogic path can scarcely be made without a teacher.  That one should take Kuan Yin or Tara as the vehicle is by no means essential, but it is traditionally taught that these two beings are easier to woo than some others.