Kuan-Yin
(also Guan-yin & the goddess Kannon)

The Chinese bodhisattva (Buddhistic prophet) to whom childless women turn for help. He manifests himself in any conceivable form wherever a being needs his help, especially when someone is menaced by water, demons, fire, or sword. Kuan-yin, whose name means "Who Contemplates the [Supplicating] Sound of the World", along with Samantabhadra, Kshitigarbha (Di-cang) and Manjushri (Wen-shu), is one of the four great bodishattvas of Buddhism. Guan-yin is identified as the male bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, also known as Chenresi in Tibetan, "One Who Hears the Cries of the World".

In more recent representation, Guan-yin is often depicted with distinct feminine features, an effect of Taoistic and Tantric influences from the 8th to 10th century. She is often depicted as the Thousand Armed, Thousand Eyed bodhisattva, and later in a form inspired by the Virgin Mary figures from the West. In many representations, Guan-yin has a child on one arm or appears in the company of a maiden who holds a fish basked or is shown together with Wei-tuo. In other depictions Kuan-yin is shown standing on clouds or riding a dragon in front of a waterfall. As Guan-yin of the Southern Sea, he stands on a cliff in the midst of flaming waves and rescues shipwrecked persons from the sea (which symbolizes samsara, the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth). He usually holds a lotus blossom or a willow twig and a vase containing heavenly dew or the nectar of immortality.

Guan-yin is also worshipped in Japan as the goddess Kannon by both Buddhist and Shinto groups.

A personal essay from a freind

Kuan Yin, the Chinese Goddess of compassion & mercy has been my patroness and mother since 1993.

Kuan Yin is perhaps one of the best loved Goddesses of China and the Chinese. She is most often seen sitting on a lotus, the flower of enlightenment, holding a vase of the dew of compassion. She is sometimes seen with a lion or children in her lap or her arms. Kuan Yin is also know as the Goddess of fertility, healing, love and "She who hears the cries of the world". Images of her can be found in homes, temples, and within 1,000s of shrines, grottoes besides roads and shaded pools. People of all ages bring her gifts of fruit and flowers, but not in supplication for there is no need. Kuan Yin, the merciful and gentle mother, knows and does what is best so quietly and gently, she guides without the need to punish or coerce.

She is derived from the Buddhist god Avalokitesvara
and was introduced into China around 600ad as a male deity, but the Chinese consider compassion, mercy and love to feminine characteristics as so transformed Kuan Yin into a goddess. In rural China, a man normally approaches her through a female intermediary, if none is available then he appeals to her himself but apologizes for the omission first. To the humble, she is goddess, mother, friend, guide, and protector.
Her name in invoked if in danger. I have recently
found myself calling Kuan Yin during nightmares.
Devotees say they often feel her nearness, or see her
in person. Like her, devotees seek to help others by
giving of themselves and whatever they have.

One story tells that before she was a goddess, Kuan
Yin was the youngest daughter of a cruel father. When she saw her father force her sisters to marry unkind but wealthy men, Kuan Yin asked to enter the temple instead. Her father agreed, but secretly ordered the temple residents to give her the hardest chores to discourage her. The animals nearby the temple saw her hardships and decided to help her. The tigers gathered wood for the fire, the snakes brought water to the temple, the birds collected the vegetables from the garden, while the spirit of fire cooked the meals for everyone. When news of these miracles reached her father, he set fire to the temple. But Kuan Yin put out the fire with her hands alone, without suffering a burn. Finally, her father gave orders for her to be killed for disobedience. After her death, Kuan Yin was brought to heaven, where her pure heart and mercy
toward others transformed her into a goddess.
But just as she was about to cross heaven's threshold, she heard a cry. It was someone suffering down on earth. Moved by pity, she asked to be returned to earth to help anyone in need. She vowed never to leave until the last human being was free from pain.
Many people believe she is still with us today.

Kuan Yin has been a loving and gentle mother, granting me love and happiness and prosperity, guiding me and showing me my choices and giving me the tools to make my decisions, allowing me to make mistakes and then seeing me thru them. She has taught me to be compassionate, merciful, and forgiving of others especially those who wish me no good. I am grateful for the love and light she has shown me in the last five years.