Guanyin, Goddess of Mercy

Gwan-eum in Bongeunsa Temple, Seoul, South Korea

Guanyin is a bodhisattva that has been venerated in China as the “Goddess of Mercy” since Mahāyāna Buddhism was first introduced into China from India during the 2nd century CE.  Each Asian country each has its own name for Guanyin which is short for Guān shì Yīn Pú Sà.  A literal translation is “the One who hears the Sounds of the World” or “the perceiver of sounds in the world.”  In Christianity we might think of this as the one who hears the cry of the poor.  In Hong Kong she is called Kwun Yam, and in Macau, Kun Iam. In Korea she is called Gwan-eum, and in Vietnam the name is pronounced Quan Âm.  In Japan she is called Kannon or Kanwon.

Mahāyāna Buddhists believe that when they leave this world Guanyin will place them in the heart of a lotus from where they will be sent to a land of pure joy, the western paradise the Chinese called Jílè.  Among Buddhists there is disagreement whether this paradise is a literal location or a subjective reality, but because of her legendary association with passage into it Guanyin is invoked at Buddhist funerals to assist in transferring the consciousness of the deceased from this world to the next.

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