Our Lady of Peace




Kuan Yin (Oriental)

Just as Catholic Christianity has provided an antidote to pure theological patriarchy by encouraging the reverence of the Virgin Mary, so Chinese Buddhism evolved a feminine bodhisattva, or Buddha-to-be, named Kuan Yin. And just as Mary captured the hearts of Catholic worshipers, so Kuan Yin far outstripped the male bodhisattvas in popularity. Both in Japan (as Kwannon, who is often pictured as male) and in pre-revolutionary China, this semidivine being was honored in virtually every home; she was the most powerful being in the entire Chinese pantheon.

It was said that Kuan Yin was so concerned for humanity that, upon receiving enlightenment, she chose to retain human form rather than transcend it as pure energy. And so she would stay until every single living creature attained enlightenment. Her name translates “she who hears the weeping world”; Kuan Yin sat on her paradise island P'u T'o Shan answering every prayer addressed to her. The mere utterance of her name in prayer was said to assure salvation from physical and spiritual harm. Even better was the observance of Kuan Yin's own testimony of peace and mercy; her most devout worshipers ate no flesh and lived entirely without doing violence to other beings.

Sometimes it was said that Kuan Yin originally lived on earth as Miao Shan, a young woman of unearthly virtue. There are many stories of her life. Although her father wished her to marry, Miao Shan decided to join a monastery. Her father, hearing of her presence in the convent burned it to the ground. In one story her pure goodness in the land of the dead soon depopulates it, as its inhabitants are sent by Miao Shan to Paradise. The Lord of the Dead returns her to life before he loses all his kingdom. In another story a rainbow carried her to heaven, where her innocent death earned her transmutation into the divine world.

On the other hand, it was sometimes said that the bodhisattva emerged directly from the light of Amitabha Buddha's eye. As this story is also told of the male Indian bodhisattva Avalokita, some scholars believe that Kuan Yin represents a merger of that compassionate figure with the Tibetan star-goddess Tara.

In either case, the feminine Kuan Yin has for centuries been the chief symbol of human compassion in the Orient. Often she holds willows or jewels; she makes symbolic gestures of generosity and the banishment of fear and hardship. She often appears holding a child, a madonna-like image of maternal love. The most effective meditation is the constant repetition of Kuan﷓Yin's name; “Namo Kuan Shi Yin Pu-Sah” (Hail Kuan Shi Yin Bodisattva) This reminder of Kuan Yin's peace and generosity can bring such qualities into every aspect of her devotee’s life.

Text adapted from Patricia Monaghan's The New Book of Goddesses and Heroines


There are countless statues and images of Kuan Yin (Kannon) in Japan. At least three statues of Kuan Yin are present in the Peace Park at Hiroshima. They are shrines, memorials and tokens of the desire for peace and healing from war.


Prayer for Peace

Blessed Kuan Yin
Please me with us at this critical time
As we let go of one era
May something new and wondrous be born.
Replace the ravages of war
With the sweetness of peace.
May Light replace all darkness
And Love replace all fear.
Please heal all our hearts
Oh Wise One
Amen / Blessed Be.


Kuan Yin Peace Prayer

Blessed Kuan Yin, lover of all places,
We pray for peace in our hearts and homes,
In our nations and our world.
Lead us from hate to love, from war to peace.
Let peace fill our hearts, our world, our universe.
O Compassionate One,
Knit us together in mind and flesh,
In feeling and in spirit, and make us one.
Give us the wisdom to teach our children
To love, to respect, and to be kind
To each other so that they may grow
With peace of mind.
Let us learn to share all good things that
You provide for us on this Earth.
Let there be peace in our world.


 
 

Dona nobis pacem; grant us peace.