Kuan Yin carries many titles because her capacity to respond is unlimited.  She is feminine, the “Mother of all Buddhas”, bringing the power of receptivity into your divining.  She is the receptive factor of concentration.  The capacity to receive completely What Is, unconditionally.

Kuan Yin is illustrated in many ways. She can be The Lotus Sutra, pouring compassion upon the earth. As the Queen of Healing she holds a rosary and a willow branch. As the Star of the Sea, Kuan Yin of the Southern Ocean protects sailors and travelers on the sea of life while mastering emotional storms as well as literal ones. The Armed Warrior carries bow, shield, and weapons in each hand to combat mental monsters.  With her many faces, she symbolizes the means by which you can make your ego moldable. She makes change possible in your thinking. She enables you to let go when it is time, and to persevere when needed.

When Avalokitesvara watches, Kuan Yin listens.  Where Avalokitesvara observes experience remaining unchanged by it, Kuan Yin embraces experience in order to be changed.

The receptive factor of concentration absorbs the essence of where the attention is focused.  Think of the times when you have been enthralled by a speaker.  Due to your high level of interest, your capacity to receive what he is saying is quickened.  The interest level depends upon content.  Your capacity to receive depends upon state.  Here, they are both present fulfilling a function that allows you to listen with your Mind as well as hear with your Body’s ears.  You are the observer; you are the listener.  At any given moment, you are “either”.

While Avalokitesvara represents the state of consciousness, Kuan Yin is the content of consciousness.  He affords you the capacity to keep your attention on what the speaker is communicating; she offers permission to reflect upon the meaning of what you are hearing.  Kuan Yin provides the space for your thoughts about what you observe to come forward.  She is a magnet for like thoughts, and for thoughts that seem to be in opposition.  Kuan Yin’s gift is enabling us to realize that agreeing with the speaker is as polarizing as disagreeing.

Thought is cause. Thought is created in the image, or imagination, of its creator. Therefore, the thoughts that arise in Mind as we listen to the speaker, the content in our individual thinking, tells us more about ourselves than about the speaker. His message is the same. It does not change.

The associated thoughts arising from the reception of that message are infinite. Does the speaker spark our imagination, aiding us to envision new ways of living? Does he inspire gratitude, hope, admiration, respect, awe, resentment, revenge, jealousy, enmity? Do his ideas invite discussion, debate, or ridicule? Does the speaker remind you of someone you know?  Answering these kinds of questions helps you identify the content in your consciousness. The desires, fears, understandings, misgivings, ideas, and beliefs you hold determine the way you see life and the choices you make. Examining and authenticating content is where true advances in Self awareness are made.

The KUAN YIN VERSES

Kuan Yin encourages you to be who are you. She accepts you unconditionally. All you need do is call upon her. The content of your thoughts do not determine her love for you, nor her willingness to come to your aid. She responds when we fall victim to our own shortcomings and suffer the polarities of the finite world. She offers safe passage through the emotions into the Pure Land where virtue fosters understanding.