Open your heart as Kuan Yin opens Her arms to embrace you. Listen to her wisdom that she shares, not with words but by Her example and through Her love. All is possible.

There are several stories about Kuan Yin. In one, she decides to become a nun as opposed to agreeing to an arranged marriage. Her father, after failing to dissuade her from this life, has her put to death. Because of her kindness she was made into a Goddess and began her journey to heaven. However she felt such compassion for those left on earth, she chose to remain until she could ease all suffering. In another story, it was a supernatural tiger that took Kuan Yin to one of the realms of hell after her father put her to death. However, instead of being tortured, she played music and flowers bloomed all around her thereby turning hell into a paradise. It is said that one way that she eased the suffering of poverty by giving the Oolong tea plant to a poor farmer in China. Because of this gift, his entire village was able to escape destitution.

Often in life we can feel, like Kuan Yin, as if we are caught in a type of hell. We find ourselves in hells of depression, fear, sadness, distress, or illness. Although everyone moves through these emotions during various times in our lives, our hell, our suffering, is created when we find ourselves stuck there, unable to leave. Kuan Yin teaches us compassion, not only for others but, most important, compassion for ourselves. She grants us mercy and allows us to forgive. What she shows us is that who we are and who we can become can change the world around us, simply by our being. She teaches us that as opposed to practicing compassion and mercy, we need to become them. When we release our hurt and become filled with love and compassion our perspective changes and our hell then changes to paradise. Read the rest of this entry →