Lessons from the Buddhist Goddess Quan Yin

Quan Yin (also spelled Guanyin, Kuan Yin, or Kwan Yin) is “She Who Hears the Cries of the World,” the embodiment of compassion in Buddhism and other Eastern traditions. She is said to have once been Avalokiteshvara, a man who became a bodhisattva, an enlightened being who maintains their earthly form to help other beings attain liberation. Avalokiteshvara took the form of a goddess who could hold all those suffering in their pain and help them heal.

Quan Yin is widely beloved in Eastern religions, including Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religion. In Japan, she’s known as Kannon, and in Vietnam she’s Quan Am. It is said that Avalokiteshvara could take any shape he wanted in order to help people, and this loving feminine form was needed the most.

Balancing Motherly Compassion with Fierceness

Often clothed in a flowing white robe and carrying an infant, Quan Yin shares significant similarities with the Virgin Mary. It is likely that there was some crossover between feudal Europe and imperial China, and these two goddesses of sacrifice and compassion likely influenced each other in some ways. These two very different cultures imagined the embodiment of compassion in a similar way: as a loving mother figure, able to hold the suffering and pain of anyone who needs her help.

According to legend, Quan Yin looked upon the suffering of humanity, heard its cries, and began to weep with empathy and care. From the teardrop of her left eye appeared White Tara, a beautiful goddess whose body shines like a stainless moon. From the teardrop of her right eye was born Green Tara, a fierce goddess whose body is a glimmering emerald green. These two beings dedicated their existence to helping Quan Yin attend to the suffering of human beings and help humankind to achieve enlightenment.

White Tara is seen as a maternal savior figure, associated with healing, rescuing, and the kind of maternal care we associate with Quan Yin and the Virgin Mary. Green Tara’s work is more associated with action and movement, with her right leg positioned slightly forward in many traditional depictions as if she was ready to leap into action at any moment. Green Tara also helps us manage our fears and remove the obstacles in the way of our path to enlightenment.

Honoring the Feminine

Tara is worshiped in her own right as a singular figure in some versions of Tantra and Buddhism. Her name means “star,” and she represents the metaphor of a star or planet crossing the heavens and the journey of crossing over into enlightenment. In the Tantric tradition, she was either born of a male bodhisattva as in Quan Yin’s story, or she was given the choice to be reborn as any gender she chose, and she wanted to become female to attend to the concerns of women in particular. In Tibetan Buddhism, Tara is sometimes seen as playful, helping people who get too serious on the path to enlightenment and reminding them to laugh.

Quan Yin and Tara both hold a little bit of gender ambiguity. There is a sense that they could shift from one gender to the other as needed but specifically chose to remain as women. This is, perhaps, especially relevant in a tradition with so many masculine figures (and headed, of course, by the Buddha himself).

Historically, women worldwide have held fewer positions of power than men. Quan Yin is a goddess who can attend specifically to the needs and concerns of women. Her feminine compassion and wisdom help us all honor the feminine aspects of life, and, for women specifically, help us view ourselves as powerful and full of potential.

The Power of Bearing Witness

Quan Yin is a beautiful figure to call on whenever one needs help. Much like the Virgin Mary, she hears the cries of all the suffering and will welcome anyone to her breast. In many anecdotes, Quan Yin can offer blessings and gifts to move us forward in our lives. But part of her power is also in her ability to bear witness; to be with us in moments of pain and hear our cries fully rather than trying to fix the pain and make it go away.

Part of the power of the feminine is acknowledging the energies of pain, suffering, grief, loss, and confusion. If Quan Yin can help us stay with these emotions rather than try to move past them, then they have a chance to teach us something.

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