The Role of Kuan Yin: A Look at Her Impact in Chinese Buddhism and Taoism

Kuan Yin was a bodhisattva considered the embodiment of compassion in Chinese Buddhism and Taoism. She is also known as Guanyin, which is short for Guanshiyin, meaning, “Observing the Sounds of the World” (Doré). The word “sound” in this translation can also be read as “cries.” The compassionate nature of Kuan Yin truly comes to light when she is understood as the one who observes the cries of the world. Historically, she has remained one of the most popular and renown images of Chinese Buddhism. Spiritually, she represents the very core of Chinese Buddhism and Taoism, where she remains the main focus of compassion meditation. In recent years, a merge between Eastern philosophies and Western science has birthed a new field of study in which the lines between East and West, science and religion, have been blurred. Neuroscience has been the primary form through which meditative practices have been studied. Kuan Yin has long stood as the very embodiment of true, selfless compassion. For centuries, the Chinese have focused their meditative practices around the figure of, and teachings of, Kuan Yin. Today, these long held beliefs are finding a tangible reality through modern neuroscience. Thus, Kuan Yin is the epitome of a hermeneutic; merging old and new, Eastern and Western, and male and female into a practice that benefits all parties related to her image and ideologies.

First appearing in literature around 400 A.D., Kuan Yin was a practitioner of Buddhism and the embodiment of compassion (Feldman). By this time in history, Buddhism had already spread from India to China, Korea, Japan, and Tibet. Kuan Yin seems to find her origins in Avalokitesvara, a renown bodhisattva and traditionally the male incarnation of compassion (Yu). He aided in the spread of ideas of compassion into China, where he gradually transformed into a female form, known as Kuan Yin. Until 400 A.D., Avalokitesvara had no known female form and by 1200 A.D., he was completely transformed into a female deity in China, know as Kuan Yin. She has held many titles, including Goddess of Mercy, Gentle Protectoress, Bodhisattva of Compassion, and even the Mother of all Buddhas (Musacchio). The worship of Kuan Yin varies greatly across the globe. Festivals are enacted to venerate the goddess, statues are erected, and temples depict her in strong relation to the Buddha himself. And yet, despite the variations in worship, one aspect of Kuan Yin remains constant: Compassion.

Compassion, in and of itself, has many forms and functions. When a lover is loved, there is compassion. When a stranger is helped, there is compassion. When an enemy is forgiven, there is compassion. Yet, what exactly is compassion? The Oxford dictionary defines compassion as “sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others”(Oxford). However, the Eastern view of compassion varies greatly from this definition. Instead, it would be more appropriate to understand compassion in terms of karuna, which is “our ability to relate to another in so intense a measure that the plight of the other affects us as much as if it had been our own”(Kumar). Although it would seem that this sort of compassion would open an individual to more pain and suffering Dr. Charles Raison would argue that, on the individual level, compassion actually allows us to relieve ourselves from suffering at the hands of negative emotions. In his TED presentation, he makes the claim that our true enemies in life are not those who we hate, but rather the feeling of hatred itself. Thus, if compassion can be cultivated, one would rid oneself of the true enemies of anger and hatred (Raison).

Kuan Yin’s message of compassion and its relationship to Buddhism and Taoism is unmistakable. With the death of the ego, one is not so removed from the suffering of others. With compassion towards that suffering, one acts with non-violence. And with infinite past and future lives, anyone can be faced with the same compassion that one would hold for one’s own mother or lover. In a TED presentation called Expanding Your Circle of Compassion, Robert Thurman directly relates to the latter, stating, "The Buddhists think that, because we’ve all had infinite previous lives, we’ve all been each other’s relatives. Therefore all of you, in the Buddhist view, in some previous life … have been my mother — for which I do apologize for the trouble I caused you”(Thurman). The historical importance of compassion, and therefore Kuan Yin, cannot be removed from the very foundation of Chinese Buddhism. In modern times, the world no longer consists of solely those in one’s family or one’s immediate community. Rather, the societies of the world are gaining strong relationships with one another. In a world filled with countless strangers, now more than ever is the need for selfless compassion growing strong. While borders between people fall, new ideas are being spread to all corners of the Earth. The western world of scientific inquiry has recently taken interest in the happenings of the mind, long since questioned by Eastern philosophy, in the field of neuroscience.

Neuroscience, previously defined as “any or all of the sciences…which deal with the structure or function of the nervous system and brain,” is a relatively new field of science in which the happenings of the brain are closely examined (Oxford). The recent expansion into the field of neuroscience has given rise to new, tangible data concerning fields otherwise left to subjective speculation. Compassion is one such field, long held as a foundation for Chinese Buddhism and Taoism, which has only of late been explored through the eyes of modern scientific technology. While studies of meditation concerning calming the mind, focusing attention, and developing mindfulness have become quite popular, attention to the effects of compassion has been a recent development.

In August of 2008, Emory University, having strong ties to Tibetan Buddhist leaders such as the Dalai Lama, published a study attempting to reveal any correlation between compassion and physical health in stressful situations. The study itself was published under the title “Effect of compassion meditation on neuroendocrine, innate immune and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress.” In summery, the study went as follows: First, sixty-one healthy adults were randomly divided into two groups; the first engaged in six weeks of compassion meditation while the second participated in a health discussion, which served as the control group. Next, both groups were exposed to TSST, a standardized laboratory stressor. Finally, the mental/physical reaction to stress was repeatedly measured in two forms; first by measuring the plasma concentration of interleukin-6 and cotisol and second by a Profile of Mood States (POMS) examination. In conclusion, what the study failed to find was any definite differences in the average reaction to stress between those who participated in compassion meditation and those who participated in health discussion. It would seem that both groups reacted similarly regardless of a their different practices. However, one key piece of information could very well change the validity of the findings. Those who were participating in compassion meditation were trusted to practice independently for extended periods of time each week. Yet, as the participants confessed, not everyone practiced for the recommended time. With this information, the group who participated in compassion meditation could farther be divided into those who practiced frequently and those who practiced sparingly. When this division was made, the results appeared much differently. Those who practiced frequently showed a strong reduction in both the interleukin-6 and POMS tests compared to those who practiced sparingly as well as the control group. This study has this proved that compassion meditation, when practiced frequently, has the profound ability to lower negative stress reactions (Pace).

Let us return now to Kuan Yin with our new understanding of compassion provided by the neuroscience of the Emory University study. The study into how compassion meditation effects our reaction to social stress has many profound implications for the worship of Kuan Yin. Because she fulfills the role of compassion incarnate, any findings within neuroscience in relationship to compassion directly relate the power of Kuan Yin. The correlation between compassion and improved mental/physical health provides obvious validity to the historical worship of Kuan Yin. If Chinese Buddhists and Taoists have been practicing such compassion meditations for thousands of years, the it would seem that Western science is only now catching up to an age old practice. The verification of these long-held beliefs not only validates the idea of compassion for Eastern philosophies, but also introduces the possibility of these ideas establishing a strong hold in Western ideologies.

The Western world, and society as a whole, would greatly benefit from the lessons of Kuan Yin coming to fruition. Yet, in this day in age, we are far from this utopian idea. For example, in May of 2011, news quickly spread of the death of Osama Bin Laden. And, to the horror of some, spontaneous celebration erupted all across the United States at the death of our long-time enemy. We perceived his death as a victory for our nation and celebrated extensively the death of such a cruel individual. However, Dr. Charles Raison, a leader of the Emory University studies on compassion, suggests a new way of thinking about Bin Laden’s death and the American reaction to it. He asks the audience of his presentation to imagine if one could travel back in time and behold Osama Bin Laden as an infant. He then asks, “If you could do that, would you kill him?” Many individuals would, in fact, kill him; their justification being all the horrors Bin Laden created in his lifetime and all the suffering that he caused. Then Dr. Raison poses a new question: as your hands wrapped around his neck, and you squeezed the life out of a helpless infant, would you still celebrate his death (Raison)? What Dr. Raison attempts to point out is not the questionable morality of Osama Bin Laden’s death, but rather the blatant immorality of the general celebration upon the death of another human being. He suggests that examining daily conflicts with similar compassion to this example would promote a healthier, all-around better outcome. The reality of a compassionate society can only be made true through the individual persons acting in individual situations.

Once the practices of Kuan Yin and compassion meditation are farther explored by Western science, new ways of dealing with stress and hatred and annoyance will manifest. Eastern philosophies and Western science acting as one, void of duality, in an attempt to produce an all-around healthier way of living is ultimately the potential found within Kuan Yin. Imagine, if you can, what a life void of hatred and anger could imply. This idea, so far from any reality the world has ever experienced, finds some validity and future potential in the practices of compassion meditation developed by Emory University and the traditional worship of Kuan Yin.

While an entire world void of anger and hatred may very well be beyond the grasps of the current generation, the establishment of compassion towards those who are oppressed or suffering is a real, manageable goal. But where to begin? Countless peoples across the world suffer from injustices and inequalities. To find those who may benefit most from the practices of Kuan Yin compassion, one need look no farther than the women in ones own life. Women have traditionally been forced into subservient roles, banished to the shadows of their male counterparts. Especially in regards to Buddhism, the male deity Avalokitesvara has traditionally held a monopoly on compassion. Daniela Schenker takes note of this in her book, Kuan Yin: Accessing the Power of the Divine Feminine, stating that she chose to represent Kuan Yin as solely female, despite the fact that “the ancient texts often refer to male representations of the deity.” We touched previously the understanding that Avalokitesvara did not begin to make the transition into the female Kuan Yin until 400 A.D. and was not know as fully female until 1200 A.D. And yet, despite the eight hundred year transition that no doubt came with struggle and met resistance, this powerful femanine deity eventually overcame the masculine monopoly on compassion. “Kwan-yin broke loose from her Buddhist moorings and her former male gender as an Indian Bodhisattva to become one of the most popular and beloved goddesses of China and Japan” (Parsons 72). The implications of a compassionate, empathetic female Goddess developing from a rooted male form are profound and powerful. Perhaps somewhere in her transition from male to female, Kuan Yin reached an equilibrium between the two, understanding both the masculine and the feminine aspects of compassion.

As the views of Kuan Yin took hold in Chinese Buddhism and Taoism, the Eastern world bore witness to a transition of a single idea, compassion, from a masculine incarnation to a feminine incarnation. Neuroscience has, in recent years, begun an exploration into the full effects and benefits of a meditative practice in compassion. The ancient views of Kuan Yin no longer seem quite so foreign, or quite so ancient. Through compassion, and through her place in history, Kuan Yin has managed to eliminate the barriers between masculine Gods and feminine Goddesses, Eastern philosophy and Western science, and ancient practices and revolutionary ideas. Kuan Yin has become ultimate hermeneutic.