Quan Yin is one of the most beloved deities in the Buddhist tradition. She is the embodiment of compassionate loving kindness and hears the cries of all beings. As a true enlightened one, she vowed to remain in the earthly realms and not to enter the heavenly worlds until all other living beings have completed their own enlightenment, thus being liberated from the pain-filled cycle of birth, death and rebirth. In Sanskrit, her name translates to "Born of the Lotus." |