Guan yin

1
Guan yin

• Guan yin was a mortal woman who became a goddess
  and was said to help people. She was called the
  merciful goddess.

2
Guan yins story
Describes her as the daughter of a cruel father
who wanted her to marry a wealthy but uncaring
man. She begged to be able to enter a temple
instead. Her father allowed her, but asked the
monks to give her very hard chores in order to
discourage her. She was forced to work all day
and all night while others slept in in order to
finish her work. However, she was such a good
person that the animals living around the temple
began to help her with her chores. Her father,
seeing this, became so frustrated that he burned
down the temple. Guan Yin put out the fire with
her bare hands and suffered no burns. Now struck
with fear, her father ordered her to be put to
death. After she died she was made into a goddess
for all of her kindness and began her journey to
heaven. She was about to cross over into heaven
when she heard a cry of suffering back on earth.
She asked to be sent back and vowed to stay until
all suffering had ended.

3
Pictures of Guan yin
4
More Guan yin pictures
5
Last of Guan yin

• One of the most interesting dispute is the gender
  of Guan Yin. Is Guan Yin a man or a woman?
  According to the sutras, Shakyamuin used to call
  Guan Yin as a man. In history, Guan Yin was
  regarded as male before Tang Dynasty. In Tang
  Dynasty, it was said that Guan Yin was a princess
  called Myau Shan. As Guan Yin in feminine gender
  is more intimate, more and more people affirm
  that this Bodhisattva to be female. Moreover, in
  our world, women are always suppressed or even
  tortured. There is a strong desire to have a
  female Bodhisattva who is compassionate and able
  to them salvage from suffering.

She asked to be sent back and vowed to stay until
all suffering had ended.