Kuan Yin, Chinese Goddess of Compassion

Everyone knows how to chant Amitabha Buddha, and every household worships Kuan Yin
- Chinese saying

Women everywhere have prayed to her as the Tibetan Tara, the Christian Madonna or as the African Yemaya and, as Kuan Yin, she is one of the most universally beloved of deities in the Buddhist tradition. Kuan Yin is invoked for healing of a sick child, relief from pain and help in all times of trouble. Like Artemis, she is a virgin Goddess who protects women, offers them an alternative to marriage, and grants children to those who desire them.

She is said to be a bodhisattva, one qualified to enter Nirvana but who chooses to remain in the earthly realms and not enter the heavenly worlds until all other living things have completed their own enlightenment and liberated from the pain-filled cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. "I am cultivating this method of great compassion and hope to save all living beings," Kuan Yin said. "Any living being who calls my name or sees me will be free from all fear and danger."

Her presence calms those who suffer and brings peace to the heart. Her name means