Kuan Yin: Myths and Revelations of the Chinese Goddess of Compassion: The Prophecies of the Goddess of Mercy

by Martin Palmer

Kuan Yin is the most important and best loved deity of the Chinese world. She is the living expression of compassion, whose gentle face and elegant figure form a centre of devotion in most Chinese homes and workplaces. Yet she is barely known in the West and few studies have been made of her. The authors of this book have travelled all over China in search of her true story and origins within Buddhism, Taoism and the female shamans of China. Now, in her universal mystery and power of the divine feminine, she transcends all doctrines, creeds and traditions.
The beautiful poetry of the 100 Prophecies of Kuan Yin is here translated into English for the first time. These poems are used as a method of divination, to gain insight into the depths of the soul. With the myths, they form the heart of this new look at one of the most powerful but least known goddesses.

Genres: Nonfiction, Buddhism, Spirituality, History, Mythology, Religion, Poetry

226 pages, Paperback

First published January 25, 1995

Reviews

[daemyra, the realm's delight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this at my local co-op bookstore. A nice introduction into Guanyin. Also spelled as Kuan Yin, but I prefer the pinyin spelling, as it sounds more like how you would say it in Mandarin. And this is the softer and more musical-sounding Mandarin spoken in Taiwan.

My favourite part of this book is the last section that contains divination poems. You can either flip to a page, bibliomancy or you can try sortilege, divination by casting lots. As most of us will not have lots, the authors provided numbered circles that you can put your fingers on with eyes closed in order to find your fortune.

The first part details the history of Guanyin’s transformation from a male bodhisattva to a female, and then her most famous legends. Both of these sections are a little dry for me, but are great for study. And the third part is the divination poems.

[Brian Griffith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers history, mythology, and divination, each in its own section. I was fascinated to learn of Kuan Yin's roots in Buddhist history, the reasons for her transformation from a male bodhisattva to a goddess in China, her links in myth to the Virgin Mary, and her ecumenical appeal to people of Daoist, Confucianist, and Shinto traditions. Of course the book is also testimony to Kuan Yin's rising appeal in the West, which I suspect is a momentous development. Perhaps the greatest testament to this is Cristina Leira's great statue of Kuan Yin in the harbor of Macau, which melds the West's Virgin Mary with the East's goddess of universal compassion. Here, I suspect, is an early sign of a coming planetary religion, in which no tradition, authority, or sex prevails, but all things beautiful and good share the world’s admiration.

[Tami · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kuan Yin has a special place in the hearts of many people. She is unique in her compassionate, unconditional loving ways and that she is the only female bodhisattva to date. She is also equally popular in not just modern Chinese schools of Buddhism but also a variety of other eastern belief systems.

The Kuan Yin Chronicles looks at the goddess of compassion from the spiritual, historical, and mythological perspective. It details her beginnings as the clearly male Avalokitesvara and then her transformation to female in the eight century. The book also looks at her place in eastern beliefs and mythology. Finally, the work ends with the poems of Kuan Yin and explains how thye can be used for divination purposes.

Whether you are interested in Kuan Yin the women of myth, the goddess, the bodhisattva, or the role model, Kuan Yin Chronicles is an important resource to read.

[Elizabeth Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be an excellent introduction to Kuan Yin. The book is divided up into three parts, examining the history of her worship, her myths and her divinatory poems. I found this made for a nice balance of elements.

It was, however, let down in a few places. I felt there was some bias towards Western preoccupations--such as the valuing of the spiritual over the religious and an emphasis on Kuan Yin as an expression of the Divine Feminine, despite having first started as a male deity. The book could have also used a few more references and a Further Reading list.

All in all, I found it very educational.

[Will Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a superb look at the history and mystique of the goddess Kuan Yin. Did you know that the ever popular Goddess of Compassion was male and not female? I won't spoil the story so read this delightful book. For the poet among you, I expect that the 100 poems will delight you. From simple to complex this little collection of poems will delight and entertain. This book is a must read.

[vicente elizondo · Rating 5 out of 5]

the coming of the morning is like a bee among the flowers

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried. I TRIED.

I wanted to learn more about Guanyin (aka Kuan Yin, etc.) after encountering her as a character in F.C. Yee's "Genie Lo" series. I experienced two major difficulties in searching for books about the Goddess of Mercy: one, I don't speak or read any Chinese dialects (I know 2 words of Mandarin), and two, it's very hard to find English texts about her through my library. I felt lucky to find THIS one! So I'm very disappointed to find that it's written by a couple of dudes with minimal (at best) theological and historical training, who may be glossing over how much translation they did themselves. (The book says "with Man-Ho Kwok" and it seems like he may have been the actual language expert, not the primary-listed authors, but it's unclear.)

Also, like many books I wind up abandoning, this one is in dire need of a competent editor. Things an editor could fix include: establishing who's writing what (some chapters switch back and forth between "I" and "we" and WHICH IS IT? Who is included?); establishing a meaningful timeline, rather than jumping back and forth in time willy-nilly; confirming that an actual point is made, instead of ten pages of hand-waving. A fact-checker would also have helped--or at least someone to say, "Hey, you are trying to gloss over the history of religions in the ENTIRE WORLD, maybe you should cite some more sources."

It boggles the mind that the authors refer to "Native American religion," singular, as though the religious beliefs and practices of indigenous peoples across two continents can be folded into A Religion. COOL STORY.

Argh. This is so frustrating. My search for material about Guanyin continues.

tl;dr This is bad and I'm mad and skip it.

[Bailing Lue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Next painting: Kuan Shi Yin

[Kristie Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a very good first book on Quan Yin. I am just learning about her, and I love that she is derived from a male god, and that she survived and survives patriarchy, and is essentially a melting pot of various religions that have come into China. The stories about her are great, and I like that she is there to help us, but that we also have to do the work of manifesting our life.

This book also contains the 100 poems of Quan Yin that are used for divination. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is not familiar with her.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant overview of the historical evolution of Kuan Yin, from male god to the most beloved female goddess. Also included were several of her myths as well as a collection of poetry used as divination tools. I'm not much of a "poetry person", so that part did not excite me as much as the author appeared to be by the poetry. The section describing the birth/creation of the goddess was well informed and interesting to read.

[Jaina Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is essential.

[Jonathan Farley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book, which gave me a greater insight into the goddess.