Quan Yin

Quan Yin (also spelled Kwan Yin) is the female Buddha of Compassion.

 Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey hosted a 21 day free meditation experience featuring the theme "Manifesting Grace through Gratitude." Each day a mantra was suggested that was specific to that day's Centering Thought. For example, one day's meditation was about recognizing that grace flows to and through me. The mantra spoke to one of the core elements of my own spiritual practice.

The mantra was "Twam Eva Mata," which means "The Universe is our Mother."

I became aware of Quan Yin during my advanced certification with Integrative Yoga Therapy. I had never heard of her until her name came to me as I sat in meditation after a deep yoga nidra session. I had to find someone who knew how to spell the name and then wait until I returned home to do research. There were no smart phones, lap tops or ipads at that time. You had to be at a computer to go on the internet.

It was worth the wait. Quan Yin is the only female Buddha and, in ancient times, was presented as a male. Much of her "history" is anecdotal, of course, but at some point Quan Yin becomes female in all of the poetry, prayers, and stories. There was not an explanation for this transition. It occurred to me that this Being reincarnated as a female during those times and has remained so since. She is a representation of the Feminine Aspect of the Divine, bringing the love and compassion that all beings-in-human form need.

If this touches your heart and soul on some level, I invite you to do as I did and "find" her. We all need a mother's love and perhaps she can lead you into the truly Divine experience of that.

May Quan Yin guide you to HerSelf and may you be blessed with an abundance of compassion so that it then flows forth from you in grace.

Twam Eva Mata

Namaste