The Great Compassionate One

credits to www.whatsonxiamen.com

Tomorrow (19th day of the 6th month) marks the celebration to commemorate the anniversary of the enlightenment of Kuan Yin.

Kuan Yin represents Great Compassion. We all understand what compassion means and we all do have compassion in our hearts. However, due to heavy delusions and negative karmas it is not nurtured but suppressed. Occasionally we may generate some compassion when we encounter experiences of suffering and other lifes' difficulties.

However, this compassion is not a truest form of compassion as our degree of compassion is generated in dependance of whether the object of compassion is a friend, an enemy or neutral to us. In the case of an enemy, we find it harder to generate compassion towards them. We honestly need to ask ourselves how many times in the past we were generating inner-joy when our least favourite friends were experiencing difficulties? How many times did we widely grin from ear to ear by those events? We probably would have gone further to curse them and their loved-ones in the process too.

So, to really begin to understand true compassion is to understand the meaning and essence of Kuan Yin.

Kuan Yin's compassion is often referred to as 'The Great Compassionate Kuan Yin' instead of 'The Compassionate Kuan Yin'. What is the difference between Great Compassionate and compassion? The normal word "compassionate" is limited in its scope and is dependant on changeable external factors. For example, we could develop compassion towards someone who is sick but if the person begin to demand more from us, it turns into disgust. Or we thought we have compassion towards a friend but soon became an enemy when there is a small misunderstanding.

These are the examples of impermanent objects of compassion.

The Great Compassion however is all embracing, non-conditional and non-discriminative which doesn't depend an impermanent external factors. This compassion reaches out to sentient beings as vast as the universe and even beyond without differentiating whether the object is an enemy, friend, rich, poor or just a tiny insignificant ant. The compassion is unconditional just like the love of ones mother holding her children dearer than her own life. And the compassion generated never diminishes nor exhaustible.

Kuan Yin who possess this type of compassion is known as 'The Great Compassion'. This is what differentiates between our limited compassion and the Kuan Yin's great compassion. Kuan Yin is able to reach the stage of great being, free from sufferings due to this selfless compassion that is devoid of a self-cherishing mind. On the other hand we remain where we are due to our self-cherishing mind and perhaps with an occasional glimpse of limited compassion.

Kuan Yin therefore remains a symbol for us to emulate the Great Compassionate way. To pray and recite 'Om Mani Padme Hung' means to pray for The Great Compassion to develop in our hearts. To pay our respects to Kuan Yin means to offer our body, speech and mind to the way of The Great Compassionate One. And to celebrate Kuan Yin day means to remind us of The Great Compassionate activity of Kuan Yin which we should emulate. Each activity that we do that relates to Kuan Yin is a reminder of the Great Compassionate mind we have to develop. True, it is indeed an arduous task, but then, every great tree begins from a sapling.

Therefore, the essence of Kuan Yin is truly inseparable from the practice of 'The Great Compassion'. To follow the action of Kuan Yin without understanding this point is truly missing the meaning why we pray, practice or celebrate Kuan Yin Day. Service towards others can be considered as a prayer and a practice of compassion. It is without the denomination, minus the dogma. Something definitely worthwhile doing and mostly leaves us feeling good too.

Thank you, O Great Compassionate One for bestowing this wonderful action upon us.
 
A Blessed Kuan Yin day to all of you wonderful peeps! ^_^

"Walk on a trail of loving kindness
 Walk on a path of compassion
And all else around you will be beautiful."
Every Blessing