According to tradition Kuan Yin had been an ordinary person who had followed the path of wisdom and service until after many incarnations she reached the supreme goal, nirvana. Pausing a moment at the threshold, she heard, rising from the world, a great wail of woe, as if all the rocks and trees, insects, animals, humans, gods and demons, cried out in protest that so virtuous a one should depart from their midst. Without a second thought this noble-hearted soul turned back, determined to remain until every being without exception should precede her into nirvana. Instantly her wish was granted, and since that moment Avalokitesvara-Kuan Yin has appeared in so many different forms, and in so many lands, it does seem that she has a thousand eyes and a thousand hands to help those in need. She is said to be a light for the blind, a shade for those hot and weary, a stream for the thirsty, a remedy for the ill, father and mother for those who suffer, and a guide for the beings in hell.
Compassion pervades all worlds and resides in the heart of all creatures.
This image, our awakened self-nature, is what sages call Kuan Yin. The statues help remind us of this. They speak to our spiritual self. The more we are conscious in our higher natures and live as spiritual beings, the more we feel with others and yearn to ease their pain. The idea that the transcendent powers of the divine are close and dear to us all, whether characterized as the self-essence, as a goddess, or as a mother, protector, and friend has great appeal.