Pervasive Manifestation of Guan Yin

Guan Yin (Avalokiteshvara) has the greatest connection with us. Sentient beings in places flourished with Dharma are closely connected with Guan Yin. For instance, China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, and so forth. Why is Guan Yin so close to us? Wherever there is suffering, Guan Yin would come to rescue out of great compassion.

I first heard of the name and the story of Guan Yin when I was fifteen. Due to past karmic fortune, my tears started to fall as soon as I heard her name. Since then, I take Guan Yin and her spirit of “alleviating suffering and adversities” as my emulation. The practice of Guan Yin is my lifelong cultivation.

What is the practice of Guan Yin? It is to regard Guan Yin as our subject of reliance on our three doors (body, speech, and mind). Recollect Guan Yin in every moment so we're inseparable from her. We must regard everything as the manifestation of Guan Yin. This would include our living, conduct, and every aspect of life. May it be good or bad comments, praises, or curses – all the sounds are like the Six-syllable Mantra of Guan Yin.

Odd or not? Mantra and cursing are both sounds. However, we perceive them differently. Cursing doesn’t sound the same as the mantra. Afflictions are generated due to afflictions and differentiation. When we hear the sounds that are slandering and hurting us, we must recognize them as delusions. Better yet, we can transform them into the Six-syllable Mantra of Guan Yin. That's why we must uphold the practice of Guan Yin. It is to turn everything into Guan Yin. The sound and the form that we perceive are none other than Guan Yin. When we recite the name of Amitabha, everywhere is filled with Amitabha. Everywhere we go is the Pure Land (Dewachen). Everyone attains the level of avaivartika (Bodhisattva without regression) or arhat.

If we visualize Guan Yin, we'd perceive the sound and phenomena of Guan Yin everywhere. Where do we go back when our mind of differentiation and attachment is eradicated? We'd return to our primordial awareness or the nature of the mind that is unarising and unceasing. When we recite the Six-syllable Mantra, we’d return to our nature. There are no phenomena or sound to cling on. That being said, we can’t see our true nature by sound and form. Right? When we see our tathagatagarbha, we’re seeing our nature.