Kwan Yin (Quon Yin; Kuan Yin): Chinese Goddess of Mercy. Seated upon a weathered stone from which healing waters pour, some of these reproductions of a Chinese sculpture(10th-11th century) depicts the Goddess in royal ease posture, ready to rise and help those in need.

Here, Kuan-Yin images the equipoise we aspire to while immersed in our daily round. Her distinctly androgynous features emphasize the tao of yin and yang, the dance of opposites in balance, which creates inner peace.

She appears in Chinese scriptures around 400 a.d. Kuan Yin means "one who hears the cries of the world" and personifies the compassion of the Buddha for the needy. She is the embodiment of the yin principle, and usually represented as a young female deity .

Kwan Yin has the power to assume whatever form necessary in order to carry out her vow which is to lead beings out of suffering. She is often shown holding a vase containing the waters of compassion, the lotus flower of enlightment or the jewel of three treasures.