Known by the honorific title "Greatly Compassionate and Merciful Guanyin, Savior from Suffering and Peril", Gu…
Known by the honorific title "Greatly Compassionate and Merciful Guanyin, Savior from Suffering and Peril", Guanyin is also called Avalokitesvara, "the One Who Perceives the Sounds of the World."
One of the Three Holy Ones of the Western Pure Land, she stands to the left of Amitabha Buddha. According to the Sutra of the Flower of Compassion, in a past life Amitabha was the Wheel-Turning King Wuzhengnian, whose eldest son Bu Xun made a vow before the Buddha. He swore: "If any sentient being faces fear, suffering, or calamity, and calls my name with focused mind, I shall deliver them from pain and distress." Thus the Buddha gave him the name Guanyin.