This is part of a Wednesday series on Goddess spirituality and political activism.
Last week I wrote about Kuan Yin , the Chinese Bodhisattva of infinite compassion. Kuan Yin is devoted to rescuing those in need, be they seafarers in a storm, patients in need of healing, or even criminals facing execution. But there is another side to her.
In Patricia Monaghan’s The Goddess Path , she lists common symbols that Kuan Yin may be holding in her multi-armed form: a willow branch, a gem, etc. Then I ran across this:
She has many weapons: a sword for subduing evil spirits, a thunderbolt for killing demons, an axe to kill oppressors, a dragon-headed tablet for killing wild beasts, a dagger for her enemies, a bow for high flight, an arrow for friendship.
Wait. What? Killing oppressors? A dagger for her enemies? This is not the image I had of Kuan Yin, whose only enemies were her cruel parents – and instead of using a dagger on them, she showed them mercy at great personal sacrifice.
Of course, holy symbols are often best understood as metaphors. A good example is Mayumi Oda’s painting, Goddess Give Us the Strength to Cut Through . The artist has this to say ( source ) about her sword-wielding Goddess:
Kannon (Kuan Yin’s Japanese name) is the Goddess of Compassion, and we as women have been raised to be kind and loving. This is very important. It is also important that we cut through the bullshit. Sometimes we have to be ruthless in order to be compassionate, to have the wisdom to know what is right action. So I have given Kannon a sword which cuts through.
With regime change in Washington, we’re dealing with the question of what to do about criminal acts that were committed by the last administration. The Villagers are busily trying to shape a consensus that we shouldn’t investigate torture, rendition, or illegal spying. In the name of "Unity," we’re told to let these crimes slip away. Seeking justice would be "partisan," we’re told, "unserious," and even "vengeful." We shouldn’t treat these crimes like other crimes.
This is not a compassionate view.
There is more to compassion than turning the other cheek. It is not compassionate to raise a child without ever using the word No. This turns the child into a bully who will never be satisfied - and it certainly isn't compassionate toward all the people around the child, either. It is not compassionate to stay in a relationship with someone who abuses you. It is not compassionate to make excuses for an addict.
And it is not compassionate to allow major crimes, including crimes of violence, to be ignored for the sake of political expedience. People in power made choices that harmed real live human beings. If there are no consequences, then other people (or even the same ones) will repeat the same offenses later. Any parent can tell you how that works.
This is why Jesus, known for his gentleness and kindness, still kicked the money-changers out of the temple, and confronted the Pharisees* when they put the letter of the law before its spirit.
As a teen, reading Coretta Scott King’s autobiography , I was struck by a phrase she used: "Militant nonviolence." I’d never considered that the two could go together. It is possible to be nonviolent, to be free of the desire for vengeance, and still be militant. We should be militant about restoring the rule of law, prosecuting those who have violated our standards of basic justice, and punishing the offenders. That’s showing compassion for our country, and I’d argue it’s even compassionate toward the offenders: it destroys the psyche to believe that you can get away with anything, that the word No doesn’t apply to you.
Perhaps we need a better metaphor than a sword. But Kuan Yin’s compassion allows, and even requires, that we cut through the bullshit.
And because I wouldn’t post a Goddess diary without a story, here’s one that's a bit of a tangent, but shows that even Kuan Yin has her own version of the Pharisees*:
Many years ago, a woman traveled from her Chinese village to one in Tibet. Her home town had a temple with a statue of Kuan Yin. As is common in China, Kuan Yin was portrayed as beautiful and physically perfect. The Tibetan village also had a statue of Kuan Yin, but she was portrayed with three faces and a hundred arms, to illustrate how she could see and rescue all the people who needed her at once. Some of her hands held swords or other weapons to symbolize her divine protection.
On her first day in the village, the woman saw the statue in the temple, and thought it looked monstrous. It must be some demon, she decided, that had to be appeased in order to keep it from harming the village. She was so focused on the statue that she didn't notice the offerings of fruit and flowers, which are customary for the vegetarian Kuan Yin.
The woman went home and cooked up an offering of meat, then left it with some wine at the foot of the statue, whispering a prayer for the demon to keep its frightening visage away.
Moments later, several monks walked in. They were aghast: everyone knew Kuan Yin would harm nothing, not even a farm animal! An offering of meat was a desecration of the temple! They began screaming at the woman for her blasphemy. The bewildered woman ran away from them. The monks chased after her - fully intending to beat her up for offending the Goddess of peace and compassion.
Not to worry: Kuan Yin intervened before any harm could be done. The monks learned a lesson about following Kuan Yin’s example – and the woman learned that compassion has many faces.
*UPDATE: It was pointed out in comments that the term "Pharisees" has become corrupted by the Gospel image of Pharisees as legalistically-obsessed types who ignore the spirit of the law, which is how I was using the term. This isn't really a hisorically accurate portryal of the Pharisees , just as the current use of therm "Swiftboating" is unfair to the people who actually served on swift boats. I've left it in because the comments don't make much sense otherwise, but I'll find a more accurate term next time.