Kwan Yin Guanyin

Detail of a Kwan Yin painting I own (not my creation). I find it interesting that almost none of the artwork depicting this 'bodsattva of compassion' actually has a compassionate face!

I have two theories on this. The first is that my ideas about the face of compassion come from modern models, which do not necessarily correlate to ancient Eastern divinity. What does not seem overtly compassionate to me may seem so to someone from the far East. Also, artistic interpretation of divine spiritual values such as compassion may be rendered much more subtly than when representing human forms.

My second theory notes that the name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin which means "Observing the Sounds (or Cries) of the World" [Wikipedia: [link]] Perhaps the sounds are not the cries, perhaps this is a reference to the 'Eternal Sound Current reverberating endlessly in every living thing' [link] What is being depicted is not compassion per se, but rather meditative absorption.

Some day I'd like to create my own Kwan Yin. I would combine Buddhist and Hindu fashion, iconography and architecture, and investigate the concepts of compassion/listening/samadhi through the expression on the model's face.