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Kuan  Yin:  The  Merciful  Heart  Sunday  Service  Children’s  Story  

 Materials:      

• Pictures  of  Kuan  Yin  and  lotus  flower  • OPTIONAL:    Statues  of  Kuan  Yin      

Preparations:  • Because  online  videos  often  take  a  few  minutes  to  download,  play  the  related  video  before  the  story  begins  to  ensure  that  it  will  be  ready  when  needed.  

• Prepare  any  necessary  materials.  • Invite  children  up  to  steps  of  altar.  • Reader  of  story  sits  in  a  chair  with  children  sitting  on  floor  in  front  of  her.  

• Include  children’s  story,  even  if  there  are  no  children  in  your  congregation,  to  welcome  families  who  may  come  to  the  service.    

• You  can  add  your  own  creativity  to  the  stories.    You  may  feel  comfortable  using  props  or  presenting  them  just  as  they  are  written.      

• Feel  free  to  adjust  the  content  to  fit  your  time  frame.    However,  for  the  spiritual  development  of  the  child,  we  encourage  keeping  as  much  of  the  Ascended  Master’s  Teachings  as  possible.  

 

  Good  morning!    Today  we  are  celebrating  Kuan  Yin,  whose  

birthday  is  the  same  as  our  Beloved  Mother’s  birthday,  April  8.    Do  you  

know  anything  about  Kuan  Yin?    (Allow  children  to  answer.)    Kuan  Yin  

is  the  Goddess  of  Mercy.    (Show  picture.)    She  serves  on  the  Karmic  

Board  as  the  representative  of  the  seventh  ray  and  embodies  the  virtues  

of  mercy,  compassion  and  forgiveness.    Kuan  Yin  ascended  thousands  of  

years  ago  and  has  taken  the  vow  of  the  Bodhisattva.    This  means  that  

she  vowed  to  serve  planet  earth  until  all  the  children  of  God  are  free.  

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  Kuan  Yin’s  flower  is  a  pink  and  violet  lotus;  the  center,  being  pink,  

is  as  the  mercy  flame,  becoming  deeper  and  deeper  violet  on  the  

periphery.    Here  is  a  picture  of  a  lotus  that  is  pink  with  a  lighter  violet  

on  the  edge,  not  quite  as  deep  violet  as  Kuan  Yin’s  lotus.    (Show  

picture.)  

  The  lotus  flower  is  an  interesting  flower  in  that  it  grows  in  muddy  

swamps  and  ponds.    It  opens  and  blooms  at  dawn  and  returns  to  the  

darkness  at  dusk.    This  ability  to  survive  in  an  unfriendly  environment  

inspires  the  spiritual  symbolism  of  the  flower.    As  harsh  as  the  world  

can  sometimes  be,  each  of  us  can  still  connected  with  our  I  AM  Presence.    

Each  of  us  has  the  inner  ability  to  “bloom”  into  our  full  potential.  

Kuan  Yin’s  name  means,  “the  one  who  hears  the  cries  of  the  

world”.    Often  she  is  pictured  holding  a  vase.    (Show  picture  or  statue.)    

This  image  is  showing  her  pouring  forth  soothing,  healing  waters.    She  

gently  wipes  away  pain  or  sorrow  with  the  sacred  willow  branch  she  

holds  in  her  right  hand.    Kuan  Yin  restores  tenderness  and  compassion.    

Some  people  have  claimed  to  have  seen  her  when  they  called  to  her  for  

comfort  or  protection.    

Like  many  ascended  masters  there  are  several  legends  about  

Kuan  Yin.    In  each  of  these  stories,  we  see  Kuan  Yin  bestowing  her  

merciful  heart  on  another  and  teaching  the  way  of  compassion.  A  legend  

means  a  story  coming  from  the  past;  especially  one  popularly  regarded  

as  historical  although  may  not  be  true  but  its  message  is  meaningful.  

 

 

 

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The  Merciful  Heart  of  Kuan  Yin  

 

Kuan  Yin  was  once  said  to  have  been  born  from  the  tears  of  

Avalokiteshvara's  compassion  for  the  suffering  in  the  universe.  

From  his  pain  came  a  female  goddess  to  ease  the  world's  suffering.    

It  is  widely  believed  that  Kuan  Yin  took  embodiment  as  the  

third  daughter  of  a  ruler  of  a  northern  Chinese  kingdom  about  700  

B.C.    Even  as  a  young  child,  Kuan  Yin  was  determined  to  devote  

herself  to  a  religious  life.    She  refused  to  be  married  despite  the  

command  of  her  father.    Finally,  he  gave  permission  for  her  to  

enter  a  nunnery  called  the  Temple  of  the  White  Bird.    However,  her  

father  gave  orders  that  she  was  to  be  given  such  lowly  tasks,  

thinking  that  eventually  she  would  change  her  mind  about  being  

there.      

However,  none  of  these  demeaning  chores  in  any  way  

dampened  her  zealous  love  for  God.  

Upset  by  her  devotion,  her  father  tried  several  ways  to  

change  his  daughter’s  mind,  but  nothing  swayed  her  from  her  

devotions  to  God.      

In  time  her  father  fell  ill.    When  Kuan  Yin  heard  of  this,  do  you  

think  she  might  have  thought,  “Well,  he  deserves  this  after  the  way  

he  treated  me?”    (Allow  children  to  answer.)    No,  quite  the  opposite.    

She  wanted  to  help  her  father,  for  she  loved  him  very  much.  

In  gratitude  for  his  daughter’s  mercy,  he  commissioned  an  

artist  to  paint  her  image.    The  artist  misunderstood  though  and  

instead  painted  her  with  “a  thousand  arms”  representing  that  she  

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was  able  to  see  and  assist  the  masses  of  her  people.    That  is  why  we  

often  see  pictures  or  statues  of  Kuan  Yin  with  several  arms.    (Show  

picture  or  statue  of  Kuan  Yin  with  several  arms.)  

Another  famous  legend  about  Kuan  Yin,  the  Goddess  of  Mercy,  

giving  freely  her  love  and  compassion  to  all  beings,  is  the  one  of  

her  helping  one  of  the  sons  of  the  King  Fish  of  the  Oceans.      Often  

Kuan  Yin  is  pictured  floating  over  the  oceans.    (Show  picture.)      

One  day  Kuan  Yin,  who  is  aware  of  the  distress  of  every  

creature  in  the  universe,  heard  the  pitiful  cries  for  help  of  one  of  

the  young  sons  of  the  King  Fish  of  the  Oceans.  

The  young,  small  fish  had  disguised  himself  as  a  large,  grown  

fish  to  swim  around  the  fishermen’s  boats  and  have  some  fun  at  

their  expense,  but  his  playfulness  led  to  his  being  caught  in  a  net.    

He  was  taken  to  the  market  where  people  were  admiring  this  huge  

fish  that  was  still  alive  many  hours  after  being  taken  out  of  the  

water.    

Of  course  everybody  wanted  to  buy  this  huge  fish  because  

they  thought  that  whoever  ate  it  would  also  live  forever.  Now,  Kuan  

Yin  had  a  dear  disciple,  a  boy  called  Shan  Tsai,  who  was  very  eager  

to  study  Buddha’s  Teaching.      Shan  Tsai  soon  learned  to  practice  

loving  kindness  with  great  enthusiasm.  

So  Kuan  Yin  sent  Shan  Tsai  with  all  the  money  she  had  to  buy  

the  little  fish  to  save  him  from  being  eaten  but  Shan  Tsai  still  had  

not  enough  because  everybody  kept  offering  more  and  more  

money  for  the  miraculous  fish.  Then  a  voice  came  from  the  clouds  

and  told  the  crowd  that  a  life  should  belong  to  the  person  who  tries  

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to  save  it,  and  not  to  those  who  try  to  take  it.  This  voice  belonged  to  

Kuan  Yin.    The  crowd  realized  their  selfish  ways  and  everybody  

went  home,  determined  to  be  more  loving.  

Shan  Tsai  was  then  able  to  buy  the  fish  and  take  it  to  Kuan  

Yin  who  promptly  put  it  in  the  sea  where  it  turned  into  a  young,  

small  fish  again  and  swam  away,  waving  his  tail  happily.  The  young  

fish  was  very  glad  the  nasty  experience  was  over,  thanks  to  the  

kindness  of  the  Goddess  of  Mercy  and  her  disciple.    And  the  people  

learned  compassion  in  letting  others  be  free  and  not  to  try  to  

control  others.  

 

CONCLUSION:  

Kuan  Yin  hears  our  prayers.    She  is  known  as  the  goddess  of  

protection  of  children  and  mothers.    She  waits  for  your  prayer,  and  the  

prayers  of  all  her  children,  as  she  watches  over  the  earth.  

We  are  important  to  Kuan  Yin  just  as  the  little  fish  was.    Kuan  Yin  

told  us,  “When  you  feel  the  need  of  greater  strength,  of  greater  purity  

and  healing,  remember  that  all  of  these  qualities  come  to  you  from  the  

heart  of  God  by  the  power  of  the  flame  of  mercy  itself….    Therefore,  in  

order  to  reenter  the  walk  with  God,  we  need  forgiveness….    Forgiveness  

is  something  we  need  to  invoke  not  only  for  ourselves;  we  need  to  

invoke  it  for  every  part  of  life….”  

  Let’s  watch  a  short  video  clip  of  our  Guru  Ma  talking  about  

forgiveness.    (Show  online  video  clip.)  

  Let  us  end  our  story  today  by  asking  for  forgiveness  for  anything  

that  might  have  hurt  life.    Let’s  give  the  violet  flame  decree  “Forgiveness”  

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from  the  Heart,  Head  and  Hand  Decree.    Let  us  close  our  eyes  and  see  if  

we  can  try  to  visualize  Beloved  Ascended  Master  Kuan  Yin  as    we  recite  

this  decree  1x  .  (Recite  together  1x  with  reverence.)  

Forgiveness  

I  AM  Forgiveness  acting  here,  Casting  out  all  doubt  and  fear,  Setting  men  forever  free  

With  wings  of  cosmic  Victory.  I  AM  calling  in  full  power  

For  Forgiveness  every  hour;  To  all  life  in  every  place,  

I  flood  forth  forgiving  Grace.      

Thank  you  for  participating  in  our  story.    And  remember  to  call  to  

Kuan  Yin  to  help  you  with  forgiving  yourself  and  others  and  to  be  

merciful  to  life.  

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