Kuan Yin is the Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit Avalokitesvara, meaning the 'One Who Regards the Sounds of the World'. Kuan Yin Bodhisattva ( a bodhisattva is a heroic being whose enlightened activity is focused on alleviating suffering) is prominent in Mahayana Buddhism but is also revered in Thailand and Burma. There are numerous ways to consider Kuan Yin, as an archetype, a deity, a mythical and esoteric symbol, an actual force, a cosmological being. In essence Kuan Yin symbolises the energy and activity of compassion. Kuan Yin appears in the Heart Sutra, the Surangama Sutra, the Dharani Sutra and the Lotus Sutra.

These four Sutra's span the affect and influence of this Bodhisattva from the most subtle understanding of the indivisible nature of form and emptiness, as articulated in the Heart Sutra, to the Lotus Sutra where the merciful blessings of invoking Kuan Yin are laid out. In the Surangama Sutra we find Kuan Yin dispensing her favoured meditation of 'Returning the Hearing', or returning the energy of the mind to its source. This Sutra became a foundation for Chan and Zen.

At Dharmagiri the daily meditations and retreats draw from the ancient practices around Kuan Yin and every year Dharmagiri holds Kuan Yin Recitation and Chan retreats. The next retreat to include some of these practices is 'The Bodhisattva Way' from August 1st - 15th 2008 and will be facilitated by Kittisaro, Thanissara and Ian Rees.