Walk down the streets of Chinatown in any American or western European city and look around. She is there. Walk through the downtown streets, look in a shop window. She is there. Go to any city in China and open your eyes. She is there, too.
Kuan Yin is the most ubiquitous Chinese deity--and the most loved. She is the living expression of compassion whose gentle face and elegant figure form the center of devotion in most Chinese homes and workplaces. Until relatively recently, she was barely known in the West, and few studies had been made of her.
Originally published as Kuan Yin by Harper Collins in 1995 (and republished as The Kuan Yin Chronicles by Hampton Roads in 2009), this seminal work explores the origins and evolution of the goddess in ancient China, early Buddhism, Taoism, and shamanism. Religious scholar Martin Palmer and Chinese divination expert Man-Ho Kwok discuss the Kuan Yin myths and stories, and Jay Ramsay provides fresh translations of 100 Kuan Yin poems that function both as literature and divination tools.
A compelling story that reads like a detective mystery . . . and shows the contemporary reassertion of the Goddess in the hearts and minds of men and women. --Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade.
Previously published as The Kuan Yin Chronicles.SACRED LAND will enable you to discover the hidden secrets and meaning of the landscape around you, town or country, modern or old, wherever you live in Britain. There has been a dramatic growth in interest in our own history, buildings, landscape, sacred places, beliefs and culture over the last few years and this book will equip you with the tools to unlock the meaning, stories and history that are literally embedded in our landscape. It takes us from street names to churches; from hill forts to burial mounds; from the way a road bends to the shapes of fields in order to understand better the land that lies beneath our feet. In the literal shape of our countryside can be detected the eddies of time, politics, belief, warfare, passion and the durability of the human existence.
SACRED LAND is a fascinating, accessible read and the perfect reference guide to have in your home or in your car. It will be of interest to everyone who loves history, sacred places and sacred history, and those who like to explore their ancestry and roots.