Part of my writings here will be dedicated to documenting the creation of the Kwan Yin Gardens. This is an inspiring and exciting project that I have been dreaming about for a while now and will be a work in progress for many years yet. Kwan Yin is the goddess of love, compassion, and healing. She is a bodhisattva whose earliest incarnations were in India. Over thousands of years her various incarnations have appeared through Asia and around the world. It is said that she achieved the purest form of compassion and when she reached the gates of Nirvana, the highest place of enlightenment, she stopped when she heard the cries and suffering of the sentient beings on earth and decided to return. She has chosen to remain in this world to help those who are suffering.
I have long felt a deep connection to Kwan Yin. She brings me strength and the vision to embrace and celebrate the love and compassion that is possible in this world. Kwan Yin is the embodiment of all that is good and represents the unconditional love that is available to all. The plan for the gardens is to create an area that brings together the many aspects of high vibrational energy – through color, geometrical shapes, earth energy, crystals and rocks, plants and trees, water, sounds, – providing a connection with the natural essence of a place that’s part of the pure natural world.
The gardens will be a place for meditation, inner peace, healing, and filling one with the joy and inspiration that comes from connecting to the earth and to Spirit.
I will write about and photograph each stage as the garden unfolds. The first celebration we are having is bringing our Kwan Yin home. I have been looking for a Kwan Yin statue for years now. There are many different versions and poses that she is typically represented in. I wanted her to be pouring the nectar of compassion from her vase and to have her eyes open with a look of peace and happiness on her face. It’s taken a while but I finally found the Kwan Yin that I was looking for. She was hand carved in Vietnam from white marble. Kyle Tortora has a company in California called Lotus Sculpture. He travels to many countries including India, Bali, Thailand, Cambodia, and Bangladesh. It was in his collection that I found our Kwan Yin. So from Vietnam to her garden in Canada, she has found her way home.
She will be the grounding energy of the gardens. Her presence will be the defining grace that sets our intention for bringing forth love and compassion to our guests and to the world.