It has been said that Kuan Yin’s father - a king - sent her to live in hell because she saw so much beauty - and therefore she loved too much.
It was too much love because it made her shine.
And the king wanted to be the only one who was shiny.
In hell Kuan Yin did what she had always done - she survived by seeing, seeking and finding beauty in everything - and therefore she loved.
In this love, Kuan Yin's fellow hell-mates started seeing their beauty. They saw their true reflections - their true selves. When the inhabitants of hell saw this they couldn’t help but love themselves - and this love blasted them straight out of hell into nirvana!
The guardians of hell, upset that they were losing all their people, sent Kuan Yin back to middle earth, back to her father. The guardians of hell made Kuan Yin a goddess - “one who cannot die” - so her father (or anyone else) could not kill her again.
As she rose out of the underworld, a blue lotus bloomed for the first time in the world and, for the first time, her father - a king - wept and said “I’m sorry.”
Kuan Yin smiled.
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