Another Chinese development in which Kwan-yin plays a unifying role is the common portrayal of her as being accompanied by, or served by, Sudhana and the dragon princess, a boy and a girl – one from the Avatamsaka Sutra, the other from the Lotus Sutra, two sutras which are closely associated with two different and rival schools of Buddhism.

All human beings, I believe, have both male and female qualities, but strict adherence to the ideas that all buddhas are male, and that nuns should always be subservient to monks, restricts access in both women and men to their female selves. By being a buddha who is both male and female, Kwan-yin provides a kind of balance to the overwhelmingly male-oriented weight of Buddhist tradition, enabling women to appreciate their value and men to appreciate the woman often hidden in themselves.

Kwan-yin, I have said on many occasions, represents a kind of “lowland Buddhism.” By this I mean that in contrast to those who would see religions as a matter of climbing to a mountaintop to enjoy some kind of “peak experience,” the Dharma Flower Sutra, especially as it is embodied in Kwan-yin, is a way that emphasizes the importance of being earthly, of being this-worldly, of being involved in relieving suffering. …

I believe that we should also be lowland Buddhists like Kwan-yin, seeking the low places, the valleys, even the earthy and dirty places, where people are suffering and in need. That is how we will meet the bodhisattva Kwan-shih-yin, at least if we are lucky or perceptive. That is where we will find those who hear and respond with compassion to the cries and sorrows of this world. They too are bodhisattvas of compassion, Kwan-shih-yin embodied.