Guan Yin Book of Divination

By Ink-It Lee

A bilingual Chinese(Simplified) to English alternative translation (compared to what is already available) of the verses used in the popular method of fortune telling by sortilege of the Goddess of Mercy (Guan Yin or Kuan Yin) Oracle.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ink-It Lee
• Release date: Jul 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9789810964221

Ink-It Lee

Translator/writer who likes to read, delves into superstitious and beliefs,and who is curious about many things.

Book preview

Disclaimer/免责声明

This book is intended to provide information and an English translation on the subject matter covered.   It is designed with the understanding that the author and the publisher are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. 

While every effort has been made to make the book as accurate where possible, the vague nature of the subject covered means that the interpretation is not always straight forward.  Plus, there may be mistakes both typographical and in the content itself.

Therefore, the text here should be used only as general guide and not as an ultimate source of the subject matter covered. 

The author and the publisher shall not be liable nor responsible to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by the information and translation covered in this book.

Preface

I am sure many people like me have sought guidance from the various Gods, Goddesses, Buddhas and Deities when faced with uncertainties or challenges in life or sometimes simply just for fun.  I have tried to interpret the many messages I have received from the numerous divinations I did and though in the end, I found the advice to be mostly similar and often just trying to inspire one to be a better person, I still occasionally seek a divination, either out of habit or for peace of mind. 

One of the more popular Oracles in South-East Asia is the Guan Yin's Oracle or otherwise known as the Guan Yin's Book of Divination.  After having consulted the Goddess several times, I felt another English translation may be more useful and hence I started this work.  English translations are already available on the web but with this book, I hope to offer an alternative translation based on my interpretation of the verses in use today and in today's context.

The different verses were translated to the best of my perhaps limited linguistic abilities.  I do not profess to be an expert either in divination arts or languages.  If you have any suggestion for improvement, do write to [e-mail].

序言

我相信许多人和我一样，在不知所措的当儿或遇到挑战时或只是一时兴起，都曾到各个寺庙求签占卜，希望得到菩萨神佛的指点。我也尝试去明白我在许多次占卜求签所得到的讯息，尽管我觉得神明给我的每次劝告指示都似乎一样，就是在提示我们做人的道理，但为了让自己安心，又或是一种习惯，我偶尔还是会去卜卦求签。

在我居住的区域里，观音菩萨的百首灵签是其中较普遍的。就在求了几次签后，我觉得若有另个英文翻译或许会对信徒比较有帮助，因此就开始了这个翻译。线上已存有可使用的英文翻译，而这本书只是提供我对签文现今的理解和现在生活的应用。

我尽我有限的语言能力去理解签内所含的意义和做这份翻译。我自认不是占卜专家也不是语文专家，如果您有任何建议，请电邮：[e-mail]。

Contents/目录

Picture Credits

Disclaimer

Preface

Introduction

Guan Yin Oracle

Divining a Lot

介绍

观音灵签

抽签

灵签百首/ The 100 Divinations

References/参考

Introduction

Divination in English is derived from the Latin word, divinare, which means to foresee the future or be inspired by Gods or some supernatural powers on what may happen.  To do so, our forefathers had developed practices or systems that attempt to interpret omens or heaven’s will with tools like tea leaves, rune stones, cards and in Asia, sortilege - which is divination by drawing lots, usually a set of fortune sticks- is very popular. 

In many Asian temples today, the devotees will first make an offering to the gods by burning some incense before they take a cylindrical tube, usually made of bamboo, that may contain anything from 60 up to 100 sticks with a different number written on each depending on the celestial being involved. The Oracle for the Buddha Guan Yin has either 100 or 130 lots, with the latter practically not in use today.  The devotee will shake the cylinder until a Lot falls out.  The message from heavens will then be the one related to that particular number printed on the Lot.

Through the ages, people have faced challenges and encountered difficulties even as they tried hard to create a meaningful and abundant livelihood for themselves and their loved ones.  Whenever one is lost or caught in a troubling situation, many pray for protection and guidance.  And among those who reside in Heavens, who else would better empathize with the poor people besides the merciful and benevolent Goddess Guan Yin?

The Oracle of Guan Yin

Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, is a well-known and respected goddess in many parts of Asia.  Scholars believed that the Guan Yin was a male Buddha Bodhisattva in India before it evolved into the non-sectarian Goddess of Compassion who is worshipped in many Taoist, Buddhist and even Hindu cultures.  She has been depicted in as many as 33 different forms in artifacts and places of worship.

In Asia, it is easy to find temples that worship the Goddess and the oracle associated with the Goddess of Mercy is relatively popular.  The Oracle of Guan Yin, also known as Guan Yin’s Book of Divination, usually contains 100 Lots, each accompanied by a short poem and an associated story.  Each poem is a quatrain with 4 lines of 7 characters each, 28 characters in all.  As an oracular system, it probably came into written form only in the recent few hundred years.  Although the oracle is attributed to the goddess, it has some resemblance to other Chinese divinatory systems, including the Book of Changes(易经) and are believed to have evolved from older divination tools. The message represented by each Lot is described in the 28 characters’ poem, an associated story and how it relates to different aspects of an agrarian life. 

The Goddess’ answers to prayers are oftentimes vague and interpretations often vary depending on the specific time and situation.  Both the poems and their interpretations have been passed down through the generations and spread among different groups, thus creating several versions. As societies evolved from an agrarian lifestyle to the modern life we know today, attempts to re-adapt the oracle have led to conflicting and differing interpretations. Different versions and various interpretations however create an interesting system where sometimes, even the Lot may conflict with itself, like Lot 17. 

The Chinese version adopted here is relatively common and many copies of this exist in the Internet. This contains 100 lots where the accompanying stories differ depending on which temple one goes to, but only the title of one story is mentioned in the Appendix for every Lot here.  The readers can refer to the references for the stories themselves.

This version also does not contain many details on the different aspects of life, just a general comment in less than 10 characters for every aspect in each Lot which is often vague. This makes interpretation somewhat challenging.  For example, 安(an) can refer to safety or peace and which meaning to apply really depends on the individual context.

In addition, this version also excludes the trigram (卦(gua)) and description of the elemental influences (五行 (wu xing)) on the Lot. Considerable inconsistencies in the different source texts are also not reproduced here but the readers can refer to the different websites and books available.  The original divination poem is included together with an interpretation and related allegory.

Readers are encouraged to adopt a contemporary interpretation and apply that to your own concerns and issues.  As in any divination, whatever is the message you may receive, it is important to remember that at any time, anything can change for the better or the worse.  Bide your time, be kind to others, work hard and build your strengths, you will be rewarded in time to come.  Remember to always be generous to both yourself and others, treat all fairly and with kindness and good things will naturally come.  Sincerely open up your heart and mind to the vast universe, the answers you are seeking will present themselves to you.

Divining A Lot

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