In its popular interpretation the cult of the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin is widespread among ordinary men and women, but it also has deeper layers of meaning. The concept of Kuan-yin in the vulgar mind tends to be on a completely different level from that nurtured in the mind of a trained Buddhist monk or nun.
觀音菩薩的信仰，看似通俗普遍、卻又深含奧義，市井小民心目中的觀音菩薩和高僧大德心目中的觀音菩薩，往往就是截然不同的層次。