This World Kindness Day we look to this intricate and striking image of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokiteshvara, also known as Lokeshvara when in his thousand-arm form. In this thangka painting from 18th-century central Tibet, Lokeshvara has 11 heads piled on top of each other, varying in color. Near the top he bears a wrathful face with bared fangs, and right above is the face of his spiritual father, Buddha Amitabha. A large white circle surrounds his body. This halo is actually made up of his many arms, detailing all one thousand. While a pair of his arms is at his heart, most are performing the hand gesture, or mudra, of generosity, as if he is giving you something. And in each hand, he has an eye, as if fully aware of the receiver of his compassion. It is said that when Lokeshvara first started his journey to help all sentient beings to gain enlightenment, there was a point that he became so overwhelmed that he physically broke into a thousand pieces. It was with the aid...