Visit to Buddhist Temples, Bangkok – November 2016

Temples: Wat Traimit, this houses the world’s largest solid gold Buddha (5.5 tonnes of precious metal!);

Wat Pho, this is the oldest temple in Bangkok and houses the Reclining Buddha, a 45-metre-long statue which depicts Buddha entering Nirvana. Wat Pho is also ‘‘Thailand’s first university’’.

Jade Buddhist Temple, Shanghai – visited November 2015

Jade Buddha Temple
In the western part of Shanghai, a very modern and flourishing city, there is a venerable and famous Buddhist temple, Jade Buddha Temple. In 1882, an old temple was built to keep two jade Buddha statues which had been brought from Burma by a monk named Huigen. The temple was destroyed during the revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty. Fortunately the statues were saved and a new temple was built on the present site in 1928. It was named the Jade Buddha Temple.

The two precious jade Buddhist statues are not only rare cultural relics but also porcelain artworks. Both the Sitting Buddha and the Recumbent Buddha are carved with whole white jade. The sparkling and crystal-clear white jade gives the Buddhas the beauty of sanctity and make them more vivid. The Sitting Buddha is 190 centimeters high and encrusted by the agate and the emerald, portraying the Buddha at the moment of his meditation and enlightenment. The Recumbent Buddha is 96 centimeters long, lying on the right side with the right hand supporting the head and the left hand placing on the left leg, this shape is called the ‘lucky repose’. The sedate face shows the peaceful mood of Sakyamuni when he left this world. In the temple there is also another Recumbent Buddha which is four meters long and was brought from Singapore by the tenth abbot of the temple in 1989. Furthermore there are many other ancient paintings and Buddhist scriptures distributed in the different halls here.

Jing’an Buddhist Temple, Shanghai – visited November 2015

 

 

 

 

Jing‘an Temple is one of the most famous temples in Shanghai. It is located on West Nanjing Road, the hustle and bustle area of the city. In 1983 it was registered as one of the national protection places.

Jing’an Temple was first built during the Three Empires Period (220A.D to 280 A.D) and has had a history of more than 780 years. It was first titled Hudu Chong Yuan temple. However during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127 A.D. to 1279 A.D.), it was relocated to its current place from the bank of Wusong River and it became an overcrowded and famous place in 1908.

The first tram was built and Jing‘an temple was selected as its first station. Unluckily, the temple was destroyed by a fire in early 1972. The re-construction took place in 1984. Three Sage Hall and the Room of Heavenly Kings were also renovated to its current features. In 1990, Jing‘an Temple was re-opened to the public.

The old Jing‘an Temple was composed of eight scenes; they were extremely popular at that time period. Unfortunately 7 of them were extinct due to over construction around the area. Estavel was located in front of Jing‘an Temple; it was excavated on 5th May 2009.

There was another famous scene in Jing‘an temple, it was named “Six Spring” because spring water gushed out day and night. But after re-construction, the Sixth Spring has been relocated to the crossing of Huashan Highway and West Nanjing Highway, and regained its previous reputation

 

Buddhist Christmas

Meditation/Medication

There’s the story of the Buddhist acolyte who said to his master “O great one. You have sat immobile on this isolated rock for many days in search of enlightenment. I beseech you to share with me the greatest insight you have secured!” The master closed his eyes, thought for some time and said carefully “Yes oh pupil I can reveal that to you” “Then what is it, Oh master, what is it??” The master paused and said even more carefully “Never never never..leave the superglue next to the pile cream”

One Hand Clapping

I irritated a Buddhist once. He asked “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”

I said “Swish…”

 

thanks to the Rev Owain Jones for this