I’m back—Mark here. After a day spent in bed (thanks to Anna and Rich for the DVDs) I was feeling better yesterday. It appears I had a bad cold. Now I’m awake at 5:00 AM so I can get caught up here.
One of the highlights of our trip has been a trip to a Buddhist Temple. It provided an oasis of
quiet and solitude in the middle of this crazy, noisy, over-stimulating city. We’re not sure if it is a commentary on religion in China, but the place was virtually deserted. The temple was quite large, with four large buildings in line, separated by courtyards. Each of the first buildings held increasingly larger Buddha statues (the largest over 30 feet tall). The outer gate was guarded over by some fierce looking statues. I’m not sure how much this would help membership growth—perhaps we could use some at the Congregational Church of Huntington. The temple dates to 504 AD, but it was ransacked during the cultural revolution in the 1960s and 70s. What is there now has been restored since then.
In the third building, the one with a “strictly no photos” sign, there was a prayer service in session with 15 monks (men in saffron robes and women in brown) chanting prayers accompanied by a large drum and bell. We felt privileged to be there at this time. Their chanting
was mesmerizing and we stood for quite some time. One monk offered for us to join them as they processed around the large central statue, but we declined as we felt more as spectators than participants at that time.
The backside of the largest Buddha was the most impressive of the statues. It was a montage of hundreds of figures (bodhisattvas, perhaps?) that appeared to be ascending to the clouds (sorry, no photo). It was amazing.
One of the highlights of our trip has been a trip to a Buddhist Temple. It provided an oasis of
quiet and solitude in the middle of this crazy, noisy, over-stimulating city. We’re not sure if it is a commentary on religion in China, but the place was virtually deserted. The temple was quite large, with four large buildings in line, separated by courtyards. Each of the first buildings held increasingly larger Buddha statues (the largest over 30 feet tall). The outer gate was guarded over by some fierce looking statues. I’m not sure how much this would help membership growth—perhaps we could use some at the Congregational Church of Huntington. The temple dates to 504 AD, but it was ransacked during the cultural revolution in the 1960s and 70s. What is there now has been restored since then.In the third building, the one with a “strictly no photos” sign, there was a prayer service in session with 15 monks (men in saffron robes and women in brown) chanting prayers accompanied by a large drum and bell. We felt privileged to be there at this time. Their chanting
was mesmerizing and we stood for quite some time. One monk offered for us to join them as they processed around the large central statue, but we declined as we felt more as spectators than participants at that time.The backside of the largest Buddha was the most impressive of the statues. It was a montage of hundreds of figures (bodhisattvas, perhaps?) that appeared to be ascending to the clouds (sorry, no photo). It was amazing.
1 comment:
Mark & Ronnie,
Great pictures! Thanks so much for sharing your adventure and the beautiful pictures of Allie. We all check the blog everyday and call each other to say "how cute".
Love, Jim, Patti & Missy
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