How many times can I look at Buddhas and temples?
Ordinarily, my tolerance isn’t high for seeing the same things over and over.
Variation is key.
For instance, living in Korea if you’ve seen one buddhist temple, you’ve pretty near seen them all. The architecture doesn’t change much and the buddhas wear the look of staunch, Fu Man Chu looking Confucianist. Thailand is different. Whether it’s a hundred Buddhas lined up in a row, (more…)
Vientiane, Laos.
If seeing Buddhas are you thing, then you’ll never find yourself at a loss in Laos. In fact, at Wat Si Sisket, there’s an impressive collection of over 2,000 of them. Housed in a cloister, the Buddhas meditate around the main temple, each of them aged with its own personality of time, material and ruin. It’s a virtual antiquities museum jogging you to reflect on the history and reincarnations of ‘The Reawakened One‘.
What would make a fearless warrior fall to his knees and drop his sword?
Love and God.
The Golden Temple (aka Harmandir Sahib) was my long-awaited India highlight; moreso than the Taj Mahal. In fact, the Golden Temple averages more visitors a day than the Taj itself! As the spiritual centre and pilgrimage spot for the fiercest-known warrior class in India– the Sikhs– the Golden Temple is a jewel to behold and the worship that evolves from it is something powerful! The temple is of gold and marble and is surrounded by a pool of water fed by the Ganges.
(above) Photo by Autum Kirgan
You can’t go into any Indian temple without first, taking off your shoes first. At the Golden Temple however, you must also wash your feet (more…)
We all have this idea that Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns have very stoic , temperate and reserved personalities. Afterall, walking Buddha’s Middle Path (of compassion), doesn’t exactly lend itself to the appearance of being excitable, emotional or argumentative. Yet, monks have their moments and in their monk clan, they reveal themselves to be absolutely human when it comes to “the art of debate”!
Picture of the Karmapa as a boy. (Dharamsala, India)
Who are we seeing? I asked
The Karmapa.
My party of yogi friends chimed in.
Who?
The name didn’t stir recognition for me.
His gaze was intense for such a young-looking face.
Piercing. Penetrating, as if he could see right into you…
Standing in the long queue, I could feel the excitement around me. He was just in the next room, visible through the open door.
The foreign traveler in front of me was so in awe and smitten that she bowed her way all the way while backing out the door!
A little excessive, I thought. After all, he wasn’t Buddha! Still, a part of me wondered if I should follow suit. How does one address or approach a Karmapa Lama? Bow profusely, prostrate myself, fold my hands in simple Namaste prayer ? I had no (more…)
The saying is, you can take your wishes to Gatbawi Buddha (the Stone Hat Buddha) and pray for them to come true. But that’s if you can reach him! The trail to Gatbawi is a steep 3-hour hike up Palgongsan mountain and there are two ways to go about it 1) you can take the rock steps, an steep 75 degree incline climb or 2) take the mountaineer’s trekking path. Both are pretty intense but the stairway will probably give you the hardest and sweatiest workout, as it just keeps ascending while offering little to no rest points! It’s a rigorous workout, to say the least.
Full Story »Repost old post: I was on my way to see The Chinese Village (aka Suntichon Village) on my new motorbike rental. Freedom at last! According to Graham, the U.K. expat I had met on the bus earlier, the village is a small Chinese cultural site tucked away on the outskirst of Pai/Mae Ha Song but easily reached 45 minutes by motorbike. Along the way, I made a stop at this local temple. All throughout Thailand during, there’s a celebratory period, which honors monks and signals their changing of old and worn robes. Buddhist devotees purchase and donate gift baskets and/or fresh robes for the monks to wear in the new year.
Full Story »Swayambhunath Stupa (aka Monkey Temple) is claimed to be over 2,000 years old, is a famous pilgrimage site for many devout Hindus and Buddhists in Nepal.
Full Story »
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