Religion

03/10/04

I parked my faith strongly in Buddhism as its teaching has guided me to the right path. I am currently taking up basic Buddhist religious study at Hai Inn Temple to know more about the religion. Never did I know that Buddhism is so much part of our life. The praying and bowing not only instill respect, but incorporate mechanism that will strengthen our body through right practice. And meditation begins with calmness achieved through controlling the pace of our daily life from the way we eat, walk, talk, rest and thoughts control all the motions and emotions. I have a lot more to learn, are you interested to join me and enhance your life's expectation.

If I have the chance to travel around the world, I would like to visit countries with deep Buddhist Culture and view the Buddha statue. Right now, I can only view them virtually as you.

Sri Lanka -

The Samâdhi statue in Anurâdhapura, made in the second century A.D., is one of the most awe-inspiring of statues in Sri Lanka. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, when he visited Ceylon some time ago, stood spell-bound before this image. Referring to his experience he said: "The Buddha statue at Anurâdhapura in Ceylon moved me greatly and a picture of it has been my companion for many years." [The Discovery of India, p. 220.] When he subsequently visited Ceylon he was presented with a silver replica of this statue. The Samâdhi statue has now become the venue of an annual festival during Poson, when thousands of devotees range themselves around this statue spell-bound and in silent meditation.

Thailand -

This Sukhothai Traimit Golden Buddha Image you are now viewing is the largest Golden Buddha Image in the world. It is a Buddha image in the mara conquering attitude, the typical artistic style of the days when Sukhothai was the capital of Thailand. It is made of pure gold. The image is unrivalled in beauty, measuring 12 feet 5 inches in diametre and has a height of 15 feet 9 inches from the base to the crown and it weighs approximately 5 tons. Now more than 700 years old, it is a valuable treasure of Thailand and of Buddhism.

Japan

The eye measures 1.2 meters, the ear 2.6 meters, the height of the nose 0.5 meters, the lenght of the face 4.8 meters, the height of the statue 16 meters ( including the pedestal ), the thumb 1.64 meters. The total weight is estimated at 380 tons.

The foundry of the Great Buddha of the Todai-ji Temple started casting in 747, and 11 years later it was completed. The gilding, which was the last stage of the construction of the Great Buddha, took as long as 5 years.

Because this image suffered damage in the wars of 1180 and 1567, its head and upper body were repaired later. The lower body, pedestal and part of chest remain in their original form.

Most of the principal images in big temples are 4.8 meters tall, and are called Jorokubutsu. All Buddha Images taller than Jorokubutsu are called Daibutsu [ Great Buddha ]. In the case of the Todai-ji Temple, the original Great Buddha was taller than the existing figure by 90 centimeters.

New Zealand

The image of the Buddha standing in the garden is in a teaching pose, rather than a meditative or other pose. It is one of only two non-building structures in the garden and occupies the center place between the two doors to the sala.

This site was last updated 03/10/04