The Bodhisattva Temple

The first temple we visited in the Taichung area was undoubtedly the most personal.  As you can see in the picture, it occupied a little niche on a busy street. I removed (by the magic of Paintshop Pro) a huge light pole in order to give you a decent picture of the building, which very evidently is simultaneously serving as growth facility for various species of vegetation.  The external botany makes for a great effect from the inside, though, such as with the picture-window like front of the temple. You are looking at the guilded figure of Guanin (Kuan-Yin) in front of the standing Buddha Amithaba.  

For those who are new to this world, Guanin is a Chinese folk legend, who became known as the goddess of mercy.  When Buddhism came to China, her identity was merged with that of the Bodhisattva of Mercy, who has been known by the snappy name of Avalokitesvara. (I doubt that his name gets butchered all that much more than, say, "Winfried," does.)  Just as I had seen before in Hong Kong and Singapore, here in Taiwan also the two names and personalities were interchanged freely.  In other words, when people were not intending to be technically accurate, they might easily refer to a representation of the male Avalokitesvara as Guanin, or they might also speak of a Guanin statue as Avalokitesvara.  Please note the picture of the clever depiction of Guanin on a cloud on the external stairwell.

Furthermore, as long as we're addressing the basics, I trust my well-informed readers (a redundancy, to be sure) know that there are numerous Buddhas in the various schools of Buddhism. Amithaba, supervisor of the Western quadrant of the universe and artisan of the much-desired Pure Land, is one of the most popular ones.  

Then there was the statue of a person whose legs were not in the lotus position, and whose finger was pointing at his cheek. It is common knowledge that the various hand positions (mudras) and other bodily attitudes of Eastern divinities have specific meanings, and so it is in this case.  A statue under this description represents Prince Siddhartha after his chariot ride, agonizing over his impending decision to leave the palace and seek enlightenment.  

 The Master of this small temple was the Venerable Huei Guang.  At one time he was a science major at a university in the United States, felt called late in his studies to go into religion and philosophy, but decided to finish his science major before enrolling in seminary (in other words, his early educational biography was very similar to mine).  After several years as monk in the order of Fo Guang Shan (see last Friday's entry), he launched this new project, and he appears to be very popular.  However, note the sword-like tool at his side.  This is the instrument with which the master slaps his student meditators if they accidentally fall asleep during meditation practice.

After an hour or so of good personal conversation, we came to the usual exchange of gifts at the end of such a visit.  Wyatt had come to Taiwan prepared with a number of nicely wrapped Bibles, which would be one of our standard presents.  Master Huei Guang had just mentioned that he had never read the Bible, and that he dearly wished he had one, when Wyatt handed him one.  We broke Chinese custom and encouraged him to open the package right then and there, which he did, and you can see the result on his face.  It had been a long, long time since I have seen anyone so genuinely excited to receive a Bible.  May the Word of God exercise its power in his life and his ongoing search for truth.  

(Just in case you're wondering, we each received a shirt from the temple.)