February 19 (Lunar calendar: January 29), 2023 Sunday | Dawnxisoul393art
Today, we visited "Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery" in Hong Kong. Sketching and painting. Hong Kong Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery was located on "Ten Thousand Buddhas Mountain (hill)", north of Shatin railway station in the new territories of Hong Kong. The mountain (hill) was more than 100 meters high, with green bamboo, winding mountains, auspicious clouds, and elegant and quiet. In front of the downtown Shatin, and Lion Mountain on the right. Walked out of the bus terminus from Exit A of Shatin MTR station. First, we passed through an old village, Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery was on the mountain (hill), we carried our little girl in our arms and our girl's baby stroller on our shoulders and walked more than 400 steps to reach it. Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery was built in 1949 and completed in 1957. More than 12000 Buddha statues are enshrined in the monastery. Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery covered an area of 65000 square feet. It had Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall, Maitreya Hall, Guanyin Hall, Zhunti Hall, Yuhuang (Heavenly Emperor) Hall, Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda, Guanyin Pavilion, Weituo Pavilion, etc.
When we saw countless Golden Buddha statues at the gate we knew that we were on the right road to the monastery. We needed to walk up more than 400 (stone) steps to reach, more than 400 steps on the left and right the most iconic 500 Arhats of Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. These 500 Arhats had been exposed for a long time and had been hit by wind and rain, they had a more natural feeling. In addition, they had opened up on both sides of the forest road. The appearance and form of the 500 Arhats are different. They really have their own characteristics. The 500 completely different Arhats let us have a closer look. There would be interactive communication between Arhats and Arhats, this is the most interesting. These sculptures made us feel that the monastery could also be full of fun. When we took the first section of stairs, we began to carefully observe the appearance of each Arhat.
Illustrated by dawnxisoul393art
When we came to the middle section, we found that the expressions of these different Arhats were familiar in our daily life, but they were more vivid. The steps in the middle section were relatively inclined. The more the steps were inclined, the more strange and interesting the looks of those Arhats were. Some Arhats even rode animals. When we saw the words "Amitabha Buddha in the South" on the wall, we knew that we had finally arrived at our destination. We could also see the whole scenery of Shatin here. Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery had a Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall, a red box building, and the sculptures on the outer wall had the design flavor of ancient times. Small Buddha statues cover the whole Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall. The nine-story red pagoda had Buddha statues inside and outside the pagoda, but tourists couldn't go in and go up the pagoda. The ten thousand Buddha pagoda was nine stories high, and Buddha statues were provided inside and outside the pagoda. The design was unique. This pagoda was one of the most classic symbols of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery known by the public.
Illustrated by dawnxisoul393art
The red pagoda was once chosen by HSBC as the design of an HK $100 banknote, so it is also a very symbolic landmark in Shatin. The four Buddha statues under the Nine-Story Pagoda were the main places people visit. In addition to the ten thousand Buddha statues and five hundred Arhats, there were several golden statues of Guanyin Bodhisattva, among the several Guanyin sculptures in the monastery, the most iconic one, the Avalokiteshvara with a thousand hands, was located in the center opposite the Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall. In addition to the 500 golden Arhats, there was also an 18 Arhats corridor. The sculptures of the 18 Buddhas were placed in glass cabinets and were dedicated to Venerable Māla, Venerable Māla, Venerable Narayana, Venerable Narayana, Venerable Fuhu, Venerable Buddhadatta, Venerable Allāhāra, Venerable Bodhidharma, Venerable Mādhyamika, Venerable Bhāshyasiddha, Venerable Purified Karmas, Venerable Tōjōghī, and Venerable Gomorāda... There were several other small temples attached to the monastery nearby.
Illustrated by dawnxisoul393art
The high-rise buildings of Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery included Yuhuang Hall, Huaiti Hall, Guanyin Hall, and Amitabha Hall. The main hall of the main Monastery was the Ten Thousand Buddha Hall, which was square. There were nine wooden frames around the wall, which were filled with one-foot-high Buddha statues. The total number of small Buddha statues on the wooden frame was 12800. Outside the main Monastery was a platform square. There were many large Buddha statues in the square, of which the highest one was Wei Tuo, the Great God of Dharma protection. These large and small Buddha statues could be said to be the characteristics of the monastery. Every year, the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month and the bathing Buddha Festival on the 8th day of the fourth lunar month hold a Dharma meeting in the temple. The master chants scriptures to pray for prosperity in Hong Kong and world peace. The master uses white rice to build the five characters of Ding, Cai, GUI, Shou, and Hui. After worshipping, the good faith takes a small amount of cooking. It is said that it has the effect of turning bad luck into good luck.
Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery was founded by Master Yuexi, an eminent monk. Master Yuexi once served as a professor of Philosophy in Beijing. Later he came to Hong Kong and became a monk. At that time, Dr. Jane Yujie of Nanyang Brothers Tobacco Company donated the private property on the mountain next to Shatin railway station to Master Yuexi. Master Yuexi originally planned to establish a Buddhist College there, but it was shelved for some reason. Finally, it was used to build Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. With great perseverance and wisdom, Master Yuexi personally led his disciples to shape more than 10000 Buddha statues for eight years, despite the hardships at the age of 70. After its completion in 1957, Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery had become a kind of "Zen Forest" in Hong Kong. In addition to the main monastery, three smaller temples were built on the ridge of the main monastery. The courtyard of Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery was divided into two groups: Ten Thousand Buddhas Pagoda, Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall, Weituo Pavilion, Guanyin Pavilion, and the Eighteen Arhats Pavilion. More than ten thousand Buddha statues were enshrined in the Ten Thousand Buddhas Hall with different postures. The statues of Guanyin, Manjusri, Bodhisattva, and Arhats outside the hall were magnificent and spectacular.
Master Yuexi was a legend in his life. Master Yuexi was born into a wealthy family. At the age of 19, he resolutely became a monk. As soon as Master Yuexi became a monk, he lit 48 lights in front of the Buddha and made three wishes for the Buddha: First, not greedy for beautiful clothes and food, happy practice and asceticism, and never regret, 2, Read all the classics of Sanzang and practice Zen painstakingly, 3, To practice, speech and guidance, promote the practice of Dharma and benefit all sentient beings. A few days later, Master Yuexi met with Monk Tieyan. After talking, he felt like drinking nectar, so he worked hard day and night. Afterward, he traveled around, visiting famous mountains, teaching sutras and teachings as he saw fit. In 1933, he traveled to Hong Kong and settled there. In his later years, Master Yuexi devoted himself to creating Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. It had been very difficult to build the monastery. By 1957, the monastery was finally completed.
One day in 1965, Master Yue Xi suddenly felt that his life was coming to an end. Before his death, he instructed his disciples to seal his body in a wooden box and take it out after 8 months. 8 months later, the disciples took his body out of the box and found that his body had not changed in any way, as if he had just passed away. The disciples then wrapped his body in red cloth according to his wishes, painted it with lacquer and gold, and enshrined it in the temple's Maitreya Hall as a Bodhisattva in the flesh. This is the only case in Hong Kong so far.
Original by dawnxisoul393art
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