Sha Tin Hong Kong - Last One

 

The Monastry itself was surrounded again by these golden buddhas and models of animals ... Even inside the Temple there were thousands of buddhas along the walls 

 

 

 

In the centre of the temple were 3 statues of the buddha .. Then a forth at eye level ....

This was the body of a buddhist monk (Rev. Yuet Kai ) who when he died was encased in a statue to be come one of the ten thousand buddhas

 

 

 

 

 

I'm off to Sydney in just a few hours to attend a Gartner conference ...All things in the management of IT.. 

I could think of a few other things I'd rather be doing but there you go .......

 

 

Sha Tin Monastry - Hong Kong - PT 3

 

 Having rached the Monastry we found that the path stretched out upwards and onwards towards the top of the hill .... We had to carry on...This time there were coloured Buddhas as well .. Not just the golden ones ....

 

But the twist of the tale has yet to be told ...... 

 

 

Wet wet wet ..So Pictures of Tai Po Villiage HK

The ride down hill from the Buddha on Lantau to the small seaside villiage of Tai Po was pretty hair raising .. We'd been waiting over 40 minutes for the ramshackle local bus to arrive ... 40 degree 100F heat...

A nice experience was the public toilets there .(No really).. Surrounded by concrete the heat was like an oven but outside the mens door sat a smiling old chinese man. I removed my sunglasses and pushed back my hat and nodded to him as I passed smiling back. He beamed and nodded back and I made a fanning motion with my hand to say how hot it was and he nodded again and looked up to the skies both hand held out as though to catch it .... 

 

I carried on into  the toilet .. They were immaculate ..(McD will be happy I thought  absent mindedly)...As I washed my hands I spied a picture at the end at the basins on a pillar as you walked out ...It was the old man and his family I can only assume it was his wife and children.. The old man beaming alongside a smiling wife and 5 0r 6 kids from mid teans to mid 20s .. The older kids were dressed in suits etc ..The younger ones in what us oldun's would call sunday best .. 

 

I spent a small time looking at the picture. The older kids looked like they had good 'city' jobs.  

I don't know the full story ...I can imagine it. The old man passing his future into his children, their education their betterment. Excelling an taking pride in his work the way few of us do. I walked out intending to try and see if I could get more information on him and the picture but he'd moved onto doing his work again..... 

 

And then the bus ride down a very steep mountain on a winding road... Thrown from side to side .. Half way down we braked sharply on a corner ... Another bus coming the other way ....and then finally Tai Po Villiage and yet more heat ... 

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hong Kong Holiday Pictures - Monastry at Lantau Island

A few pictures from the Monastry/Nunnery on Lantau Island... We had a welcome lunch there ...A bottomless bowl of mushroom soup to die for and a bottomless cup of green too to rehydrate ourselves after the heat of the day and the climb to the Buddha.. All the food was vegetarian and we loved every dish ....

Turned out it was nearly the last meal of almost condemmed Dinzies... More on our near death(again) experiences next time :O)

Is it me or are we all getting busier by the nano-second ??? uh Uh ??? ?

Cola update and Last of the Budha pictures

 

I thought Cola was dead yesterday morning ....I went over to her and could see no movement...No breathing and I ran my hand over her head and along her back. No movement. She felt cold to the touch ...... 

I was just in mid-sentance of saying "oh Sweets , Cola died in her sleep.... " but got no further than "oh Sweets .." when the dead lump of fur lifted her head and looked at me with bleary eyes ..... 

So my sentence became "Oh sweets - she's very cold" !!! 

But since then Cola has improved and is now eating a little ...But sleeps a lot and doesn't have a great deal of energy after competing with the other animals for MCds "hand fed" grilled chicken breast ...The Dinzie pets favourite bar none...... 

you must if not already done so see mcds entry with the poorly cola pictures....

McDinzie

 

 

Hong Kong Lantau Buddha overflow pictures  

 

"The statue is named Tian Tan Buddha because its base is a model of the Altar of Heaven or Earthly Mount of Tian Tan, the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. It is one of the five large Buddha statues in China. The Buddha statue sits on a lotus throne on top of a three-platform altar. It is surrounded by eight smaller bronze statues representing gods or immortals. Like the Daibutsu in Kamakura, Japan, the Tian Tan Buddha is a image of Buddha Amitabha.

The Buddha is 34 meters tall, weighs 250 tonnes, and was the world's tallest outdoor bronze seated Buddha prior to 2007.^[1] It reputedly can even be seen from as far away as Macau on a clear day. Visitors have to climb 268 steps in order to reach the Buddha, though the site also features a small winding road to the Buddha for vehicles to accommodate the handicapped.

The Tian Tan Buddha appears serene and dignified. His right hand is raised, representing the removal of affliction. His left hand rests on his lap in a gesture of giving dhana. The Buddha faces north, which is unique among the great Buddha statues, as all others face south.

In addition, there are 3 floors beneath the Buddha statue: The Hall of Universe, The Hall of Benevolent Merit, and The Hall of Remembrance. One of the most renowned features inside is a relic of Sakyamuni, consisting of some of his alleged cremated remains. There is a huge carved bell inscribed with images of Buddhas in the show room. It was designed to ring every seven minutes, 108 times a day, symbolizing the release of 108 kinds of human vexations."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tian_Tan_Buddha

 

AND so a few left over pictures of the "Buddhistic statues praising and making offerings to the Tian Tan Buddha" before we hobble down the 268 steps and dive into the wonderful nunnery (SP?)  for the best chinese vegetable meal in the hong kong area ...Especially the mushroom soup....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hong Kong Lantau Island Pt2

The Buddha on Lantau island is huge. In fact the inside of it is a museum of sorts dedicated to the Buddha himself. Beautiful chinese style paintings , wall hangings depicting the Buddhas journeys as well as his followers .... We had the steps to climb but every so far there was a landing where the devoted prayed...I stopped too and prayed my lungs would hold out :O)