Manitoba Buddhist Temple
39 Tecumseh St. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Seven Buddhist Wonders
But what about a list of the Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World? What would you nominate? If you want to make a suggestion click on the "Comments" below the posting. Here are seven choices in no particular order:
1. Potala Palace,
Lhasa, Tibet, China
This was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama. The
14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala, India after a
failed uprising in 1959. Today the Potala Palace is a
state museum of China. It is a popular tourist
attraction, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The birthplace of the Gautama Buddha, Lumbini, is the Mecca of every Buddhist, being one of the four holy places of Buddhism. Lumbini is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The holy site of Lumbini has ruins of ancient monasteries, a sacred Bodhi tree, an ancient bathing pond, the Asokan pillar and the Mayadevi temple, where the precise place of birth of Buddha is located.
From early morning to early evening, pilgrims from various countries perform chanting and meditation at the site. It is said in the Parinibbana Sutta that Buddha himself identified four places of future pilgrimage: the sites of his birth, enlightenment, first discourse, and death. All of these events happened outside in nature under trees. While there is not any particular significance in this, other than it perhaps explains why Buddhists have always respected the environment and natural law.
In March 2001, the Taliban destroyed the largest examples of standing Buddha carvings in the world. The statues were embedded in a mountain on the famous Silk Road. They claimed that they were false idols contrary to their Islamic beliefs.
In the summer of 2006, Afghan officials were deciding the timetable for the re-construction of the statues. While they wait for the Afghan government and international community decide whether to rebuild them, a $1.3 million UNESCO-funded project is sorting out the chunks of clay and plaster, ranging from boulders weighing several tons to fragments the size of tennis balls.
The government has also approved the proposal of the Japanese artist Hiro Yamagata to mount a $64 million sound-and-laser show starting in 2009 that would project Buddha images at Bamiyan, powered by hundreds of windmills that would also supply electricity to surrounding residents.
Bamyan was the site of several Buddhist and Hindu monasteries, and a thriving center for religion, philosophy, and Greco-Buddhist art. It was a Buddhist religious site from the second century up to the time of the Islamic invasion in the ninth century.
The site was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site along with surrounding cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the Bamyan Valley.
Read BBC Report, "Artist to recreate Afghan Buddhas...
4. Borobudur Temple, near Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia
In 1814, the British Lieutenant Governor of Java sent a survey team to verify reports of an impressive monument located at the center of the island of Java. For six weeks, a crew of 200 men labored to clear away the soil, volcanic ash and vegetation that buried the said sanctuary, unearthing what turned out to be one of the greatest archaeological finds of the modern era.
The largest Buddhist
temple in the world comprises six square platforms
topped by three circular platforms, and is decorated
with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues.
Evidence suggests Borobudur was abandoned following
the fourteenth century decline of Buddhist and Hindu
kingdoms in Java, and the Javanese conversion to
Islam. It was rediscovered in 1814 by Sir Thomas
Raffles, the British ruler of Java.
The monument is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site. Borobudur is still used for pilgrimage, where
once a year Buddhist in Indonesia celebrate Vesak at
the monument, and Borobudur is Indonesia's single
most visited tourist attraction.
Among 20 locations short listed for the worldwide vote for the new Seven Wonders is the the Kiyomizu Temple.
Although Kiyomizudera was founded in 780 AD, the present buildings date from 1633. Kiyomizudera's architecture has been imitated by lesser temples all over Japan and it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.
The expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" is the Japanese equivalent of the English expression "to take the plunge." This refers to an Edo period tradition that held that, if one were to survive jumping from the terrace, one's wish would be granted. This does appear plausible: the lush vegetation below the platform might cushion the 13-meter fall of a lucky pilgrim, though the practice is now prohibited. 234 jumps were recorded in the Edo period and of those, 85.4% survived.
Acutally covered in gold, this Zen temple was formally known as Rokuonji. In 1397, construction started on the Golden Pavilion as part of a new residence for the retired shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. Kinkakuji was converted into a Zen temple after Yoshimitsu's death in 1408.
The Golden Pavilion functions as shariden, housing sacred relics of the Buddha and is covered in gold leaf. The present building dates from 1955 as the pavilion was burnt by a fanatic monk in 1950.
The tallest stone Buddha statue in the world was carved out of a cliff face by an 8th-century monk in southern Szechuan province, near the city of Leshan. The Giant Buddha lies at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers. It faces the sacred Mount Emei (with which it shares its World Heritage status), with the rivers flowing below his feet.
Construction on the Giant Buddha began in 713 AD. It was the idea of a Chinese monk named Haitong, who hoped that the Buddha would calm the turbulent waters that plagued the shipping vessels travelling down the river.
The construction resulted in so much stone being removed from the cliff face and deposited into the river below that the currents were altered by the statue, making the waters safe for passing ships as the monk had hoped. There are still some vicious currents where the three rivers meet - but none that threaten the tourist ferries.
It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.
sources: Wikipedia.com, Japan-Guide.com, Sacred Destinations Travel Guide
A Thousand Winds
Tenor Masafumi Akikawa originally released this song in May 2006.
"Sen no Kaze ni Natte" has been selling incredibly well since Akikawa's appearance at last year's Kohaku Uta Gassen (New Year's program on NHK TV in Japan). In January, the single became the first by a classical artist to reach #1 on the charts in Japan.
The song's total sales are over 500,000 copies, breaking the record for a single by a classical Japanese artist. Akikawa also holds the records for highest-ranking album and best-selling album by a Japanese vocalist.
Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
On October 14, 1991, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent struggle on behalf of democracy and human rights. Being under house arrest, she was unable to accept the award in person. Her sons accepted it on their mother’s behalf.
As a child, Suu Kyi conquered a fear of the dark by standing alone at night in her family’s rambling lakeside home. Now she has spent the best part of sixteen years confined to it. She battles her isolation with the same single-mindedness, sustained by her faith, Buddhism.
Amnesty International says in its latest annual report that the state of human rights in Burma has worsened. Buddhism is the majority religion in Burma and almost all the rulers claim to be Buddhists, but even Buddhists in Burma have no freedom. The country's current regime is ‘religionless’ and shows no no value to their own people. Buddhist monks have been jailed for protesting against the ruling military government. Security forces have also destroyed or looted Buddhist temples, churches and mosques of other ethnic communities.
The military rulers do not worry about killing Buddhist monks while they claim to adhere to Buddhism. The Burmese authorities have stepped up repressions across the country and there are 1185 political prisoners there. The EU and the USA have imposed sanctions on Burma.
On June 6, the Canadian Parliament reinforced their policy on this issue, "We are very proud to announce that our motion requesting the Burmese Government to release Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest was passed with the unanimous consent of the House, " said Larry Bagnell, Chairman of Parliamentary Friends of Burma.
Under house arrest, Suu Kyi meditates and memorizes Buddhist sutras. Her speeches and essays include frequent references to Buddhist principles.
REM's Michael Stipe
narrates this PSA for Aung San Suu Kyi, the world's
only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Produced
in association with MTV UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1950505.stm
http://www.dassk.com/index.php
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
http://www.bpf.org/html/home.html
http://www.cfob.org/
Our First Advertisement
The Online BCA Bookstore is
virtual, open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's
a great online store to purchase books on Jodo
Shinshu and other Buddhist merchandise. The prices
are in US but there is little difference now
between our Loonie and the American dollar. So
another good reason to shop.
They will be adding extra
features as new items are introduced, so they request
you come back regularly.
You can online order from
their web site or contact: sales@bcabookstore.com or
phone (510) 809-1435, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. PT.
By the way, in the bottom left corner of the web site
there is an odd reminder for a Buddhist store.....
Are You Ready?
Just 203 days 'til Christmas!