Rev. Danny Fisher

The author in front of the main shrine at Fo Guang Shan (佛光山), Dashu, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Photo by Ven. Shuyu.

So, as I mentioned, I was in Taiwan for a spell. I was there by the generosity of the International Buddhist Education Foundation (I.B.E.F.), the scholarship program that has also made my studies at the University of the West possible. The I.B.E.F. wanted to send ten Religious Studies students to Taiwan to study Fo Guang Shan Buddhism in greater depth, and I was one of the students selected to go.

In Taiwan, Buddhism is practiced by a significant portion of its population. Four organizations are doing an enormous amount of work to propogate the Buddhadharma there today: Master Sheng-yen’s Dharma Drum Mountain, Master Cheng Yen’s Tzu Chi Foundation, Master Wei Chueh’s Chung Tai Shan, and Master Hsing Yun’s Fo Guang Shan.

The I.B.E.F.’s gift enabled my colleagues and I to travel across the country studying just Fo Guang Shan’s work. The organization has founded numerous temples and social services throughout Taiwan…and it feels like we saw every one of them! We started at Fo Guang Shan Monastery and Headquarters in Kaohsiung (in the south) and worked our way up by bus to Taipei.

The pictures, little stories, and short video below are by no means comprehensive. We saw much more than I present here. These are just highlights. Enjoy. (All photographs were taken by me, except when noted otherwise. Click on any image to enlarge it.)

I’m very grateful to the I.B.E.F. for their gift. Going to Taiwan to study Fo Guang Shan Buddhism was an extraordinary experience.

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This is our group from UWest with Ven. Hsin Pei (seventh from left), who is the current abbot of Fo Guang Shan, and a couple other monastics. Photo by a very friendly bhikkshuni who volunteered to take a picture with my camera.

Our deluxe tour bus.

This is our kind and patient tour guide Ven. Miao Jing. She traveled with us for the duration of our trip, making our arrangements, organizing everything, and trying to keep us all together. (Some of us had a tendency to wander off…)

This is one of the many feasts that seemed to be waiting for us at every turn.

The Non-Duality Gate at Fo Guang Shan, which is the temple’s main entry point.

The Pilgrim’s Lodge at Fo Guang Shan, where we stayed.

The Wall of Wisdom at Fo Guang Shan.

A beautiful etching of Avalokiteśvara on the Wall of Wisdom at Fo Guang Shan.

The Jade Buddha Building at Fo Guang Shan, which has small jade statues of the Buddha decorating every window.

Our group walking down a hallway near the main shrine at Fo Guang Shan.

The Avalokiteśvara Pond at Fo Guang Shan.

The Sutra Calligraphy Hall at Fo Guang Shan.

Somebody’s half-finished work in the Sutra Calligraphy Hall at Fo Guang Shan.

The Lumbini Garden at Fo Guang Shan.

The Five Hundred Arhats Garden at Fo Guang Shan.

The Sixty Steps Stairs at Fo Guang Shan.

A pagoda currently under construction at Fo Guang Shan.

Inside the Pure Land Cave at Fo Guang Shan. The cave was designed by Grand Master Hsing Yun after he visited Disneyland Park in California. Reminiscent of the “It’s a Small World” attraction at that theme park, the Pure Land Cave depicts various figures and events and scenes from Buddhist history and lore.

Stupas lining a path at Fo Guang Shan.

Great Buddha Land at Fo Guang Shan.

A warning sign in Great Buddha Land at Fo Guang Shan.

A lovely canopy at Fo Guang Shan.

Three or four of the Seven Pagodas at Fo Guang Shan.

The Main Shrine at Fo Guang Shan.

Inside the Main Shrine at Fo Guang Shan.

Ven. Hsin Pei, abbot of the temple, in front of the Tathagata Building at Fo Guang Shan.

Nuns dining in the Cloud Dwelling Building at Fo Guang Shan.

Monastics and lay retreatants file into the Devotees Building at Fo Guang Shan.

[From left to right] Me with my friends Rev. Somya Malasri and Ven. Aroon Seeda. Photo by Tina Gauthier.

Kaohsiung.

This is the new Fo Guang Shan branch temple currently under construction in Kaohsiung. Grand Master Hsing Yun is very interested in integrating modern architecture with age-old ideas about sacred space. This is why this temple and others look a bit more like corporate offices than more traditional temples.

This is a plan for the main shrine of the new temple in Kaohsiung. The shrine will house a large statue of the Buddha, and a sand and glass wall will display the Diamond Sutra.

Roger, one of my colleagues, holds up a piece of the wall display to demonstrate how the text will be illuminated once the wall is finished at the new Fo Guang Shan branch temple in Kaohsiung.

Me at the Lan Yang Senior Center in downtown Kaohsiung with denizens Albert and “Grandma.” The Taiwenese government owns this particular center, but Fo Guang Shan currently manages it. Photo by Jenny Lamb.

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian happened to drive down the street while we were having a cup of tea in downtown Kaohsiung. Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough to snap a picture of him waving. I did get this nice shot of some folks celebrating his visit, though.

Our welcoming committee at the Fo Guang Shan branch temple in Tainan.

The main shrine at the Fo Guang Shan branch temple in Tainan. This is what the shrine at the new temple in Kaohsiung will look like when it is completed. Notice that the Diamond Sutra is illuminated on the wall behind the statue of the Buddha.

Students at the Fo Guang Shan-sponsored Little Star Kindergarten in Sinying make faces at us during our tour of the school.

A dog at the Little Star Kindergarten in Sinying took a special liking to me, and I to her. Photo by Ven. Shuyu.

Ven. Alice, another one of my colleagues, shreds some tasty licks during a music class at Nanhua University in Chiayi. Nanhua is one of the UWest’s sister universities–both were founded my Grand Master Hsing Yun.

Students play basketball at the Fo Guang Shan-sponsored Jiun Tou Elementary and Junior High School in Puli.

The beautiful, naturally-lit interior of Fo Guang Shan-sponsored Changhua Community University in Changhua.

A historic Fo Guang Shan shrine that sits above Changhua Community University in Changhua. Early teachings by Grand Master Hsing Yun and others were offered here.

Ilan.

A street performance in Ilan.

A large comic book image of a young Grand Master Hsing Yun at the gallery in Fo Guang Shan branch temple in Ilan.

A patient at a Fo Guang Shan-sponsored senior center in Ilan during the morning fitness routine. He was a wonderful guy, and his excitement was infectious.

A large wood-carving at that senior center in Ilan. I was really struck by it.

Taipei 101, one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world, which sits at the center of Taiwan’s capitol city.

This jade sculpture of Guan Yin is on display at the Fo Guang Shan Taipei Vihara in Taipei. The artist was an unsuccessful craftsperson who was considering another profession when he had a dream that Guan Yin came to him and told him to make Buddhist art. This was his first piece, and it helped to reinvigorate his career.

A visitor enjoying a peaceful moment in the Chih-shan Garden at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

A little girl feeds fish in the Chih-shan Garden at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

A performer in the Chih-shan Garden at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

The National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall (formerly the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall) in Taipei.

Ven. Aroon poses for a photo at Yangmingshan National Park outside of Taipei.

[Part 1 of 2] On our last day, we visited an old Ch’an temple (now owned by Fo Guang Shan) that sits outside of Taipei. The former abbot was a monk named Ven. Yin Miao. Ven. Yin Miao died in 1973 while sitting in meditation. Not wanting to distrupt his body’s meditative equipoise, he was buried in a square-shaped coffin (pictured above). After ten years, in accordance with Taiwanese custom, his tomb was opened so that the bones could be collected. When the tomb and coffin were opened, however, it was discovered that…(continues below)

[Part 2 of 2]…his body had not decomposed in the ten years. The decision was then made to preserve the corpse. Ven. Yin Miao’s body was covered in some kind of gold lacquer and now sits in the main shrine room (pictured above). I feel fairly confident when I say that we were all amazed by this. Many different traditions of Buddhism tell stories of enlightened masters whose bodies stayed preserved after death. This was our first face-to-face encounter with this sort of thing, though.

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I’ll close this post with a short video from the Little Star Kindergarten in Sinying. It’s a group of the kids saying “Amituofo” to us (and you) during our tour…