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Temple visit
lobster
Crusty Veteran
in Meditation
Went to one of my local temples. The spot is a tourist attraction so as I came in, kids and chasing mothers were running riot. Later a troupe of quieter visitors were given the official Buddha tall tales. The main formal Buddha shrine area was bereft of cushions. Ah well had to sit in half lotus for a change. Fingered my ultra-spiritual mala to impress the visitors, guides and Buddhas with silent reciting ...
Must say it was more fun sitting on a bench in the sun outside watching a wren pop into a wall to retrieve insects.
What happened when you visited your dharma haven?
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Comments
I read about the adventures of a traveling, mala-fingering, wren watching crustacean.
The last time I went on retreat was at a Triratna place called Padmaloka. Very good vegetarian food!
http://www.padmaloka.org.uk/
I first went there in the 1980s, it has developed considerably since then.
I did visit the Colchester Buddhist centre a few times and I was quite surprised at the peaceful feel of the shrine room, I must admit it was the deepest meditation I have had so far, the atmosphere seemed to be perfect.
Unfortunately we have nothing so grand as the picture above that I know of nearby, unless someone knows different?
With Metta
David
I sit look and listen... Nothing Special
The temple is the official GB garden shed of 'the king and I'
Only two monks in residence when I went. One personally taught me walking meditation and meditating in a chair.
Here is a pic from another earlier visit
http://www.buddhapadipa.org/buddhism/
Pope has his GB residence around the corner and a sufi also lives nearby ... we also have a womble nature conservation area nearby ...
You can even play tennis or golf if you prefer ...
No temples or other such things remotely near me. But plenty of nature, and since the world was Buddha's witness, it's good enough for me
My "Dharma Haven" is the mind
That's always presuming you have one. I never make such presumptions about myself. Too risky. And too damn difficult to prove.
While I was living in Korea, I told my local Korean buddy (he spoke passable English so he acted as my interpreter) I wanted to go to a Buddhist temple. We traveled a half hour by train to a beautiful temple surrounded by a huge park. And it was nothing but a museum piece for people to visit and admire. I asked where the monks were, and was told they maintain the place but live and do their thing elsewhere in the park and that wasn't open to visitors.
So I got my friend to understand I actually wanted a place I could visit and meditate, if not actually join. He took me back to where we lived and close by, at the end of a steep climb up a small mountain, was a nice Buddhist shrine attended by a couple of old monks. Just one room, an altar, and a couple of local people doing prostrations when we showed up. One of the old monks used to be an interpreter during the Korean war and took me in hand. On my days off, he'd allow me to meditate there, tried to teach me prostrations and chants, and sometimes just sit and admire the view and talk. I learned more those few years than before or since. He gave me a Buddhist robe as a parting gift when it was time for me to go back to the states.
buddha nature I take it
The Buddha may die but Buddha Nature is born again ...
Good enough for me too ...
My dear friend,
The shrine room, temple, Buddha Nature Temple of the leaves, the sacred cushion of the Dharma ass, The holy kabab or kabaa of Buddhist Heresy
All within ... eventually ...
I visit quiet churches, graveyards, libraries, mosques and groves of dead druids and garden. I am surrounded by gods and demons wherever I go. One day we go to the temple, another mecca comes to our profit ...
My heart has become receptive of all forms: it is a pasture for gazelles, and a monastery for Christian monks,
And a temple for idols and the pilgrim's Kaʿba and the tables of the Torah and the book of the Qurʾan.
http://www.ibnarabisociety.org/articles/mystics-kaba.html
... and now back to the form, which I am assured is empty ...
The Odiyan Buddhist Retreat Center, located in Sonoma, California is the precious Tibetan jewel of the West on 1,000 breathtakingly beautiful acres of ponds, forests, gardens, orchards and sacred architecture, overlooking the Pacific Ocean in northern California. This is 82 miles from my home, but the only way to see it is to fly over it in light aircraft or volunteer to work and study (mostly work) 11 hour days, six days a week for a minimum of six months - if - you are accepted. Amazing. Now if only I could overcome my fear of flying in light aircraft....
@IronRabbit I'm curious about the Copper Mountain Temple. The webpage brags about how beautiful it is and the wonderful gardens (and the pictures certainly back that up) but they don't have guided tours, no visitors allowed, and apparently if you want to experience it, you have to pay for a private ceremony to be held there (like a funeral, I assume) or be accepted as free skilled labor for 6 months to maintain the temple and grounds.
So if you hoard a treasure so nobody gets to see it, is the treasure still worth anything?
@Cinorjer There's a saying that the mind takes the shape it rests upon. Odiyan serves a purpose. Not mine. Seems like not yours either. Just thought it was magnificent and oddly intriguing in its inaccessability. Thanks for noticing.