Guán Ân Shrine at Thay Pagoda

Up the hill from Tu Dao Hanh's meditation cave (see Thay Pagoda) is a large shrine with an exquisite statue of Guán Ân, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.

Thay Pagoda

Thay Pagoda was founded in the 11th century by ascetic Zen monk Tu Dao Hanh, who was also the founder of water-puppetry in Vietnam. A ten-minute climb up the mountain behind the pagoda brings you to the cave (Dong Thanh Hoa) where Tu Dao Hanh meditated.  

The entrance to the cave is guarded, of course, by a fierce dragon,

protected by a tiny porcelain Quán Âm (Guan Yin),

and lined with four Plumeria trees that, I am told, were planted in the 15th century. The latter were probably my favorites.

Main Hall at Tay Phuong

A lot of the objects in here are several hundred years old.  Some are not.  Notice, for example, the box of Choco-Pies on the altar next to the fruit. I guess it's like Ed Brown says, "No sugar, no enlightenment".  This place was enchanting. [NOTE: There is an audio track to this clip, but you have to turn up the volume to hear it].

Bodhisattvas at Chua Tay Phuong

The Tay Phuong Pagoda, first established in the 8th century it is said, is located about 30 kilometers west of Hanoi in Ha Tay province. The pagoda was completely rebuilt in 1632, and many of the structures on the site are from this period.  Lots of beautiful and meaningful things here. I was most taken by the incredibly realistic statues of bodhisattvas. I would love to have met these guys. [NOTE: More about the history of Buddhism in Vietnam can be found here].

Watering the Zendo Garden

Just got back from watering the garden at the Empty Hand Zen Center.  Not sure how useful it was given that it's supposed to rain this evening, but I very much enjoyed it and all the flowers and bodhisattvas looked so beautiful with their drops of water. 

Mandalas

I keep getting drawn back to that old box of slides from my trip to Nepal.  This tiny stall hidden down a back alley in Kathmandu was selling beautiful mandalas. Microcosms representing various divine powers at work in the universe.  Sacred spaces separated and protected from the ever-changing. Vast Buddhafields. [NOTE: I wanted to buy one of these, but the owner of the stall was nowhere to be found. Talk about non-attachment].   

Reclining Buddha

Another exquisite statue from Myanmar. This one, a 50 - 60 foot long reclining Buddha of the "Paung Laung" style, is in Myitkyina, Kachin State.  I was with my friend, Dr. Brian Horne from the San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research, and I was supposed to be looking for turtles in temple ponds.  We did find a lot of turtles - but I took a picture of this. [NOTE: It was great fun traveling with Brian. He knew the name (the Latin name) and conservation status of every animal we saw...]. 

Peaceful Countenance

Close-up of one of the hundreds of statues of Buddha at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar (see Sunday at Shwedagon).  The painted lines are so simple and the face so beautifully rendered.  Exquisite Buddhist iconography.  I spent a long time gazing at this.    

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

The entrance to the main temple at Myitkyina in Kachin State has a line of statues representing the Buddhist lineage in Myanmar, i.e. Gautama Buddha followed by dozens of bodhisattvas. [NOTE: Each statue is subtly different].

The temple grounds contain 1000's of statues of bodhisattvas and reknown Buddhist teachers. The base of each statue has a plaque with the person's name and temple affiliation.  You could spend hours here.

Spring Sesshin

I am heading up to the Garrison Institute tomorrow to participate in the spring sesshin with my friends at the Empty Hand Zen Center. I am very much looking forward to the three days of quiet sitting.  On Tuesday, I am off to northern Myanmar (see Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey and Tolagyi Tour of Tanai), and southwestern China for a month. More sitting - but on planes. [NOTE: The image shows one of the gardens tucked away in back of Garrison.  A beautiful place for walks].