Guan Yin Temple. From Planet Lantau (see their temple photo gallery here) The first thing a visitor perceptive in Mahayana aesthetics notices at Guan Yin (or Kwun Yam, officially) Temple on Lantau Island, Hong Kong, is the pervasiveness of Huayan symbolism and imagery in the original hall, which was built in 1910, and the top […]
Buddhahood
Master Huijing’s Dharma Words about Benefits in Amitabha-recitation
The Infinite Life Sutra says, “If there are people who hear the Name of that Buddha, rejoice so greatly as to dance, and remember him even once, then you should know that they have gained great benefit by receiving the unsurpassed virtue.” It means that when we hear this name – Namo Amituofo, we will […]
Homage to Prajnaparamita
Prajnaparamita is the Buddhist goddess of wisdom, a personification of knowledge, revealed in the Prajnaparamita Sutras that laid the foundations of Mahayana Buddhism. The term combines the Sanskrit words prajna (wisdom) and paramita (perfection). Paramita is interpreted as having reached the opposite shore of samsara, and prajnaparamita is translated as “perfection of wisdom” or “transcendental […]
Is Pure Land Buddhism a “Mystic” Tradition?
A groundbreaking conference between Teresian sisters and priests and Buddhist scholars and monastics has just concluded at the University of Mysticism in Avila, Spain. During our time here among new friends and Carmelite masters, I had the chance to visit many churches in the Old City (the UNESCO-listed complex behind the grand walled fortifications) and […]
Fathers and Sons: The Buddha and King Suddhodana
This Sunday will be Father’s Day in Hong Kong. Most young people, luckily, will get to enjoy the 18th with their old men. In the grand scheme of things it’s not uncommon for kids to lose their father (or both parents) earlier in life. In the end, we all are destined to be orphans. We […]
Dharmodaya: The Source of Reality
Lyudmila Klasanova The six-pointed geometric star or hexagram is considered one of the most ancient spiritual symbols in the world and has a deep meaning in Tantric Buddhism. In Vajrayana it appears as ritual diagram and symbolic emblem of the female deity Vajrayogini (Tib. Dorje Naljorma) who is emanation of the perfect state of Buddha […]