Bhutanese Flag Poles

Himalayan Buddhists put up prayer flags for good luck or to help the dead find the right path to their next life. The more flag poles put up for the departed the better, and Buddhist monks say fresh poles must be used each time.

Having failed to convince its citizens to switch from wood to steel for prayer flags, the government of the Himalayas' last Buddhist kingdom is growing bamboo, which it hopes will be an attractive alternative.

"The pressure on forest is from all sides -- from flagposts to hydropower. We are discussing this every day," Agriculture Secretary Sherub Gyaltshen, said.

Bhutan's constitution, which emphasises the importance of Gross National Happiness over Gross Domestic Product, stipulates the country must have at least 60 percent forest cover.

Himalayan Buddhists believe winds will carry positive vibrations of tantric symbols written on the prayer flags in yellow, green, red, white and blue to represent the five elements, and 108 prayer flags are put up when someone dies.

"If you re-use an old flagpole, you aren't putting in effort, which means the merit earned is compromised," explained Lopon Gyem Tshering, a monk who teaches at a religious school.

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Korean Temples

Korea is one of the main Mahayana Buddhist countries, and different Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are worshipped in a unique system of practice. Almost all Korean temples install separate halls for respective Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. A Bodhisattva is the model practitioner in the Mahayana tradition, who entirely dedicates his or her life to the salvation of other beings.

In Mahayana Buddhist cosmology, the universe is populated with various celestial Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Some people misunderstand them as gods or goddesses. They are not gods or absolute beings, but real figures that have attained the highest potentials of existence.

The detailed explanations for each temple pavilion are as follows:

Daewoong-jeon

Daewoong-jeon, or the Main Buddha Hall, is literally translated as ``the Hall of the Great Hero'' but is usually described as the Main Buddha Hall or the Great Shrine Hall. It is also called the Daewoongbo-Jeon, meaning the treasury hall of the great hero.
Situated at the very center of the temple compound, this hall is dedicated to the historical Buddha, Sakyamuni. Two attendant bodhisattvas support Sakyamuni Buddha: One is Manjusri Bodhisattva, the left-hand attendant who is regarded as the personification of wisdom. The other is Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, the right-hand attendant who symbolizes the teaching, meditation and practice of Buddha. Most Dharma meetings and events take place in this hall.



Daejeokgwang-jeon

Also known as the Hall of the Ultimate Silence and Light, this hall is dedicated to Vairocana Buddha, the manifestation of Dharma. Vairocana Buddha spreads the light of truth in every direction.

This is the hall of the three bodies of the Buddha; the Dharma-kaya (Vairocana) at the center of the hall is a reference to the transcendence of form and realization of truth; the Sambhoga-kaya (Rocana) is the Buddha-body that is called the ``reward body" or the ``body of enjoyment of the merits attained as a bodhisattva"; the Nirmana-kaya (Sakyamuni) is the body manifested in response to the need to teach sentient beings. These three bodies represent how the Buddha is revealed in a variety of ways to individuals depending on their spiritual capacities.


Gwaneum-jeon (Hall of Avalokitesvara)

The Gwaneum-jeon, or the Hall of Avalokitesvara, is dedicated to Avalokitesvara, the embodiment of the Buddhist virtue of great compassion. It is considered as the power of the Buddha Amitabha manifested as a bodhisattva, and is therefore often depicted as the helper of the Buddha of the Pure Land. Avalokitesvara is one of the most important bodhisattvas in Mahayana Buddhism. As it is capable of manifesting 33 forms of incarnation to save the sentient beings, Avalokitesvara is depicted iconographically in 33 different ways, each of which is distinguished by the number of heads and arms as well as by the attributes held in the hands.

The Gwaneum-jeon at Hyangiram, South Jeolla province



The most popular appearance of Avalokitesvara in Korea is the one with a thousand hands, and has an eye in the palm of each hand in order to see and aid in the relief of the sufferings of sentient beings. If the Hall of Avalokitesvara is the main hall of the temple compound, it is then called the Wontong-jeon, meaning the Hall of Perfect Interpenetration.


Muryangsu-jeon

Also known as the Hall of Immeasurable Life, this hall is also called the Geukrak-jeon (Hall of Ultimate Bliss) or the Bogwangmyeong-jeon (Limitless Light Hall) dedicated to Amitabha (the Buddha of Immeasurable Light) who expounds the Dharma in his pure paradise (Sukhavati) in the Western Pure Land.

In iconographic art, Amitabha is usually portrayed as having two assistants: Avalokitesvara (the Bodhisattva of Compassion) who appears on his left and Mahasthamaprapta (the Bodhisattva of Great Power) who appears on his right

Mireuk-jeon (Maitreya Hall)

The Mireuk-jeon, or the Maitreya Hall, is dedicated to the bodhisattva Maitreya who is destined to appear on this earth and become the Buddha for the future world. For this reason, worshipping Maitreya has been most favored in Korea mainly by lay Buddhists since the Three Kingdom period (57 B.C.-A.D, 668).


( The Mireuk-jeon of Geumsan Temple, Jeolla province )
Yaksa-jeon

The Yaksa-jeon, or the Healing Buddha Hall, enshrines the Yaksa Buddha or the Healing Buddha who is considered to have a particular power to relieve the sickness and sufferings of sentient beings; birth, aging, sickness and death.

The Yaksa Buddha is always depicted carrying a bowl of medicine in his hand. He is the chief teacher of the pure emerald world of the east. When this Buddha was in a human body, he made 10 great vows to free sentient beings from sickness, nourish their spiritual faculties and guide the way to liberation. Two attendant bodhisattvas support the Yaksa Buddha: One is the Sun Light Bodhisattva on the left-hand side and the other is the Moon Light Bodhisattva on the right-hand.


Myeongbu-jeon

Known as the Judgment Hall, this is the hall of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, who made a great vow to postpone his own enlightenment until every sentient being in hell is saved. This Bodhisattva is always depicted with green hair. In East Asian Buddhist cultures, when someone dies, the bereaved family holds a memorial service, the 49 ritual ceremony at seven-day intervals in this hall for the purpose of guiding the spirit of the dead to the Pure Land.

Also in this hall are enshrined the Ten Heavenly Kings who judge people's fates after death according to their deeds on earth. Thus, it is also known as the Hall of the Ten Heavenly Kings as it is the cosmic abode of the 10 kings of the dark realms. In China and Korea, this hall is normally found in temples. In Japan, it is called the Hall of Yama.

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Just Photos - Maitreya Cultural Festival

2010 China Maitreya Cultrual Festival held from July 15 - July 18 at Xuedou Hill, Ningbo. The main feature of the festival was the largest Jade Maitreya Buddha in the world.

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Ushiku Daibutsu

Daibutsu in Japanese means " Large Buddha ". There are a number of Daibutsu in Japan.

The Ushiku Daibutsu, located in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan,is one of the world's tallest statues. Completed in 1993, it stands a total of 120 meters tall, including the 10m high base and 10m high lotus platform. An elevator takes visitors up to 85m off the ground, where an observation floor is located. It depicts the Amitabha Buddha and is plated with bronze.

Other facts about the statues :

Weight: 4003 tons
Length of Left Hand: 18.00m
Length of Face: 20.00m
Length of Eye: 2.55m
Length of Mouth: 4.50m
Length of Nose: 1.2m
Length of Ear: 10.0m
Length of the First Finger: 7.0m

Inside the statue itself is a four story building, which serves as a kind of museum.

Level 1, Infinite Light and Infinite Life
The first floor lobby is dark, and as you enter new age music floats toward you from the darkness. In the center of the room a single shaft of light shines from above onto a cauldron of smoking incense. If you walk past that you'll find the elevator to the other floors.
Level 2 (10.0m), World of Gratitude and Thankfulness
Mostly dedicated to scriptural studies
Level 3 (20~30.0m), World of the Lotus Sanctuary
3000 samples of gold Buddha statues
Level 4 (80~85.0m), Room of Mt. Grdhrakuta
Also on the fourth floor are windows looking out from the buddha's chest onto the adjacent flower garden and small animal park.




















Interesting comparsion

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Thai Ladyboy

and this one is Nong Poy, the winner of the international version of Miss Tiffany in 2004 who is now a TV drama actress

In most of societies, homosexuals and transgenders are very much frowned upon but not in Thailand. In Thailand transgenders are known as either "kathoey" or "ladyboy". Transgenders enjoy acceptance and much more respect in Thailand than their counterparts elsewhere. Why is this so ? Studies conducted on this have concluded that tolerance towards transgenders in Thailand could be attributed to Buddhism.

(1) Throughout the Theravada Buddhism 'Tipitaka', from the beginning right to the end, there are many references as to what or who are deemed good or bad but there was no mentioned at all on homosexuals. This could imply that the proper behaviour of heterosexuals and homosexuals are to be judged on the same basis. In other words, both groups are to be treated as "equal". The Tipitika recognizes 4 sexes. In addition to male and female, there are two other genders namely " ubhatobyanjanaka " and "pandaka".

The term "ubhatobyanjanaka" has different interpretations within the Tipitika but generally it refers to hermaphrodite.

The Pali-English dicitionary - describes "ubhatobyanjanaka" as "having the characteristics of both sexes, hermaphrodite"

A reformist Thai writer Phra Ratchaworamuni describes "ubhatobyanjanaka" as "being with the genital organs of both sexes"

Bunmi Methangkun, head of the traditionalist Abhidhamma Foundation in Thailand considers the physchological factors in his intepretations. He describes two types of hermaphrodite namely

" itti-ubhatobyanjanaka" ( physically female but physically attracted to another woman ) and "purisa-ubhatobyanjanaka" ( physically male but physically attracted to another man )


Like "ubhatobyanjanaka", the term "pandaka" also has different interpretations by different writers but the basic concept appears to be that of a deficiency in male sexual capacity. Subsequently, the denotation of the term appears to have expanded to incorporate notions of non-normative male sexuality. Pandaka may be derived from anda, which variously means `egg' or `testicle' in Pali, and probably originally denoted male reproductive deficiency or incapacity. The Pali-English dictionary describes "pandaka" as "a eunuch".

In Thailand both "ubhatobyanjanaka" and "pandaka" have been translated as "kathoey (ladyboy)"

(2) Buddhists believe in Karma. where we are reborn into a type of being that is based on our past deeds. Kathoeys are thought to be predetermined from birth as the direct result of karma. Being born as something as a result of past actions / deeds is not perceived to be due to one's fault. Therefore it is not the fault of Kathoey to be born as Kathoey and they should be treated with compassion.

The above two reasons will probably best explain why transgenders are accepted and respected in Thailand. Though like their counterparts in other countries, many kathoeys in Thailand join the sex industry but there are as many who are successful in other industries such as entertainment, beauty and fashion. A number of movies have been made on the kathoeys in Thailand but interestingly they were potrayed positively in those movies rather than the stereotype roles of prostitutes or undesirable characters. As much as they want to be recognised as women, many are willing to leave their "feminity" to enter the monkhood to make merit for their parents. Once there, they will wear what the rest of the male monks wear.

In a school in Thailand, the Kathoeys even have their own toilets ( separated from the girls and boys toilets )


Some transgenders have undergone sex-change operation but many have not but everyone would agree that most of them like real women and even more beautiful than some real women. It is not easy to distinguish a kathoey from a woman in Thailand but you won't be laughed at if you fail to do so. Just take a look as the following photos. Hard to believe that they were born as boys.

Everyone in the photos are kathoeys and they are the contestants for Miss Tiffany Universe 2010, a pageant meant for them and all of them are Thais.

and this one (above) is Nong Poy, the winner of the international version of Miss Tiffany in 2004 who is now a TV drama actress

And this one ( above video ) , Nong Toom is the most famous ladyboy in Thailand. She was a boxer who fought with real male boxers. A movie based on her was made in 2003.
This is the trailer of the award winning movie "Beautiful Boxer" which was based on her life

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Japan Asked To Convert To Islam

Do you remember the Bamiyan Buddhas ? For those who are not too young, you probably must have read in newspaper / seen on TV about the Bamiyan Buddhas or rather their destruction by the Taliban regime back in 2001 ( i still remember it vividly as it was on the news everywhere at that time ) . For those who are unfamiliar , the Bamiyan Buddhas were two 1500 years old giant size Buddhas carved out from the mountain in Afghanistan but both are no longer standing, no thanks to the descipable act of the Taliban.

The Bamiyan Buddha - Before (left) and after (right) the destruction














During the process of obliteration


After almost a decade ( time passes damn fast ), some interesting information about the Bamiyan Buddhas were revealed by a former member of the Taliban regime. Abdul Salam Zaaef who was the ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan and imprisoned in Guatanamao Bay from 2002 to 2005, wrote in his recently released memoir My Life With The Taliban that Japan was the most active country in pressing the Taliban not to destroy the two giant statues.

The extemist Taliban said that the two Buddhas statues were " idols " which is forbidden in Islam and ought to be brought down ( True but no one asked the Afghan muslims to worship the statues. Can Buddhist majority country example Japan destroy mosques in Japan ? ) In his memoirs Abdul Salam says that Japan sent a delegation together with a smaller delegation from Sri Lanka to Afghanistan to " negotiate " with the Taliban. Japan told the Taliban that the two Buddhas could be " removed " without the need to destroy them. It made two proposals to the Taliban. Japan told the regime that it was willing to remove the Buddhas piece by piece and then assemble them elsewhere (abroad). Alternatively Japan proposed to "hide" both statues by covering them from head to toe until they could not been seen at all. The Japanese told the Taliban that they were willing to protect the Buddhas because Buddhism has been a religious belief of Japan for many centuries. However the Japanese must have got a shocked reply they did not quite expect it. Not only their proposals were rejected outright by the Taliban but the regime called Buddhism as a "Void Religion" and asked the Japanese to convert to Islam instead ( the Japanese delegation probably had expected the rejection but i am sure they were stunned and speechless when asked to convert to Islam by the Taliban ).

Despite pleas from various countries ( Buddhist and non-Buddhist countries alike ), the Taliban were adamant in their decision and finally in March 2001, the two Buddhas were obliterated. Abdul Salam wrote that the destruction of the two Buddhas was within the Islamic law ( seems like he is still unrepented ) but it's timing was the right because a couple of months later, Afghanistan was attacked by the US and the Taliban defeated ( Hello !, Abdul Salam, that was not "wrong timing" but because " you reap what you sow " or the Buddhists call Karma. Your country was attacked because your regime hijacked aircrafts to hit the US on 9th September 2001 )

This is the book - My Life With The Taliban

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