South East Asia's Largest Stone Buddha

Thousands of Buddhist followers and pilgrims from all regions of the country gathered on Phat Tich Mountain in Bac Ninh province’s Tien Du district on Sept. 25 to witness the inauguration of a giant Buddha statue located on the peak of the mountain.

The statue, which measures 27 metres high and weighs 3,000 tonnes, is one of the largest stone statues in Southeast Asia and the first of its kind in Vietnam.

The statue is shaped based on the model of Amitabha Buddha statue which was made of stone during the Ly dynasty.

It took three years to complete the work, which cost 75 billion VND (3.8 million USD) sourced from the State budget and donations from organisations, individuals and Buddhist followers nationwide.

On September 26, a ceremony was also held in Tien Du district to name the Phat Tich Pagoda project celebrating the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi.

The project to restore the Phat Tich Pagoda has a total investment of over 50 billion VND. After two years of execution, the project has restored 82 iron wood compartments and upgraded 150 metres of stone jetty.

Phat Tich pagoda is a cultural and historical relic in Vietnam which contains cultural and sculptural values of the Ly dynasty.

Besides keeping the Amitabha Buddha stone statue dating back from the 10th-11th centuries, which is considered precious object, the pagoda is also a Buddhist cultural centre and a place where the Buddhism rose up in Vietnam

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Buddhist Personality : Jing Ming

Name : Jing Ming
Nationality : China
Date Of Birth : November 19, 1980
Height : 158cm
Profession : Actress / TV host /

She was a very talented and popular child actress back in the early 90s, appearing in mostly Taiwanese melodramas. At that time, she was regarded as the most popular child star in the Chinese entertaiment world. She started acting in 1989 when she was nine in a Taiwanese drama. Her first drama was a historic one, marking the first time a Taiwanese produced drama was shot in mainland China. At the eight of her popularity, she also released a number of album.s In 2003, she graduated in International Studies from Beijing University. Today at 30, though still in the limelight, she no longer acts full time resulting in her fading popularity. Still very beautiful but she is not the cute little girl that the audience used to love anymore.

At the height of her popularity, she also released a number of albums.

The song of this video is sung by her when she was a child.

Rafael Nadal Makes Merit In Thailand

Rafael Nadal currently ranked No.1 in the ATP ranking is currently in Thailand to compete in the Thai Open which started on September 27.
He arrived earlier in the island resort of Hua Hin on September 21 for vacation.

On September 25, he got up as early as 6.00am to prepare himself to give food offerings to monks in front of Intercontinental Hua Hin Resort. He was accompanied by Poon, the wife of the President the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand who recommended him some traditional thai desserts to be given to the monks. When the passing monks arrived at the spot at 7.00am, Nadal guided by Poon and the monks , knelt down before them and gave food offerings, water and flowers to the monks. After the ritual, he returned to the hotel to pass the merits that he had gained from the offerings he made to the monks, on to his loved ones by pouring water.

Nadal is scheduled to be in Bangkok today and will meet the Prime Minister of Thailand, Abhisit Vejjajiva tomorrow before playing his first match ( in the 2nd round, was given a bye in the first round )on September 30. According to Poon, Nadal was happy after giving alms to the monks. According to Poon, Nadal was smiling happily throughout the food offerings and had followed the rituals involved correctly.

A Thai Cinderella

Pornthip who is often referrred to as Thai Cinderella visited Thailand recently. Unlike previous which were official visits to carry out duties of her children's foundation, the Angels Wings Foundation, this visit was an all family affair. She was here together with her husband, American billionaire, Simon Herb, her son, Sean and her daughter, Sophie.

She shared with the public a little about her family during her visit there. She is a mother of five children, two of her own and another three ( 2 girls and a boy ) belonging to her late sister who died several years ago. The latest addition to her family is her daughter, Sophie. She laughed that Sophie is the only chubby member of the family.

These days aside from running her children foundation, she takes care of her children. She wakes up at 5.30 every morning to prepare breakfast for the family and to get her son ready for school. Her children are brought up in two cultures. Outside the house, the children are exposed to American way of life whereas at home, the family observe Thai / eastern cultures. She doesn't like her children to play outdoors but would invite their friends to play in her house. Each of her children ( except Sophie ) has to do certain house chores on certain days of the week.

On his son, Sean, she said that he was a lovable kid and he loved Thailand and spicy food. He knew that his mother was a former Miss Universe but didn't know what it meant. Sean wants to be a doctor. Pornthip said, she would allow his son to choose his own career path. Despite being the son of a billionaire, Sean was taught from early age that all the money do not belong to him but to his father and he had to work to earn his own money. Sean is also taught not to place importance on material wealth or money but family.

Porntip loves her family and wants other children especially the under privilged children to know that they are not born alone as there are always people out there who love them.








Her Angels Wings Foundation

It is very common for beauty pageant contestants to claim that they are involved in charity or social works but how many actually continue to do so after their reigns ? For Pornthip she has been doing this for more than 20 years and is still not slowing down.

Buddhist Personality - Kakuho Aoe

Kakuho Aoe is a 33 years old technology savvy young man and he is a Zen monk at Ryokusenji Temple in Tokyo, Japan. He holds a monthly event called 'kurayami gohan' (eating in the dark) in the temple and on each occassion only limited guests, normally about 2 dozens, will be invited.

All the guests will be blindfolded before being led by the staff to a tatami room ( a traditional Japanese room ). His wife will start an ice breaking session by asking the blindfolded guests to play a game called 'janken' ( rock, paper, scissors ). Each guests will hold the hand of the person sitting next (right) to them to figure out the shape he/she makes. After the game, the guests will have a little chat before the food are served. The food served are vegetarians but the menu is not made known to the guests in advance.

Once the food are served, the guests will have to 'search' for their chopsticks by touching. Since the guests are not able to see what they eat, they will start to guess by using all their other senses other than sight. Different food make different sound when eaten. When the dinner is over, Kakuho will emerge to explain each of the dishes which he prepares himself to the guests and answers their questions.

Aoe, a business graduate from Fresno State University once had his own company dealing with aroma theraphy before decided to enter the temple. He wanted to help people around him through Buddhism. Today his temple has close to 1000 followers and he communicates with some of this computer savvy followers using internet. Aoe started this event in 2008 when he realised that in today's fast world, people are always in the rush and do not concentrate on the act of eating. By being blindfolded, his guests can concentrate fully on eating and the food they eat.

Buddhist Personality : Toon ( AF3 )

Name : Thatchai Phonchummoon
Nationality : Thailand
Date Of Birth : February 26, 1984
Profession : Singer/Actor
Trivia : He participated in Thai Academy Fantasia season 3 ( reality show cum singing competition ) and was placed 7. Since then he has released his own albums, starred in TV dramas as well as a movie and hosted TV shows.














In 2008, he shaved his head to play a monk in a movie about a group of ordained boys






On September 19, 2010 he was ordained as a novice monk and would be in monkhood for 2 weeks.