Yuanlin- Chung Tai Monastery

Originally we had planned to go a few places today, but after arriving at the Chung Tai Zen Buddhist Monastery we could hardly tear ourselves away and ended up spending the entire day there. The beautiful grounds and gardens surround the enormous central building- an architectural feat intricately structured with 19 floors and even a 7 story pagoda inside the building. All of the facility is completely self- sufficient. It was even the monks that designed and constructed the complex- completed in 2003. The 1,600 monks and nuns living on the grounds grow and cook all their own organic vegetarian food, make their own clothes, do all manual labor, have a communications and publishing facility to make DVD's and pamphlets, and even a metals shop- and that is just the start. The nuns that helped us today were some of the kindest and happy people I have met in my life- they truly emanated the joy and peace that they preach.

The prayer bell in an outdoor shrine with the Bodishattva

Amazingly kept huge gardens with really neat bonsai trees all over

A guardian in front of the main enterance

The happy Buddha

Lisa rubbing her tummy like the happy Buddha. The nun giving a tour explained something neat about this statue. This Bodhisattva Maitreya (the future Buddha) usually is depicted carrying a bag over his shoulder, but here he is sitting on top of it. In the bag are all the earthly cares of this life- from fear and grief to even the physical needs of eating or sleep. Here he has over come the earthly demands and has come to rest.

These huge 4 faced guardians stood in the four corners of the room- each side representing some other principal. You can see how big they are in comparison to little 'ole Rick at the bottom.

A sculpture of Shakyamuni Buddha- the historical Buddha known by most people. There are three representations of him as you ascend up the main building. This Buddha represents things as they appear to be- outward forms.

The is the main guardian of the temple - Bodhisattva Sangharama.

This is one of the 5 ton doors to the main entrance that are designed so they can be moved with a single finger. Rick tried it out and it worked! The doors have 2,500 knobs on them to represent the 2,500 disciples of Buddha during his life.

This was a very neat tree that grew vines with fruit on them

6 tusked elephants carrying the world and the eight fold path on their backs

Just a few more representations of Buddha- there are more than I ever knew

This is all in beautiful area of Puli- with stark green mountains and surrounded by miles of rice fields

The majority of the temple beyond this was initially unaccessible. We explained that we were students and would not be able to return to the monastery prior to coming home. The guest service nuns willingly allowed us to see areas of the temple which usually required prior scheduling. The tour was phenomenal, as were the areas we were permitted to see; however, we were not permitted to photograph them. These images are from the Chung Tai website: http://www.ctworld.org.tw/english-96/html/index.htm.

This is the "body of Buddha" - a representation of temporal existence. He is surrounded by thousands of other Buddhas all enjoying enlightenment. To the East and West are two Bodhisattvas, in charge of Wisdom and Conduct.

In between reincarnations, the soul is a pure white, beautiful being. This is a representation of the original being, the true self. The entire hall is so white, it glows even through closed eyes.

This pagoda was constructed without any nails and houses seven "Medicine Buddhas" - one on each floor. It is also surrounded by thousands of reliefs of the "Medicine Buddha" - ten thousand to be exact. The room, of course is extremely large and is covered in front by a frameless glass "curtain". It is composed of many panes of glass held in place with 3 inch thick steel cables and essentially behaves as one large sheet - its construction allows it to withstand high winds and earthquakes and can flex 43.9 centimeters (over 1 foot).

This is one of the meditation halls where daily services take place. The nun who took us on the tour was so kind and even had us sit and experience zen meditation for a few minutes. The whole experience was truly serene.