Beautiful Buddhist Temple

[Gauracandra]

I originally posted this in the Spiritual Discussions forum, before we had this new forum. So I figured I'd post this experience here as well.

 

Gauracandra

[Gauracandra]

Haribol one and all,

 

I just wanted to share a very nice experience I had this morning. On Friday, at work, a friend told me about a very grand Buddhist temple in my area. He gave me directions and suggested I check it out (he knows I'm into that sort of thing). So this morning, I woke up extra early and got an early headstart (to avoid the traffic). It took me about 1 hour to reach the temple mostly due to the poor instructions by my co-worker The temple was situated in some rolling hills, and I pulled up into their parking lot.

 

The temple itself was HUGE and gorgeous. No one was around except maybe myself and one other person. First I did a quick circumabulation of the temple to get an overall feel for it. The architecture itself was very traditional chinese architecture, with lots of dragon motifs, and lions guarding the gates. The area was very peaceful, and it being early in the morning there was a slight misty fog in the air.

 

Walking up some stairs, I approached the first temple. There were a number of deities of various disciples of the Buddha. In the inner sanctum were three huge Buddhas. I took a single sandalwood incense stick, lit it and offered it to Lord Buddha. It was really serene in the first temple, and tiny little birds were flying around inside it.

 

Next, I walked around to the central courtyard, which was again breathtaking. Everything was very nicely laid out, and there were a number of singular statues of the Buddha each expressing a different mood. Also, there was one section with paper mache sort of creations that had the Buddha, peacocks, and surprisingly a cardboard cutout of Lord Rama and Sita. I figured since the Ramayan is so popular in Southeast Asia that they included this.

 

At the end of the courtyard was the central temple. I walked up the stairs and was greeted by an old chinese woman. She didn't speak english but motioned that I should fold my hands when before the deities. Inside were a few women monks all dressed in brown. The central altar had some giant deities of Lord Buddha (Like 10-15 ft tall maybe). The walls of the sanctum were covered in boxes each containing little carvings of Lord Buddha. And overhead, the ceiling had some huge chandalier sort of arrangement but it was very subdued (don't picture your traditional chandalier, because its not even remotely close, but its too hard to describe

 

I remained very quiet and respectful. One woman monk sat in meditation, another was reading a small book, and one was sweeping the floor. In front of the altar were various fruits and flowers, perhaps as an offering.

 

As I was leaving, I saw in front of me a young woman monk. She was perhaps 18-20 years old, with a shaved head. She started to sing as she crossed the courtyard, and it was very pleasant.

 

The whole experience was really nice. The temple itself was huge by western standards. I was just really impressed by how nice the atmosphere was and the whole setting. Just wanted to share my morning experience. Take care.

 

Gauracandra

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by Gauracandra (edited 05-13-2001).]

[JRdd]

I thought I visited the same temple last week but rereading your description I see it is not. The one I saw was not in rolling hills but right in the town of Ukiah, where I was visiting friends. I saw there wonderful arches just as we were about to turn the corner, and majestic grounds behind. It said "The Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas". A sense of astonishment overtook and my friend obliged, taking the car right through the archway. There were peacocks on the grounds either side of us, and tall trees, willows and maybe even cypress, and oaks, very old and grand, God's natural temple. There appeared many buildings, but more squarish than traditional, and she told me it used to be a mental hospital place, bought by the Buddhists. But they had made much of it. There was a sign declaring one large complex to be a school (which another friend is enquiring into sending her son to--which beats any regular state school anyway). The whole place seemed incredibly serene.

Huge statues of various forms of Buddhas became visible, and I believe one of Tara or Avolitekshar (forget how to say that). There appeared pure white peacocks! By now we were out of the car and walking around.

We entered the main temple which was so awesome, so huge and beautiful it almost took my breath away, and left me without any thinking capacities (I think). I think my mouth stayed open the whole time we were in there, which seemed timeless, like when I was a child and got picked out of the audience by the magician for having my mouth open, taking it all in as real. The magician found a whole ball in my mouth. But this WAS real, here at this temple, where the bright yellow-robed women began trickling in for some afternoon service. The enormous walls on each side were lined with cubbyholes covered with glass, each of which held an identical maybe two foot tall golden Buddha. this was an astonishing sight that words can not describe. These were the ten thousand Buddhas, five thou on each side. Besides these, there were enormous Buddhas of bronze and other materials all over the place, each one of which could easily I imagine have weighed three tons. I have never seen such huge Deities except in pictures. I don't even know how many of these there were. In back there were more, and also these strange lights, shapped like large large eggs, that may be the chandelier things GC mentioned, only these were on the floor, about six feet high, and were composed of cells like the many eyes of a fly; each of these cells was lit up, and held small golden Buddhas a few inches high each. There were hundreds of these little Buddhas. The incense cauldrons were also enormous. Everything in California is small except the trees, not like New York where the old buildings are grand and the architecture superb. In Northern California Mount Shasta stands out not so much for its size, which is only 14,000 feet since it blew its top, but because it stands alone on the landscape. This Buddhist temple was an anomaly in the small town of Ukiah. I wish such grandeur was dedicated to personalism. I can see why Srila Prabhupada wanted first class temples. They really are impressive, attracive. Alluring.

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Can you post the address. I plan to take my mom there. There is no such temple in Ukiah as I did searches on internet, thanks.

[Guest guest]

Yes, I would like to know where this temple is. I am planning a trip and would like to include beautiful places like the one you wrote about.

Thank you

[Guest guest]

Greetings. I came across your posting and give very specific directions. To out of towners, this probably seems like Ukiah, but it's technically in another little town called Talmage, which is only 3 miles from Ukiah or so. Take 101 to Ukiah. Take the Talmage Exit off 101 and go East (away from Ukiah). Keep on Talmage Road and at the end of town you'll see the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas' gates. There is also a terrific vegetarian restaurant on site, too. If anyone wants specifics, email me at symboliq@aol.com The public is always invited to the meal offering ceremonies in the AM.