Po Lin Monastery

Sorry that this next post is not necessarily about music, but it does have a picture of the Buddha, which might make you idolators happy. I also have been thinking about songwriting in terms of landscapes and not just parlors and theaters (maybe I'll explain that to you later if you buy me a beer.)

Buddha photographer and peripatetic singer/songwriter Dave Graham sends the following from Hong Kong:

Sunday I decided to see sites on Lantau island (the closest island) instead of traveling to Hong Kong island. I first went to see Po Lin (Precious Lotus) Monastery, where they have the largest seated, outdoor, bronze Buddha in the world.

The Hotel provides a bus to Tung Chung bus/rail station, past the kind of bridges, bays, high rises, and vegetation that I always imagined Hawaii must have. The bus station is built into a mall. From there I must get on local bus 23 to Po Lin.

Bus 23 takes me over the island, which is considerably less civilized than all I have seen so far. Even for a Pittsburgher, the roads seem impossibly narrow and winding. If you are not going up a steep, curvy hill, then you are going down a steep, curvy hill. I was worried about our brakes. Half of it is single lane, with convex mirrors to allow you stop and let the other vehicle go past. Most of the vehicles are buses. This is some of the most populated area in the world.

There are many staircases built into the sides of the hills, allowing foot traffic to take shortcuts. Many hillsides are covered with a lumpy coating of concrete, punctured with weep holes, to prevent landslides.

There are apparently larger Buddhas elsewhere, but at 26.4 meters, this was big enough for me. He is seated on top of a hill overlooking the monastery, with 260 steps leading up the hill. Very pretty hills and valleys, but shrouded in mist.

You must buy a ticket to get inside the museum, which is what Buddha sits on. Inside there are several large murals of important events in Buddha’s life, but no cameras allowed.

The monastery is pretty, with probably as many believers as tourists walking around. There is much incense burning, in various incense pots. the buildings have relief carvings on the walls of celestial beings and dragons.