Saturday, July 5, 2014

Intro to Buddhism; Po Lin Monastery, Lantau Island, Hong Kong, PRC






Over the years the boys have had as much exposure to other religions as we could fit in; from explaining Christmas decorations to hijabs, we do our best.  Thankfully today we had Uncle Lon along for the ride.  Raised in a Buddhist family in northern Thailand and having spent some time in a monastary, he brings a whole new (and extremely valuable) perspective to our very western children.  




What little the boys know of the Buddha (no, not yoda, as Liji commonly refers to him) is from Chinese menus.   You see Liji and I posing in front of the General who shares the sign of the rat with both of us in the twelve year lunar cycle.  So, the Tian Tan Big Buddha was excellent exposure.  As they hiked up the hill to one of the tallest peaks in Hong. Kong, Lon schooled them on the Buddha.


Mommy and I of course were more than happy to support this habit if it meant eating wonderful vegetarian Cantonese in the Po Lin Monastary at the base of the hill.  The boys again were willing to dig into new delights, including cool new mushrooms, lotus root and lemon tofu (ok the taro root wasn't a big hit, but they tried it!)



One of the many highlights of the trip was the twenty five minute cable car ride from the subway station. As we soared above the cliffs, waterfalls and short "broccoli" trees of this mainly rural island we all reveled in what a contrast the many islands of Hong Kong provide. 





1 comments:

Kirpal Singh said...

Hi,really nice post.I would like to share little bit.Once just a remote monastery covered up by lavish, mountain scenery, the Po Lin Monastery made it to the world guide when the unprecedented Tian Tan Buddha statue (casually known as the Big Buddha) was raised in 1993. Sitting 34 meters high and confronting north to look over the Chinese individuals, this lofty bronze Buddha draws explorers from all over Asia.
Best wishes from
~Kirpal Singh