Buddhist Temple

 

 

 

Five Springs Mountain is a "combination" area for our city. There is an aquarium, an amusement park, a small zoo (complete with pandas, so we hear, but we didn't get to it the other day), hiking trails and multiple Buddhist temples.

This particular temple was right beside the bumper cars and bungee/trampolene jump . . . seemed kind of strange to me! We stepped into the doorway and saw a small shop selling incense and other Buddhist items. Off to the right of the courtyard was a very small fire where people could light their incense. They would then go to the large smoking pits and bow three times and then place their incense or candles in the pits. Some would bow three times facing all four directions . . . north, south, east, west. For most people, that was the extent of the visit. However, some of them went to the top of the steps and knelt down and bowed three more times. Always in sets of three.

If you look in the photos, you will see a man in a purplish vest. The first photo shows him walking towards the pits. The second photo shows him holding his incense up to his forehead . . . he is completing one of his bows. The third photo shows him kneeling at the top of the stairs. I took all of these photos while simply holding the camera at the top of the opening in my purse. I had no idea what I was pointing at as I didn't look at the camera at all while I was taking the pictures.

Now, one of the basic tenets of Buddhism is to deny craving. In fact, the motto "If there was no craving, there would be no suffering" is a pretty accurate summary of the religion. However, go back to photo number one.

Yes, that is a covered car on the left. Cars, while increasing in number here in China, are still not *that* common for most people in my area. While the city has about 3.5 million people, the car population nowhere near reflects that. A traffic jam will definitely consist of more buses, taxis, trucks and the like than private cars. So what the heck is a car doing inside a Buddhist temple courtyard? (And, to be honest, I have never seen a car cover before in this area, much less a designer one like this one!)

I doubt I will ever know.