Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum

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General view of the museum: in front the entrance hall, behind it the eight pagodas, followed by the great hall and the seated Buddha
Side view of the temple complex
Large Fo Guang Buddha with the Stupa of Compassion and the Stupa of Wisdom

The Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum ( Chinese  佛光 山 佛陀 紀念館 , Pinyin Fóguāngshān Fótuó jìniànguǎn , formerly " Buddha Memorial Center ") is a museum in the Taiwanese city ​​of Kaohsiung . The museum is affiliated with Fo Guang Shan , one of the largest Buddhist organizations in Taiwan. It houses a tooth relic that is said to come from Sakyamuni Buddha , the founder of Buddhism .

Construction of the museum began in 2003 and it opened in December 2011. The museum was accepted into the International Council of Museums (ICOM) in 2014 and has since been featured frequently in Kaohsiung's top 10 attractions on TripAdvisor . In 2015 the museum was certified by the quality management system ISO 50001 : 2011.

history

The tooth relic

Tradition has it that after the Muslim invasion of India in the 13th century, the Buddha's tooth relic was brought to Tibet from the great Buddhist temple in Nalanda for security . There it was kept in the Sakya Namgyal Monastery for the next six centuries . The monastery was destroyed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution in 1968. A Tibetan lama , Kunga Dorje Rinpoche , took the relic and fled with it to India. There he kept the relic with him for thirty years. However, he was unable to realize his plan to build a temple in India to store the relic.

Idea to build the temple

In 1998 the Buddhist monk and teacher Hsing Yun traveled to Bodh Gaya in India. Hsing Yun is the founder of the international Buddhist order Fo Guang Shan , based in Taiwan. He met with Kunga Dorje Rinpoche and Kunga took a liking to Fo Guang Shan's efforts to promote exchanges between different Buddhist traditions. He hoped the relic could serve as a symbol for receiving the Dharma in Taiwan . The Rinpoche gave the relic to Hsing Yun for him to build a shrine in Taiwan to keep it. The authenticity of the relic has been confirmed by the testimonies of twelve other Rinpoches.

The construction of the shrine and associated museum was justified by Hsing Yun as follows: “The Buddha does not need worship or reverence from anyone, they are living beings who need inspiration to develop holistic thoughts and purify their thoughts. By worshiping a monument, people can experience the Buddha's dharma body, and their feelings of admiration can lead to a desire to learn the Buddha's virtues and practice them in everyday life. The Buddha does not need a monument, but living beings need one. "

Hsing Yun found a suitable piece of land near the Fo Guang Shan's headquarters in Kaohsiung to build the Buddha Museum. The foundation stone was laid in 2003 and the museum opened in 2011.

Goals and values ​​of the museum

According to the museum's founder, Hsing Yun, the museum should belong to everyone and everyone is invited to visit it. It should be a place of culture and education and be open to families, schools and organizations to learn.

The “three acts of kindness” and the “four ways of giving” are given as core values ​​of the museum:

Three acts of kindness

  • Do good deeds
  • Speak good words
  • Have good thoughts

The four ways of giving

  • Give others confidence
  • Give joy to others
  • Give hope to others
  • Give comfort to others

goals and tasks

The museum's objectives and tasks are:

  • the construction of 48 underground palaces to preserve human wisdom and history
  • Education for life - through the promotion of art and culture to environmental protection
  • Cross-strait cultural exchange for a rebirth of Chinese culture
  • Promotion of Buddhist art through exhibitions and scientific conferences
  • Serving the public through respect and tolerance, resource sharing and warm hospitality

Structure of the plant

Entrance hall

The entrance hall is flanked by the Gate of Perfected Lightness and the Gate of Liberation . Sculptures of a lion and an elephant, both accompanied by young animals, greet the guests from both sides of the gates. The five-meter-high and six-meter long elephant on the right symbolizes the conception of Siddhartha Gautama , who is said to have ridden a white elephant into his mother's lap. The lion on the left has the same dimensions and represents the power of the Buddha's words. In the entrance hall there is a café, small shops and artist workshops.

Pagodas

View from the 2nd floor of the entrance hall on the large Fo-Guang-Buddha and the eight pagodas

After crossing the entrance hall, the visitor arrives at a small park with a central path that leads to the great golden Buddha. The path is lined with four pagodas to the right and left . While the central stupa of the entrance hall is architecturally in the Indian style, the eight pagodas are built in the Chinese style. This is supposed to symbolize the historical spread of Buddhism from India to China. The eight pagodas each represent different ideas.

  • One teaching pagoda
  • Two-gathering pagoda: set up for children who are supposed to learn through play to practice the three acts of goodness
  • Pagoda of the Three Virtues: the name refers to the unity of action, word and thought; there is a meeting room and two guest rooms
  • Pagoda of the Four Presents: there is a small bookstore here, mainly with publications of Fo Guang Shan in various languages
  • Pagoda of the five harmonies: family celebrations such as weddings, birthday parties, etc. can be celebrated here
  • Pagoda of Six Perfections: contains calligraphic works by the museum's founder, Hsing Yun
  • Pagoda of the Seven Warnings: The seven warnings or admonitions relate to drugs, pornography, violence, theft, gambling, alcohol and hurtful words. By following the exhortations, individuals, families, and society as a whole are to be improved. Here visitors can relax with a cup of tea.
  • Eightfold Path Pagoda: Contains a brief introduction to the structure of the Buddha Museum

Twin pavilions

To the right of the park with the pagodas are two small gold-plated twin pavilions near a lotus pond. In the pavilions there is a tea house and a small restaurant with vegetarian cuisine. Publicly accessible lectures will take place on the upper floor of the pavilions. Visitors can also practice Sutra transcription, ie copying Buddhist textbooks in Chinese script.

Bodhi wisdom gathering place

After having covered the path flanked by the pagodas, one arrives at a central square, the Bodhi Wisdom Assembly Square, which can accommodate thousands of people. The square is lined with 18 arhat figures, including three female figures.

Eighteen arhats

The statues line the sides of the courtyard and were designed by Taiwanese sculptor Wu Jung-Tzu. They represent the ten great disciples of the Buddha:

also three arhats from the Amitabha Sutra:

two arhats from Chinese folklore:

  • The dragon-taming arhat
  • the tiger-taming arhat

and three female bhikkhunis :

Eight patriarchs

These are located at the front of the main hall. They represent the founding fathers of the eight Mahayana schools of Chinese Buddhism and were designed by the Taiwanese sculptor Wu Jung-Tzu. The eight patriarchs are:

Main hall

The main hall is built as a dome-like stupa in the Indian style. It is the main building of the complex and serves the memory of Siddhartha Gautama, the first teacher of all Buddhists. The lower part is made of yellow sandstone , the superstructure is made of gray granite . A million copies of the Heart Sutra are kept in the center tower . The Shrine of the Buddha Tooth Relic is also located in the main hall.

There are three shrines and five permanent exhibitions on the ground floor. Four art galleries are located on the floor above.

Potalaka Avalokiteshvara Shrine

The shrine is at the front of the main hall. It houses a thousand-armed, thousand-eyed, almost five meter high Avalokiteshvara statue, which was designed by the contemporary glass artist Loretta Yang. Avalokitesvara (Chinese: Guanyin ) is flanked by Sudhana and Longnü . The back of the circular interior depicts the chapter of the "universal gate" of the Lotus Sutra , while the sides of the shrine are lined with depictions of the 33 manifestations of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva .

Golden Buddha Shrine

This is located directly behind the Avalokiteshvara Shrine and houses a golden statue of the Buddha, which is said to be the largest golden Buddha statue in South Asia. The statue was donated by the Supreme Monk Patriarch of Thailand , the Sangharaja and is supposed to symbolize the harmonious exchange between Mahayana and Theravada traditions. There are numerous small niches in the walls of the shrine, in which more than 6000 small Buddha statuettes are housed.

Jade Buddha Shrine

The shrine is right behind the main hall. It houses a reclining Buddha statue made from Burmese white jade. The statue symbolizes the transition of the Buddha into Parinirvana . The tooth relic of the Buddha is located in a reliquary above the statue. It is said to be one of the few tooth relics of the Buddha that exist worldwide. The adjacent walls that flank the statue are colorful jade reliefs of the western Sukhavati of Amitabha and the eastern Vaiduryanirbhasa of Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha). The side walls of the shrine are made of sandalwood reliefs depicting stupas and pagodas from around the world.

Museum of the underground Buddhist palaces

This museum represents the project of the 48 underground palaces (see below).

Buddhist Festival Museum

The exhibition explains various Buddhist festivals that visitors can experience in an interactive way while walking through the year.

Museum of the History of Fo Guang Shan

This exhibition shows the story of Fo Guang Shan.

Museum of the Life of the Buddha

Here the story of the Buddha is told from his birth to his parinirvana. The gallery plays two 4D short films a day, “The Life of Buddha” and “The Poor Girl's Lamp”.

Great Auditorium of Enlightenment

This facility is located on the 2nd floor. The multifunctional auditorium offers space for 2,000 people. There is a 360-degree screen in the middle. The round stage in the middle of the floor can be rotated so that the audience can see the performances from different directions. There have been many international screenings since it opened.

Four Noble Truths Stupas

The main hall is flanked at its four corners by the four noble truths stupas. These are reminiscent of the first teaching that the Buddha preached after his enlightenment. The four stupas are dedicated to four great bodhisattvas : the great devotion practiced by Avalokiteshvara , the great vow of Ksitigarbha , the great wisdom of Manjusri, and the great action of Samantabhadra . Here offerings of incense , flowers and candlelight can be offered.

Great Fo Guang Buddha

The large Buddha statue took over a year to construct, using 1,800 tons of metal. The statue itself is 40 meters and the seat 10 meters high. Overall, the total height is 108 meters (this is considered a good number in Buddhism). The statue represents Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha.

48 underground palaces

The project of the 48 underground palaces is intended to serve as a time capsule . Every year Buddhist artefacts from around the world are collected and selected objects of historical value are preserved for permanent storage in an underground palace. The goal is to preserve human culture, people's beliefs and their way of life for posterity. A new one of these underground palaces is to be opened every century and the whole project is based on a total of 48 such palaces, i.e. H. for a duration of 4800 years. The project of the 48 underground palaces is explained to the public in the associated museum.

art

Reliefs

There are reliefs along the covered walkways and within the main entrance hall . There are 22 semi-reliefs depicting acts of compassion and wisdom of the Buddha, known as 'Stories from the Buddha's Life'. Other reliefs represent examples of Chan art and elements of Buddhist teaching. On the side walls of the Jade Buddha Shrine there are wooden reliefs depicting various stupas from around the world.

calligraphy

Calligraphy by Hsing Yun can be seen on the walls and on signs in each building throughout the museum. A permanent exhibition is located in the Pagoda of the Six Perfections.

Statues

  • The Eighteen Arhats and Eight Patriarchs were designed by Wu Jung-Tzu and are located at the Bodhi Wisdom Assembly Place.
  • The thousand-armed, thousand-eyed Avalokiteshvara statue in the Avalokitesvara Shrine was made by contemporary glass artist Loretta Yang.
  • The golden Buddha statue inside the Golden Buddha Shrine is a gift from the Supreme Monk Patriarch of Thailand to Fo Guang Shan
  • The reclining Buddha statue inside the Jade Buddha Shrine was made from white Burmese jade. The Great Fo Guang Buddha is made of 1,800 tons of metal and is 40 meters high.

sculpture

A carving made of camphor wood depicting the Buddha teaching the Dharma to 500 of his disciples (arhats) on the Vulture Peak (Gijjhakuta), one of his retreat and meditation locations, is visible in the vestibule.

Art galleries

These are located on the ground floor and on the 1st floor of the main house. There are four permanent exhibitions on the ground floor. The galleries on the first floor are not permanent and are frequently switched to show art from around the world.

education

With Fo Guang Shan's stated goal of promoting talent through education, the museum has developed an educational curriculum based on the three "acts of goodness" - good deeds, good words and good thoughts.

Awards

The museum has received various awards since it opened, including:

  • 2012 - Winner of the Golden Lion Prize for Culture and Education in the 13th National Golden Architecture Competition
  • 2013 - Inclusion in "Top 100 Religious Places in Taiwan" by the Ministry of the Interior
  • 2014 - Admission to the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
  • 2014 - Winner of TripAdvisor 2014 Traveler's Choice Award and listed among the most popular tourist spots in Kaohsiung
  • 2014 - Kaohsiung City honored the site's public toilets
  • 2014 - First religious organization and museum to receive ISO 50001 energy management certification.
  • 2014 - Excellent Lavatory Award from Kaohsiung City.
  • 2016 - Award for the best historical and cultural tourism-themed project at the 5th competition of the International Tourism Investment Association (ITIA) China
  • 2016 - Winner of TripAdvisor 2016 Travelers' Choice Award and ranked fourth among Taiwan's top ten landmarks

Web links

Commons : Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Foguangshan Buddha Memorial Center. Kaohsiung Travel, accessed January 12, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Kaohsiung Attractions. tripadvisor.de, accessed on January 12, 2016 (English).
  3. ↑ a b c d e Origin of Buddha Museum. fgsbmc.org.tw (museum website), accessed on January 14, 2017 (English).
  4. ^ About the Founder. fgsbmc.org.tw, accessed January 13, 2017 .
  5. ^ Digital Buddhism Office: Museum on Miracle - The Buddha Memorial Center. (PDF) July 15, 2016, accessed on January 13, 2017 (English): "Venerable Master Hsing Yun says," The Buddha does not need any anybody's worship or reverence, it is living beings that need inspiration to develop wholesome thoughts and purify their minds. By worshiping a memorial, people can come to know the Buddha's Dharma body, and their feelings of admiration can be elevated into wanting to learn about the Buddha's virtues and practice them in everyday life. The Buddha doesn't need a memorial, but living beings do. ""
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h Attractions. fgsbmc.org.tw (museum website), accessed on January 14, 2017 (English).
  7. ↑ Angelica Duran, Yuhan Huang: Mo Yan in Context: Nobel Laureate and Global Storyteller . Purdue University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-1-55753-681-5 , pp. 202- (English, google.com ).
  8. ↑ a b 從 敦煌 到 佛陀 紀念館, 千手千眼 觀音 行. (pdf) Retrieved January 14, 2017 (Chinese).
  9. ^ The Pride of Buddha Museum. Retrieved January 14, 2017 (English, video presentation of various prizes won on the museum's website).

Coordinates: 22 ° 45 ′ 25.5 ″  N , 120 ° 26 ′ 28.9 ″  E