The Lama of Guinness Records - China Tour XII

Jai Gurudev !!





Lama Temple at Beijing - Entrance

We had the eagerness to visit the Lama Temple in Beijing and found out the way to reach there by the Subway train . Our Chinese friends helped us by providing the route map of subway train and guided us to go on our own .



On one lovely weekend , the Lama of Beijing gave us the wonderful opportunity of having a glimpse of Him. Budhdha is referred to as the Lama .The Lama temple station is the place , where we need to reach and it's just about 5 minutes walk to the temple. I was slightly surprised at the ladies selling the Incence stick bundles on the way and picked one , as we have the habit of carrying some offerings to God always. 

  

The place where Incense sticks are burnt and offered
, soon after the entrance of the temple.

 The entrance was quite attractive and inviting. It's a Big temple , covering a vast area.

Once we entered , another pleasant surprise was waiting for us. People burn the incense sticks in an exclusive place allocated for that in front of the main building and they do the offering there  , standing in queue , something similar to our local temples.



 

 This place looks exactly like our Indian temples, where the Ellu Deepam is lit . We also burnt the incense sticks - 3 numbers each and offered to the Lama God. 3 numbers is mentioned specifically there on boards.

  

Laughing Budhdha sitting gigantically and
giving a welcome smile to one & all

After which we moved to the inside of the temple. One more surprise awaited rather invited. Guess who ? None other than our famous " Laughing Buddha " in gigantic size .  A God in Lama temple has find His way as an Art piece or show piece in the Drawing room of our Indian homes , one can really wonder about !! Then on either side of that hall , we can see two huge statues , resembling the Dwara Balakas of our temples.  

The building which houses the 18 Ft tall Lama

  



Looking similar to the Dwara Balakas of our temple.
A Security Guard for Lama ?

The building structure inside is a typical Chinese structure and looked like a palace.The people who had come there were all looking very devoted . 

Lama in Meditating posture

Spot best suited for photography ?

Budhdha & His disciples

Moving further inside, it's opening out into a courtyard kind of construction , an open space in the middle and buildings all around it . The Lama in different forms or get ups was there and people offer incense sticks in front of the Gods .

Lama in yet another pose

The Lama idols in various attires and different decorations and  

in meditating  and standing postures could be seen.

Lama as Nataraj ?!





 

This particular standing posture of Lama just resembled our Nataraj statue of our temples. 



Rotating Cylinder - A spiritual practise similar to ringing bell 

One more interesting thing , we noticed was a cylinder sort of structure on either side of the main Lama statue , on which some scriptures are engraved . And the monks stand near that and keep rotating for some time, though the significance of that act is unknown. This , we can relate to our Bell structure and our act of ringing the bells as a practise.

  

An artwork like Sri Chakra at Lama Temple

A drawing , similar to the Sri Chakra of our place was also seen on the floor , though the spiritual significance of it is unknown.
We feel as though , Hinduism is modified and carried forward in Budhdhism .

Scary Gigantic Lion Idol

A Scary  Giant Lion stone idol caught our attention and we kept our eyes unblinked for few moments before we moved on .  We see Lion & Elephant Idols in our South Indian temples . 

  

Now comes the ultimate attraction of the temple. As you can guess , nothing other than the Great Lama Himself  taking His Avatar in the form of the Huge - 18 Feet Tall Idol . It looked a real Vishwaroopam of Lord Vishnu to me , indeed !! The Shanku , Chakra and a couple of other divine  instruments were also seen in front of him. A Budhdhist monk was standing beside and was doing the continous chanting , which again resembled our "OM " sound. I stood astonished gazing at the Big Lama for some time and  moved into a state of prostration automatically , as we can do nothing but only surrender to the Greatness !!
For a moment ,it comes in our mind, is it Lord Vishnu in Vishwaroopam posture ?
My friend exclaimed , " Budhdha is one of the avatar in Dasavataarm " !!
Is it so ?



18 Ft tall Lama Idol in Beijing Lama Temple

The wordings on the board placed at the exit way caught our eyes instantly  -   One more reason to astonish about this attractive and gigantic Lama statue . The 18 Feet tall idol or statue was carved out of a  single Big Sandalwood tree and has found a place in the Guinness Book of world records !! 

 No doubt the Big Lama would not fail to leave a deep impression in one's heart !!

  

After that we sat in the benches placed at the entrance of the temple for some time , which once again reminded us of our temple practise.

Overall , the Lama Temple visit is something to be cherished forever in our hearts !! 

Budhdham Saranam Gachchami !!

Dharmam Saranam Gachchami !!
Sangham Saranam Gachchami !!



Beijing Lama - When wil u call me again ?! 

Love & smiles...



Any new recipe for the left over food ?

Jai Gurudev !!

It's quite natural that the food cooked  always remains as left overs at our home most of the times. The quantity of left over food might vary from day to day- some days more and some days less.

Now coming to the point , what do you do with that left over food ?

Do you throw it away ?
or
Do you store it in the refrigerator and use it after reheating the next day ?

If your option is the latter one, then you need to read the following...

The prana or the energy level in the cooked food goes down after about 4 to 6 hours of cooking. And when eaten after that time, is definitely going to harm you for sure , is a well known fact , though we may not be always following it .
  
Though that's the scientific aspect of looking at it, there's also spiritual aspect involved , which I came across today and would like to share with you.


Whenever we want to offer the food to God, during some puja , we always see that the food is prepared in a clean and hygienic manner . And we offer only the fresh cooked food to God and not the food cooked the previous day .
 But, we always do not eat fresh food and happily eat the stored/preserved refrigerated food . Why so ?

Why don't we serve the refrigerated food to God ?
We want the God to be served with the best food . But, is not that the God is residing in every one of us ?
In that case , we are serving the old food to the God within us ?!! Think ....

 Second aspect of theory goes this way ...
Some days the food left over is only less and some days the quantity will be more and some days , none will be leftover. Why  so?
For every action that's happening , we can always interpret it on a higher plane.
There are numerous living creatures like Dogs, Birds, cats, rats, ants and other insects which cannot cook their food , but are dependant on us , human beings.
How do you think they can get their food , if we do not give them out ?
Is not the Divine planning a way out to satiate the hunger of those living creatures, by means of our left overs ?
Why don't we think this way and act accordingly ?!

If we find a way to feed the poor creatures in a proper manner , without spoiling the surroundings, are we not doing a great job , which is divine in nature ?

And our precious health also will not be spolied for sure by eating that energyless food !!

 

 So, say  " No " to the left over food !!


See it as an opportunity to serve the lovely little creatures in whatever possible way !!



Love & smiles....