More than 800 volunteers washed and cleaned 15,400 Buddha statues of varying sizes at the Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Kaohsiung on Monday, an action that senior monk Hui Chuan (慧傳) said would cleanse people’s minds as they prepare to greet the new year.
Fo Guang Shan Monastery, the largest in southern Taiwan, started the campaign to clean the Buddha statues as part of its activities to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China.
Hsin Pei (心培), the monastery’s head monk, said Buddha, as an -enlightened being, would not care if his images were covered with dust.
PHOTO: CNA
However, the ritual and symbolic action of cleaning his statues with water could endear believers to Buddha’s body, enabling them to get rid of not only the physical dirt, but also spiritual disturbances.
Hui said the temple held an -activity two years ago asking people to bathe and clothe seniors in a filial gesture of respect.
For similar reasons, he said, bathing the Buddha statues could be seen as a way for people to cleanse their minds, giving them the peace of mind needed to obtain the wisdom to weather all difficulties and enjoy a smooth and auspicious future.
A three-story scaffold was erected on the wall of the main temple hall and volunteers passed 14,800 statues down to the ground where another group of volunteer workers cleaned them with water.
In addition, another 600 statues were taken from three other halls for the annual cleaning, bringing the total to 15,400.
Many of the volunteers hailed from Argentina and other countries, some of whom came from three generations of the same family.
Chinese tourists visiting Fo Guang Shan marveled at the grand and rare sight of so many people acting together to wash Buddha statues, and some joined the ranks of volunteers.
When their tour guides called them to return to their tour buses, they regretted having to leave so soon.
“How quickly time passes! It’s too bad. I haven’t gotten enough of this,” one Chinese tourist said.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
RSS