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The group gathers for a happy photo at the White Cloud Taoist
Temple. |
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Elaine tries her luck at touching the brass dragon on the large incense burner
with her eyes closed! |
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One of the many Taoist monks at the famous White Cloud Temple. |
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We were so fortunate to have 3 visiting "Living Buddhas" from Tibet
honor our group with a special blessing ritual. Two of the Living Buddhas were
brothers. It is a rare occurrence for two holy men to be reincarnated into the same family. |
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James receives an offering kata. It is traditional in Tibetan Buddhism to offer a Kata (a silk greeting scarf) to holy
men/teachers as an offering of honor. The kata is then offered back to you. Everyone in
the group took turns offering the Katas. |
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Jackie strikes a pose in front of the Temple of Heaven, the three tiers of the
building represent Heaven, Humans and Earth. |
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Irene stands upon the center of the round altar which is considered the acupuncture point of
ch’i in China. The
ancient Taoist feng shui masters determined this point the place where the Emperor could
communicate with Heaven. |
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Jackie and Michele share a warm hug in front of the Temple of Heaven. |
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Practicing Ch’i Gong on the grounds of the Temple of Heaven. According to local
Chinese Feng Shui masters this is the most auspicious place to collect environmental
ch’i. |
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The bright and friendly faces of the groups of small school children sends us a spark
of good ch’i! |
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Michele, Rebecca, Elaine and a new friend share triumphant smiles after climbing the
steep Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall steps where we discussed the feng shui alignment
of the tomb. |
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Helen teaches a class on Joss Rituals for Peace and Safety outside the small Ling Gu
Temple. The traditional joss papers are burned in a feng shui ritual to invoke peace, harmony and
safety while you are traveling |
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The Abbot of Ling Gu Temple (whom we have visited in previous tours) greeted us at the
front door of the temple. Our unannounced visit was auspicious in its timing. The Abbot
has been ill and was only at the temple that day and only for that hour! He
insisted upon sitting with us and discussing Buddhism. We were very grateful for the kind
and generous way he answered our questions. |
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We burn the ritual joss for Peace, Harmony and Safety in our travels inside the Ling
Gu Temple. Our trusty national guide David quietly prays at far right. |
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Maria carefully lights the "Wish Fulfilling" joss during the ritual for
Peace and Safety |
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These two girls were running around their backyard giggling and squealing until they
spied James and his camera. Then they suddenly became very shy, but still curious! |
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These 5 lucky ladies were carried (for a price!) up Jiu Hua (Nine Flower)
Mountain! From right; Beatriz, Barbara, Rebecca, Pat, and Martha. |
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Buddies, Elaine and Maria share a hug after a delicious dinner. |
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Wow! Can’t believe we hiked this far! Outside "Ten Thousand Buddha
Hall" Jiu Hua Mountain |
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From right; David, Anthony and James rest after returning from the summit of Jiu Hua
Mountain. |
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James makes a toast in honor of our hard-working bus driver Francis, at the end of a
long day! |
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James and Helen lecture on the Five Element Theory in the conference room of the
Shi Lin Hotel, Huang Shan. |
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Ancestral gravesites are commonly seen throughout the countryside. Each has been sited
in the correct "Yin jai" positioning. Yin jie is the feng shui placement for the
dead. Where and how your grave is sited directly affects your descendants’ future. |
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This friendly old monk greeted us outside the King Asoka Buddhist Temple in Ningbo. We
cherished the chance to join in the "Rites of Sakyamuni" performed by the monks
of the temple. King Asoka was at one time King of India and was known for attaining the
throne by using brutality. After he became King he felt guilty about how he attained his
power and decided to collect the 84,000 relics of Sakyamuni Buddha. He then built a stupa
for each of the relics. There are said to be only three such stupas in China; in
Xi’an, Beijing and Ningbo. We were given the honorable opportunity to view this relic
(a piece of Sakyamuni Buddhas parietal bone) after the Rites were completed. |
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Helen discusses feng shui Joss rituals for good health and longevity at the Medicine Buddha
Hall, Ling Yin Temple, Hangzhou. |
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National guide David and Helen stop and smile outside King Asoka Temple after the
viewing of the relic of Sakyamuni. |
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We arrive at Kuan Yin Island full of excitement! |
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James and Helen in front of the 33-meter high statue of Kuan Yin, Bodhisattva of
Compassion and Mercy. The statue is larger than the famous Statue of Liberty!
In our opinion the placement of this statue overlooking the harbor which
now is home to a naval base was a perfect feng shui cure to bring
compassion. |
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Jacqueline collects the chi of an ancient camphor tree in the courtyard of one of the
many temples to honor Kuan Yin. |
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James, Rebecca and Irene light incense as an offering before burning joss papers for
Peace and Safety. |
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Carol (standing front right), and seated right to left; a local monk, (guide) John, and
Endsley take a chat break. |
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Everyone looks around in awe at the Yu Yuan Gardens in Shanghai. James lectures on
Feng Shui for the gardens. |
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As another journey comes to an end, we say a heartfelt goodbye to our Chinese friends
and make promises to get together again soon. |
