We dawdled around the garden areas, first. The temple staff expends a fair amount of effort on this; it is an integral part of the philosophy, as essential as the statues of the Buddhas themselves. It's all about "mindfulness", awareness of the moment and our place in the ever-changing, ever-the-same pattern. Focussed attention on every act, seeing, hearing, speaking. Even a simple cup of tea becomes a reverent ritual.
Along the side of the parking lot.
A bud. I don't know what it will open out to.
Laurie in the rock garden by the gate, blending in.
The pool, with swimming dragons.And I, of course, found tiny inhabitants, wasps and spiders. On one of the rock sculptures, a tiny seedling. On the seedling, a wasp.
They were building a nest on the next rocks over. The tiny stemmed upside-down paper flower is the beginning of the nest. (Click to see this full size. And see another from my box of goodies in close-up .)
And spider webs. In a crevice in the rocks:
And in the ear of a fantastic lion/reindeer. (Lion face and body, reindeer antlers.)
In the courtyard, the roof of a shrine held more fanciful creatures.
Another hybrid, just the size for a kid to ride:
And, necessarily, one of the Buddhas, meditating by a pool to the music of three strands of falling water.
The hall where the jade Guan-Yin is was still behind "Under Construction" signs. The woman I asked about it was more realistic than our previous informant. When would the hall be open? "A long time. Very long. Maybe a year."Oh, well. Laurie pronounced himself satisfied with the beauty of the gardens; Guan-Yin can wait. She won't fade.
There were three peonies blooming beside the path back to the parking lot. Dessert.
Woah, Wanderin' Weeta, I'm a fan! love the pics, you have a fine eye.
ReplyDeleteThe bud is a southern magnolia. We had them on the walk to work when I lived in DC. Gosh, I can smell them now, and it's been since way back during teh Nixon debacle that I lived in DC. Huge creamy dinnerplate blossoms that exude a heady perfume on the heavy summer night air. Bring one inside, and they'll fill a big room with the scent.
Thanks, Gypsy! For the bud ID, and for the compliments. It's nice to have a fan! :)
ReplyDeleteMagnolias; the name brings back the memory of the scent. Long, long ago, in Mexico, I got typhoid. While I recuperated, my parents took me to a hotel in Puente Nacional, down in the "hot country". There was a swimming pool half-covered with floating magnolia petals. The air was heavy and sweet. I was too sick to swim, or to go looking for the trees; I just dozed beside the pool in the perfumed sunshine. Better than all the antibiotics in the world!
I've wanted to see this temple for ages and have never made it there -- your beautiful shots have inspired me even more to get there -- thank you for sharing such beauty!
ReplyDeleteHi, Diamond.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the photos. Do make time to drive down; it's never the same twice, and well worth the trip.