Dhammakaya Temple Wesak Photos

Wesak refers to the Buddha's Birthday holiday for Buddhists around the world.  It is celebrated at different times in different countries, but generally in the spring and early summer.  Here are some photos to go with the last post about my trip to the Dhammakaya temple in Azusa last Thursday.  Photo credit goes to Shakya.  I wasn't in a position as a monk there to take photos, so I left my camera at home.

Click the photos below to enlarge them.  In this first photo, if you look closely, I'm the monk standing in front to the right.  My my, the back of my head is stunning, no?  This photo was taken during the Tibetan chanting.

This is just a shot of the large Buddha at the east end of the lawn.  The temple, though not shown here, is to the left.  You can see that some of the seats are empty--volunteers are preparing to light candles I think.

Now you can see that large torch offering in front of the main Buddha image.  There were two shorter ones to the left and right as well.

Here are the grounds all lit up.  It was quite a sight to see.  So many monks and nuns from various traditions, and almost all the lay people dressed all in white, carrying lights around the Buddha...I'm looking forward to large celebrations like this in Korea.

Thanks Shakya for the photos!

I may be travelling to some other temples in the coming weeks around the L.A. area.  I'll be sure to take pictures myself then.

If any of you participated in a Wesak celebration, leave a message below, or better yet, send me photos and a caption and I may post them here.

Comments

[EdaMommy]

I really enjoyed the pics and commentary - it looks lovely. Oh, and you absolutely have a stunning head! ^_^