The Sacred Space

by **thornbush** » Fri May 15, 2009 10:53 am

This is one of my favourite places for practice since 2000:
The Malaysia Dharma Realm Buddhist Association / Dharma Realm Guan Yin Sagely Monastery (Dharma Dhatu Avalokitesvara Muni Vihara) located in the heart and Golden Triangle of Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur, just about 5 minutes walking distance to one of the tallest towers in the world and Malaysia's landmark architectural feat: The Petronas Twin Towers.

Previously, it was a very old and historical Taoist temple and when I first joined them, they were in the midst of renovation and construction, with only a small room as the Main Shrine Hall for all Dharma activities.
Today, that former Shrine Hall is now a Dharma bookshop and the entire place, a huge Buddhist Monastery complex with an vegetarian canteen, kitchens, shrine halls, a small garden, library, Sangha quarters and complete with resident Bhikshus and Bhikshunis. The place is often busy with the daily
See this link for its an excerpt history: http://www.advite.com/sf/br/br9-2.html and this one is their headquarters in Talmage, California, USA: http://www.cttbusa.org/

Busy during lunch hour (as they have a big canteen area catering with vegetarian food for sale opened only from Mondays-Fridays for lunch only and also on New/Full Moon Days/Solemnity Days if they fall on the weekend), they create affinities with the office executives and anyone else from the public, of various ethnic and religious backgrounds, who come for their meals from nearby companies/corporate offices.

It is also one of the tourist stops as it is located along the route towards the Twin Towers and the famed KLCC Suria Shopping Centre. So there are periods of lull and also periods where the entire place is brimming with mainly foreign Indian, Middle East and other nationalities. it is quite humorous to see them clicking away or with a video cam and at times they have to be guided to observe decorum by not walking freely in the Shrine Hall during a Dharma Assembly or to touch Dharma instruments or implements.

Here's a youtube link of what's inside live (they were having the Dharma Assembly known as 'The Jewelled Repentance of Emperor Liang'): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOqKLyNCPqM

The Dharma Realm Guan Yin Sagely Monastery: Part 1

by **thornbush** » Fri May 15, 2009 11:02 am

The Dharma Realm Guan Yin Sagely Monastery: Part 2

by **thornbush** » Fri May 15, 2009 11:07 am

The Dharma Realm Guan Yin Sagely Monastery: Part 3

by **thornbush** » Fri May 15, 2009 11:18 am

The Dharma Realm Guan Yin Sagely Monastery: Part 4

by **thornbush** » Fri May 15, 2009 11:29 am

The Dharma Realm Guan Yin Sagely Monastery: Part 5

by **thornbush** » Fri May 15, 2009 11:33 am

The Dharma Realm Guan Yin Sagely Monastery: Part 6

by **thornbush** » Fri May 15, 2009 11:37 am

The Dharma Realm Guan Yin Sagely Monastery: Part 7

by **thornbush** » Fri May 15, 2009 11:42 am

The Dharma Realm Guan Yin Sagely Monastery: Part 8

by **Ngawang Drolma** » Fri May 15, 2009 5:46 pm

thornbush wrote:
Ngawang Drolma wrote:I'd like to see more of Thorny's shrines too (when he has time)

Here some....Part 1

by **Dragonflye** » Sat May 16, 2009 12:16 am

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing thorny!

:namaste:

by **thornbush** » Sat May 16, 2009 12:44 am

Dragonflye wrote:Beautiful! Thanks for sharing thorny!

No probs dragonflye...look forward to seeing yours too :twothumbsup:

by **thornbush** » Sun May 17, 2009 2:01 pm

A memorable place back in early 1998 for myself...when still a Christian and still questioning and studying on Buddhism...visiting them one afternoon when they had a Dharma Assembly was going on....thinking it was another uneventful visit...
When I stepped into their premises and just taking off my shoes, for no apparent reason, I was overcame by a very strong sudden stirring of dizziness and vomiting and noticed that my suppression of it as I entered their Main Shrine, became worst until I literally had to run out to the drain outside and threw up. My friend who had followed me was equally shocked and both of us were left wondering what had happened.
But when I had stepped out, it was like as if nothing had happened, my physical condition was back to normal, like nothing of that dizziness and throwing up was there. So, when I attempted a second time of re-entry, the same nauseous condition returned. Sensing something was amiss, we left the place.
The place in the story is the 'Bao Lin Fa Yuan' (Treasure Forest Dharma Garden) or they are also known as 'Po Lin Monastery' and located in the oldest part of the city, Petaling Jaya, State of Selangor, West Malaysia.
This Vihara has a Main Shrine Hall, library, a small garden, memorial hall and Sangha quarters for a community of Bhikshunis. One of the cleanest and near smokeless place, 'untypical' for a standard Chinese Buddhist temple in my country, the place is serene, quiet and cool, ideal for one to sit in meditation there. And they have an automatic gate whereby a visitor have to ring the main gate bell to be allowed in. When checking their Venerable Founders
memorial ancestral tablets, it seems that they are descended from the Linji House of Ch'an, one of the 5 Houses of Ch'an from China (comparable to the Japanese Rinzai Zen)
(And no, my occasional visits did not had the incident described above after being a Buddhist... :thinking:

)
Po Lin Monastery: Part 1

by **thornbush** » Sun May 17, 2009 2:12 pm

Po Lin Monastery: Part 2

by **thornbush** » Sun May 17, 2009 2:23 pm

Po Lin Monastery: Part 3

by **thornbush** » Sun May 17, 2009 2:26 pm

Po Lin Monastery: Part 4

by **thornbush** » Mon May 18, 2009 6:34 am

The Thai Chetawan Buddhist Temple or Wat Chetawan (Thai Theravada Buddhist Tradition)
This Thai Temple has grown since 1957, with royal patronage of the His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand and also from the Malaysian Thai Embassy. It has grown by leaps and bounds and often renovating or extending its premises. Located in a sprawling residential area in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, West Malaysia, its immediate religious neighbour is a Baptist Church, an indication of Malaysia's multi religious and ethnic identity and culture.
It is basically a place consisting of the Main Shrine, Side Shrines, garden, community hall, Sangha quarters and so forth. A new 3 storey building Shrine Hall is on the way to accommodate more devotees and its has a range of social & religious services/activities serving its community.
One of the interesting feature was a shrine built to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva that was allowed by the Chief Abbot and managed by the Ladies Section, a concession available by the flexibility of those in the Thai Theravada Tradition.
One can check out these links for more photos/info:
http://www.pbase.com/kelvinphoto/watchetawan&page=all
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php ... 97,0,0,1,0

Wat Chetawan: Part 1