We went to visit the Buddhist Temple that was about 15 minutes away from Wollongong. Yeah, it was so near and we really now regret of not making it there earlier. Better late than never. Its called NianTien Temple and it is supposedly to be the biggest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere. The main features are the Great Compassion Hall, the Main Shrine and the Pagoda. Great Compassion Hall is where they have the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Kuan Yin), a symbol of great compassion, listening to people's prayers to alleviate suffering for all. In the Main Shrine resides the 5 Buddhas of Confidence, Longevity, Wisdom, Inner Beauty and Peace and 10.000 smaller Buddhas. Truly magnificent sight (cameras not allowed inside).
The Pagoda is an eight storey resting place for the deceased. The whole Temple is surrounded and enclosed in beautiful landscape overlooking the mountains. There is also a lotus pond, museum, dining hall, a tea house and a pilgrim lodge. They also conduct classes like mediation classes, tai chi, weekend mediation retreats, one day retreat, Buddhism study, Vegetarian cooking classes, calligraphy writing classes and so on. As I was standing in the middle of the temple I was just wondering. Its amazing how you can be overwhelmed by the beauty of it all but at the same very moment experience a calmness over your soul. The mediation retreat will do me a lot of good.
