Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple

Hey everyone...
    For those of you who know Dance, well he and I live near each other and we had swaped info and he called me to introduce himself on a more formal level i guess you could say... i told him i had never visted the temple in Redmond and since he usually goes every week he invited me to go along...
    now im not really sure why i have never gone to visit, ive known about it for quite some time, i guess you could say it just wasnt the right moment...
    when i first got there and looked around at the buildings surrounding the temple i was amazed at how well they were kept and just their appearance... they stood there like untaintable palaces... atleast thats my impression... im sure some would completely ignore them...
     upon entering the temple i was feeling as if i was floating... i felt very light as if i had been carring a pack and then removed it... although i do lots of mountain climbing, when it came to removing my hiking pack, the sensation was never like this, no matter how tired i felt...
     ive been to many different temples in the past but i had never had a feeling like that before... my thoughts also didnt seem to race around like they often do... i was very calm and collected... i also felt fairly at home there...
     for me it only got more special... it happens that we caught the end day of a 10 day repentance/deliverance ceremony featuring Ksitigarbha who i already have a great liking for... sometimes when im asked what type of work i would wish to do, i answer them, "i would like to be ksitigarbhas attendant." but none of them know what im talking about... and sometimes i wonder if i sound nuts...lol
     i felt as tho i was being welcomed by a friend in a sense...who else better to meet you at a place you have never been then someone your familar with? not to say that had it not been focussed around ksitigarbha would it be less great...
     my admiration for ksitigarbha is so much i had already aquainted myself with many of the mantras that were recited and was able to recite almost as well as everyone else there... this gave it even more of an "at home" feeling...
     i hope others have similar experiences... and if you havent please dont get discouraged, since it all could just be self created... i even think that perhaps my karma has been so bad up to now that i was at such a low level spiritually that i rose up a bit where most of you are...

       om ha ha ha wei sam mo deh so ha

Dance has done a wonderful thing by bringinig an old friend back home! haha

Mimosa

    lol Arica
    i like the idea of comming from ksitigarbhas kingdom... now if i can only find my way back...lol
    Mimosa... dance mentioned that i had a chance to meet your sister too, but for some reason i didnt get to...
    as for dance i guess you could say his photo doesnt fully capture his generous side...

Lyciss,
I have been to the Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple only twice but I understand how you feel. It feels like there's a special aura surrounding the place, almost like a realm of heaven on earth. When you said you felt lighter when you walked inside the temple, I feel the same way also. You're right, its as if all your complicated thoughts just dissappear. Then it is so nice you don't want to leave the temple cause the whole world just seems so troubled!! I wish I could go back!

Celestialmaiden

Lyciss,
My mom doesn't want to pay for me to go and I don't have a job. When there is a big ceremony we usually take turns alternating.

      Cele, how much does it cost?  and would you mind if i helped out to make it easier for you to make your trips, you and your mother?

   om mani padme hum      

Wow.....we have a very generous man here. Ahem.....
the air-ticket to Seattle from Singapore will be S$1,800.00.
If i go by group tour, it should be around S$1300.00 which
includes accomodation.
;D

Celestialmaiden.

I was thinking since we live so close, perhaps we can make arrangements to all go together and save on the expenses.

My car is available, and it is really good on gas.  The only thing we have never been to Seattle before.  We would not know the area nor where to stay.

My husband works most weekends so if I have someone that
is willing to share in the driving as well it would help.

Lyciss, you are too kind. Your name really is lots of red packets but no, you have done so much in spiritual support I am already so grateful and would not feel good asking for any financial help. Usually our temple organizes an event and twenty or more of us get a group rate at hotel. We usually pay $150-200 for our own flight to fly to Vancouver. There we rent a car and drive down to Seattle which is 3 hours. Then 5-10 of us share a room depending on the type of hotel or if it is condomium style with kitchen. Since Grandmaster went into retreat I don't think our temple has organized another trip. I know PTT in Vancouver organizes a group trip to Seattle twice a week because they have their own van. Brenda, maybe in the summer you could fly to Vancouver and I could meet you there because I go to Vancouver lots anyways. I live with my relatives but they are not buddhist so they would not really drive me down to Seattle and I would feel bad if they did. There we could plan a trip with PTT in Vancouver. I wouldn't mind driving from Alberta but my dad would never let me. My whole family said that the roads are dangerous and sometimes you are on the edge of the road and almost fall off a cliff!! Perhaps Lyciss, you could show us around Redmond! I know there is a Takashimaya which has lots of neat stuff and I think its called Bellevue mall. Other than that and the Microsoft headquarters and Seattle downtown I have not seen much places. I would like to see Lake Sammamish!! Maybe go swimming there like GM wrote. What do you think Brenda? Maybe this summer(mid-July).

Celestialmaiden

Correction, PTT organizes a trip once every 2 weeks, not twice a week.

Celestialmaiden.

Sounds great!  

Thank you.

Celestial Maiden, PTT ?

Sounds like our website name for short, but i think you meant another organisation  ???

*LOL*
I didn't realize it until now.
Yes Vancouver has a chapter called PTT Buddhist Society.

Let me tell you about my one and only experience with LIng Shen Ching Tze Temple. A friend and I had driven all night from California, arriving about four am. By the time we found an empty motel room it was almost daylight. There weren't many rooms available because it was a big ceremony. So we went on over to the temple later and it was very very crowded. People everywhere! It was also pouring down rain. (I know..hard to believe that this was happening in Seattle.  :))
By the time of the ceremony, I was soaked through to the skin. I couldn't even get into the temple. I couldn't even find a place to stand on the front porch out by the incense burner.
There wasn't even a place to sit or stand near any of the doors or windows...except one. Only.. the rainspout from the roof was dumping water down in a stream right there. That accounted for noone being there already. I thought to myself, "What the heck! I can't possibly get any wetter!" So I stood there and sure enough I could see Grandmaster Lu very clearly from there. He saw me standing out there getting wet and I either heard him say with his mind (or imagined I did) "Who is this person standing out there in the rain?" I put my hands together and bowed and answered (with my mind), "Nobody." He smiled and nodded, and I thought I heard him answer, "Me too!"
I can explain all this away as lack of sleep, if I choose. I do not choose. What's the harm either way?
A few weeks earlier I had dreamed that Grandmaster touched me right in the middle of my forehead. Just a dream, right?
Then, at that particular empowerment, he painted with his thumb a red mark right in the middle of everyone's forehead.
I thought it was sorta cool...having a red dot, just like a Hindu. :) Next day, we went out to Rainbow Villa, and as several people have noted, it felt like going home. There were only a few Caucasian faces in the crowd...a not unusual situation...but it was one of the most comfortable, beautiful, unforgettable days of my life. I sat with Mimosa and Janny Chou for a while, looking out on those cloud covered mountains, and it was like a time out. Like all the business and stuff back there somewhere didn't count and we were all like kids who loved each other and who had a day off from school. I still love Mimosa, and Janny Chou and all the other folks I have met. I love their hearts. They have good hearts. And they work so hard! Me, I like to take things easy, which is another way of saying I am lazy.

me three!!

Mimosa

Hi, I am from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I would like to visit the temple. Can I stay in the temple?
I remember when GM was here in Malaysia, he did mention somethng like there are rooms available but we will have to bring our own pillows and blanket.

Thank you.

I think that the policy has been changed. I dont think that any layman can stay in the dormority now.

you can double check, but I am quite sure.

MImosa

Thanks Lian Hua Dance for your response. I guess the policy may have changed becos it was quite sometime ago when GM mentioned about it. Last year I was in Vancouver on a tour and its so near to Seattle but due to the 911 incident, I could not get into Seattle by flight, otherwise I would be able to visit the temple with my sister. Now that there is a kinda of strict restriction for Malaysian to visit US, it may be difficult to apply for a visa. (The new ruling was just passed day before yesterday by the US government if I am not mistaken).

Anyway, can anyone tell me why GM has gone into reclusion, all the way to Tahiti!!, some remote island. And from the book he wrote about his experiences there, its kinda of sad, all alone, being attack my mosquitoes and hot weather. He could have chosen a much better island to stay like in Malaysia, we have plenty of remote island but its beautiful and habitable. Pulau Kapas, Pulau Perhentian, Langkawi, Pangkor, etc. When I read about him being alone and having to face the difficulties, it brings tear to my eyes, especially when he has to celebrate his birthday with a piece of bread and candle. I know what loneliness is like. Being there, still there. You may be in a whole world of people, but yet you still feel lonely.

Is there a way to contact GM in his little island? I guess as much they dont have internet there.

Thanks