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June 3, 2013

Buddha’s Garden




Know the rules well, so you can break them effectively.





Compassion is the radicalism of our time.





Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.





True change is within; leave the outside as it is.

~ Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama


13 comments:

  1. First off, These photos are beautiful! Very surreal (at least to me).
    Secondly, I know this place! It's the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple. Strangely enough, my daughter used to play in their orchestra. If I remember correctly the name was Buddha's Light Symphony Orchestra. I used to drive her to practices and spent a lot of time wandering around there. It's a huge and beautiful place.

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  2. This is completely nuts, right down to the pink flamingo! I think the Buddha would have a good belly laugh over it. Great choice of editing technique to underline the transition from Zen to Zany.

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  3. I usually don't care for filters but whatever you used in this one, it truly works. It looks like a encaustic painting. And I've passed this place a million times but never entered. I dropped this link off to a friend of mine through FB and suggested it. Anyhow, I have two friends that I connect to that area. One lived in Hacienda Heights further down the road and the other was nearly killed on that road when a guy in a truck ran a stop sigh at high speed.

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  4. Very beautiful and crisp sharp !!!

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  5. You've made me interested enough to go to Wiki: "Hsi Lai Temple (meaning "Coming West") is the largest Buddhist temple in North America.[12][13] The temple encompasses 15 acres (61,000 m2) and a floor area of 102,432 sq ft (9,516.2 m2). The temple's Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 AD) architecture is faithful to the traditional style of buildings, Chinese gardens, and statuary of ancient Chinese monasteries. Hsi Lai was built to serve as a spiritual and cultural center for those interested in learning Buddhism and Chinese culture." Every new thing or reminder I see about Buddhism--such as your great quotations--makes it sound appealing. And wow, do your photos ever make clear its effort to see and show a variety of human mental and spiritual states.

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  6. My favorite quote of Tenzin Gyatso is – “Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.”

    As always, great photos!

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  7. You will not find anything of the kind in Buddhist countries (and that's the fun of this place with its kitsch feel to it), but I love every shot, you photographed it wonderfully! Great job, once more.

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  8. I agree with Pat. It's a surreal scene. I almost expect characters to start dancing around. Great shots!

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  9. At first i thought the last shot would have made more sense as a closeup--within.

    But as i went back i saw that each shot was wider than the last.

    An that it was the unchanging, rumorous world without that was on exhibit.

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  10. Breaking the rules seems to be the norm these days. Maybe my world was narrow when I was younger, but it did seem like the people I was around were the sort to follow rules, if only to keep peace. With many people going here and there it looks like chaos to me now. You picked appropriate words to team with your amazing photos.

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  11. Nice place , and garden , and photos , and quotes..The zen moment of the day , for me..:)

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  12. I came across this quote in the book, The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching, by Thich Nach Hanh, that I think the gardens should post at their entry:

    WARNING: "You cannot photograph the real Buddha, even if you have a very expensive camera."

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  13. These are truly amazing images! Well done with the quote selections, too.

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