Nine Buddas

Discussion in 'Religion, Beliefs and Spirituality' started by GGrass, Dec 15, 2009.

  1. I took a break from my work and drove outside to have lunch. On my way back, I passed this very old temple.

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    So I stop and enter.

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    And this fan and a line of Buddas greet me.

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    Inside I find this.

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    Bells. Whenever I see bells, I think of the 'mind of the person who rings the bell'.
    What goes through the mind of a person, who rings such bells? What is he thinking?

    What would I be thinking if I were to ring those bells? How will it sound? What kind of sound will I be making?

    WHAT DOES A PERSON WHO RINGS A BELL THINK ABOUT?

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    There's a Budda looking at me.

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    What's that?!

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    Another Budda, hidden in the shadow. Looking at me.

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    This one, also looking at me.

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    And this one.

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    Thos one under the tree.

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    And behind the stairs.

    And I'm thinking,

    "How many Buddas are looking at me right now?"

    So I started to count them. And I counted 6.

    And I turned around and I saw this.

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    And I noticed this.

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    The tiles. Look. Somebody's looking at me.

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    It's pretty amazing, this old temple... I have no idea when it was built, or who built it... I wanted to ask one of the monks, but I didn't, because my interest changed from 'When and Who built it?' to 'Why?'.

    Why would anyone build a temple right here?

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    To worship Budda.

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    To give the people something to believe in.

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    To give me a place to sit my stoned ass down, and be looked upon by nine Buddas.

    Yes. There were nine Buddas.
     
  2. That's a cool place man. There's no dope shit like that around here to just go and chill and be peaceful at..
     
  3. You think it's cool? I'm glad...

    Yes... It is a very cool place... to be stoned at... But you gotta watch out for dog shit and cow shit... it's all over the place.
     
  4. [quote name='GGrass']
    WHAT DOES A PERSON WHO RINGS A BELL THINK ABOUT?

    ---lol that cracked me up, you're funny.


    There's a Budda looking at me.

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    What's that?!

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    Another Budda, hidden in the shadow. Looking at me.


    --You can't trick us, this is the same one as the pic above it!!
    Awesome post btw - entertaining, and thank you for sharing the photos!

     
  5. I counted those two picture as ONE. The first one, I took with little exposure and I only got the two white eyes. Kinda creep, don't you think? I increased the exposure on the second picture...

    The bell......

    There's something mystic about bells. How does one ring a bell? What's the proper way to ring a bell?

    I gave it a long and hard thought, and I think the most proper way to ring a bell ist to empty your mind, and be in tune with the bell.

    Gong~~~~~~~

    You're welcome and thanks for viewing it!
     
  6. Has anyone rung (?) one of those bells at temples?

    It's not easy to make that ringing sound...

    You hit the bell with a wooden pole, and you really have to hit it well, to get that resonating GONG~~~ sound, that's not cracking or off tune.

    There's certain force you have to use... hit at the certain speed... at certain place... and in certain way...

    You can't know what that perfect 'certain speed' or 'certain force' or 'certain place' is... you have to hit it many many times to get the 'hang' of it.

    And when you ring the bell, you have to be really patient and calm... You can't be hitting it like crazy... you hit one after another, and the interval between the hits may be as long as couple of minutes.

    You want the first ring to disappear into... thin air... and then hit the next one... or if you're going to hit twice in a row, you gotta hit it in that perfect interval which harmonizes the two rings, not destroy each other...
     
  7. I love how you explore the notion of putting thought into ringing a bell. I would tend to lean towards the opposite, and the dude hates ringing that bell but his authority figure won't let him. Maybe the guy doesn't even believe in ringing the bell but its a part of his culture, like me shaking your hand if i ever met you. I don't know why im shaking your hand, and I don't really want to touch you, but i stroll through life doing weird behaviors because everyone else does them. But I like your view better :)

    What do you think the bell-ringing man thinks about?
     
  8. They say a bell reflects the mind of the person who rings it.
     
  9. I think the bell-ringing man is thinking about ringing a bell...
     
  10. You see, ultimately, there is ONLY ONE perfect thing to do at a given moment, for a given job, and for a person who rings the bell, the perfect thing to do is to ring the bell.

    Therefore, the perfect thing to think about when ringing the bell, is about ringing the bell...

    BUT

    An ordinary person who rings the bell... does not think about ringing the bell when he's ringing the bell... he's thinking about his wife... his job... himself...

    He's thinking,

    "It's my job to ring the bell, so here I am, ringing the bell."

    He's thinking,

    "Oh, it's time to ring the bell, so I better ring the bell."

    He's thinking all sorts of things, EXCEPT

    Ringing the bell...
     
  11. I was at this temple, ringing the bell...

    And I got to a point, where I'm REALLY concentrating to hit the bell with a PERFECT strike, so that the sound will be most pleasant.

    And to do that, it took a LOT of effort... I was sweating and I was breathing heavily... I don't have to tell you I'm totally stoned while I'm doing all this...

    I see people come to temple and ring bells.

    It's supposed to be a symbol of some kind, may be for good luck.

    But I see NOBODY giving any thought before hitting it. They just come and grab the wooden pole and hit the crap out of the bell!! So... ignorant...

    The sound they make is nothing but a ringing of metal.

    Which makes me recall one of the verse in the Bible about... Love... faith... hope... amongst which love is the greatest. Something like that...
     
  12. funny ass post. i can tell you've probably been blazed throughout this hwole thread haha, very entertaining
     
  13. Really awesome post. You could easily make this into a photographic essay.
     
  14. Where the hell is this temple? It looks really cool!
     
  15. You're right. I was very much 'blazed' through out the whole thing... from visiting the place, taking pictures, coming back to my office, upload it, and write this post...

    I'm glad to have entertained you. :)
     
  16. Thanks!
     
  17. In a place called 'Nakornchaisri', Thailand.

    Thailand is a Buddist country so there are LOTS of Buddist temples. Just around this one, there are at least 10 more within the walking distance.
     
  18. This thread is pure WIN! I love your photoessay! I presume it's a Theravada Buddhist temple?

    The stuff about ringing the bell is very thought-provoking, too. LOVE IT! Thanks for posting this, you totally made my day!
     
  19. Wow... thanks for the compliment! Really... I'm glad you liked it! ;)
     
  20. dude, where do you live? o.o(not specifics of course)

    thats amazing
     

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