City of 10,000 Buddas

We took a short 20 minute drive to Mendocino County to the town of Ukiah, which is haiku spelled backwards.  

 

The City Of Ten Thousand Buddhas is an international Buddhist community and monastery founded by Hsuan Hua, the venerable leader. It is at the former state hospital.

We stopped by the entrance to register and get instructions on where we could go. The monk at the registration is from Tiawan and had been here for 20 years.

 

We walked though the history rooms.

Some of the monks were repainting the buddas that were made by their leader.

Each painting on the temple have different meanings.

 

This male was dancing and shaking his feathers while trying to get close to the female.

These are liberated peacocks.

An incense is placed here before going into the temple for chanting.

A small girl's schools.

A monk saw me looking around and came to visit and explained things to us. She had another monk show us where we could go and listen while they would chant and bow on the kneeling pads after lighting incense.

This drum and bell were played during the chants.

 

Their venerable leader

This statue has many hand for helping.

We could have had a vegetarian lunch while here but when we finished it would still be an hour. We love miso soup but saw a Quiznos in town and have missed eating there since many have closed.

It is a little hard to see the monk's apparel in this picture.

Mike has done all of the cooking for quite some time. I decided to make some quinoa and spilled some on the floor. It didn't seem like much until I started sweeping and vacuuming. It just grew. I thought about sweeping it out the door but was concerned about the birds eating it and their bellies expanding and exploding. Since the Buddhist's are against killing any creatures and we had just left their temple, I kept vacuuming. No we are not shaving our heads and joining up.