My first thought was, “Why is there a gate?”

My second thought was, “Why is there a sign saying ‘Beware of Dog’?”

It seemed on the outside to be a somewhat contradictory stance on things. To say in theory that one must not indulge in possessions, and that everything is subject to change, and then in practice lock the temple away and guard it with dogs. You can see the trouble I was having.

But after seeing what was inside, what it was they were keen on protecting, I can’t say that I hold it against them.

Firstly- the gardens. The gardens outside the temple surrounded a large pond filled with various fountains and statues- one of the young Buddha standing, surrounded by nine dragons. Another was of three carp with water streaming out of their mouths to collect in a pattern reminiscent of the triskelion (which was oddly alluring). Little statues of turtles decorated the shore (in the company of one solitary, real life turtle who must have been awfully confused. That or they have some kind of Medusa guarding the grounds at night), and calm, pleasant Buddhist chants echoed from concealed speakers.

The path leading up to the temple entrance was lined with bright flowers, various forms of the Buddha, and statues of Bodhisattvas. In front of every statue were small trays in which to place burning incense. By afternoon, as people came to make offerings of fruit and bushels of incense, the whole place smelled wonderful.

The temple itself is absolutely stunning. But it paled in comparison the the two story tall golden Shakyamuni Buddha that rested inside. The picture does not do this piece of art justice. The size and majesty of it was inspiring.

I found myself wondering why Buddhists would showcase so much expensive art and architecture to honor a man who owned no more than his robes and a bowl, spending his life trying to convince others to do the same. It was all beautiful, to be sure, but it seemed hypocritical to the message of Buddhism.

However, on further reflection I came to think that the majesty of the temple was not a sign of wealth or status. It was not all possessions, strictly speaking. Rather, the temple and statutes were a testament to the greatness of the Buddha’s message, the little bit of Truth which he had discovered. It was a all a big, giant, amazing, incredible ‘Thank You’ to Siddhartha Guatama, and all the Buddhas who came after him. They existed so that we could have the opportunity to remember the virtues and guidelines important in Buddhism, as well as the people who delivered those priceless gems to us.

The meditating course wasn’t so much an instructional session but rather a ‘drop Michael into the middle of a session of formal meditation with no idea what was going on’. The usual instructor was away, so there was no introduction or instruction. Thankfully I had experience, and the practitioners there were very helpful and friendly.

We started with about ten minutes of walking meditation, followed by about fifty minutes of sitting meditation. The sitting meditation was, frankly, excruciating. I have a bit of a problem maintaining proper posture for large periods of time. Next time I should try one of the cushions they provided. I didn’t want to disturb the peace, and the regulations stressed the importance of etiquette and silence. So I suffered in silence. Next time it will not be so.

This was repeated once again, for a total of two hours of meditation in, you guessed it, a beautiful meditation hall. Next was the usual vegetarian Chinese lunch at the temple restaurant for only $10 (one of the Buddhists was kind enough to spot me). Here I got to get to know some of the regulars, chat about Buddhism, and the year of faith. They ranged from teenagers who had practiced for a few months, to men and women who had practiced for years, of almost every ethnicity.

It was quite the experience, easily eclipsing the Shambhala Center. They are having a birthday celebration for a Bodhisattva tomorrow morning, as well a celebration of the Shakyamuni Buddha’s birthday on the 24th. I’m not sure if I can gather the strength to rise myself early enough for those two events, but I will certainly be there again next Saturday.

The whole thing was positively sublime.