Nan Tien :a last look

I couldn't resist one last look at these cute little Buddhas in the gardens of Nan Tien temple.

Nan Tien temple: the pilgrim lodge (hotel)

If you feel like lingering longer in the tranquil and beautiful setting of Nan Tien temple, there's a hotel. They host retreats, but also accept casual visitors - as long as you don't want to bring meat, drugs or alcohol on-site.

Rates are quite modest, atarting at $80 a room.

Nan Tien temple: the front

The front of the temple complex - underneath, a lovely tea house, and above, a dining hall, meditation hall, reeception room, front shrine. Visitors are welcome to eat in the dining hall, where a couple of delicious vegetarian selections are cooked every day. The temple complex is built in the Chinese palace style, and some of these views reminded me of photos I've seen of Tibet. Then I read the info below on Wikipedia.

It was built was built using traditional techniques and materials by Chinese craftsmen.

The architecture incorporates the features of several styles of Buddhism. The pagoda is distinctly Chinese, with flying eaves and an angular profile. The main temples incorporates features of Tibetan monastic architecture, with multi-storey painted temple buildings set atop high stone platforms. The courtyards feature Japanese-style gardens, while the statues and shrines often incorporate bright, South-East Asian colour schemes, in contrast to the more sombre and austere styles favoured in China. The halls are carpeted, and pilgrims and visitors are required to remove shoes before entering, a practice more common in India, Korea and Japan than China.

From the Nan Tien website I have learned that:

"Chinese temple architecture has long been influenced by secular building design, especially that of imperial palaces. Structures and colours used throughout Nan Tien perpetuate this tradition. Grandiose roofs, visible from afar, indicate status: The greater the height and slope, the higher the rank. The Main Shrine thus has the most lofty and impressive roof. In dynastic China the colour yellow was used exclusively by the emperor. Hence, terracotta yellow roof tiles are symbols of importance, as are the yellow temple walls. Small mythical creatures lining the roof hips are traditional guardians against fire, a real danger in the days when the entire structure would have been built of wood. While much of Nan Tien's roof framing is largely made of steel, it mimics timber construction with painted end beams extending under the eaves.
Red is another auspicious colour associated with the emperor. It was used to cover imperial columns, beams, and lintels, as is also the case at Nan Tien. Palace balustrades were typically carved white marble; Nan Tien's concrete balustrades are fashioned in a similar manner and painted white. "

Nan Tien Temple: Car park Buddha

This Buddha is visible down the stairs from the pagoda, and provides a point of interest in the car park, which is also landscaped with lovely flowers and shrubs.

Nan Tien temple: Incense

Incense plays a role in many religions. I'm not familiar with the tenets of Buddhism, so I had to look up the meaning of incense in that religion. Apparently, incense symbolises the fragrance of pure moral conduct and reminds us to cultivate good conduct.

Incense use in religious ritual was first widely developed in China, and eventually transmitted to Korea, Japan and Vietnam.

These incense sticks are in a large incense bowl at the entrance to the pagoda. Having read the quote below, it makes sense to me why the aroma of incense would be so strong at the building which is used as a crypt for cremated earthly remains.

One site on Buddhism Studies says:

"Imagine that you are a stick of incense. Someone comes along and light up a matchstick. The person then uses the lighted matchstick and lit you up. Immediately, you are burning away.

As you are burning, your body gives off a lovely fragrant smell. This fragrance spreads through the air and brings joy and happiness to people's heart.

The person then offers you to the Buddha. You are being put into an incense pot. You stand happily in the incense pot because you know that you have an important role to play. Your fragrance symbolises the fragrance of pure moral conduct. And this reminds people to cultivate good conduct. This fragrance spreads in all directions throughout the world.

As you are burning away, you also remind people to try and burn away their bad, unkind or selfish thoughts. They should try to be like you, burning away their selfish acts and bringing fragrance and happiness to the world. Let every breath everyone breath out into the world be full of sweetness and love. Continue to spread your fragrance in all directions."

Nan Tien temple: - mountains and sea

Above: At the top of the steps, with my back to the pagoda (shown yesterday), we look over Mount Kembla. Apparently the site for the temple was chosen because of its location between mountains and sea. Mount Kembla is said to have an auspicious resemblance to a recumbent lion.

Mt Kembla forms part of the Illawarra escarpment, itself part of the eastern part of Australia's Great Dividing Range. Here it comes extremely close to the sea. When Captain Cook saw it as he sailed along Australia's east coast in 1770, he noted it as 'a round hill', its top resembling a hat.

Kembla is an Aboriginal word meaning "wild game abundant" or "plenty of game". The Aborigines called the area "jum-bullah" or "Djembla" which means a wallaby. Mount Kembla has been described as a "sub-tropical belt of rainforest " which "housed a variety of game life which provided an abundant food supply". Meat is banned in the precincts of the temple; Buddhists are vegetarian.

Left: There is no escaping the fact that Wollongong is a major industrial city, most famous for its steel works in the suburb of Port Kembla. I took the photo looking towards the sea and Port Kembla from the first platform of the pagoda.

Nan Tien Temple: the Pagoda (Skywatch Friday)

On a recent visit to Nan Tien temple in the Wollongong suburb of Berkeley, the sun was shining and autumn colour was abundant.

Nan Tien means "Southern Heaven Temple". It is one of the branch temples of Fo Guang Shan, founded in 1967 in Taiwan. There are over 120 branches worldwide. To see more of the temple, look back over the past few days' blogs.

The temples's website tells us: "Pagoda has its origin from the Indian stupa, an ancient type of building used to store sutras and sacred relics of the Buddha. With the spread of Buddhism to China, Chinese architectural elements from gate towers and various wooden structures were gradually incorporated into pagoda design. The seven-tiered style of Nan Tien's Pagoda reflects a similar convention of the T'ang Dynasty (A.D. 618-906). Its tapering design reaching to the sky is synonymous with the idea of practicing Buddhism step-by-step which eventually led to supreme enlightenment.

Nan Tien's Pagoda is a resting place for the cremated ashes of devotees and their relatives; it can accommodate the remains of over 7,000 people. Inside the Pagoda is a wishing bell, visitors may make a wish and sound the bell."

To check out skies around the world, click here.

Nan Tien Temple: The Lotus Pond

From the Nan Tien website:

"Lotus - whether shown as a developing bud, in full bloom, with or without a stem - is one of the most complex and prominent Buddhist symbols of purity and enlightenment. From the swampy depths it grows into an exquisite and fragrant flower. Likewise, people can emerge from ignorance, become pure, and blossom into enlightenment. The lotus is also a cosmic flower, representative of the supramundane. Lotus imagery abounds throughout Nan Tien Temple. Most of the Buddha and Bodhisattva figures are on lotus thrones."

Nan Tien Tenple : the little Buddha statues

In the gardens around the temple and pagoda were lots of these little Buddha statuettes. They seemed to emphasise the virtues of physical exercise, mental exercise, rest, work and prayer.

Gathering support

Some Falun Gong practiotioners were out and about garnering support from the Catholic World Youth Day participants recently. With some success as you can see above!

Vocation

Despite being a practising curmudgeon and confirmed heathen, I thought I'd wander over to the Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre and check out the Catholic Youth Day vocational expo and see if there was anything there to be learned. I found out from one stall that :

I'm pretty sure that this myriad of exhibitors and representatives of every branch of Catholicism you could imagine, are hoping that some will heed the call.


Not all exhibitors had entirely smooth sailing, however, if this newspaper report is anything to go by:

Accused priest had job at stall
by Dylan Welch and Jane Gibson
Sydney Morning Herald
July 19-20 2008

"A Catholic priest who allegedly took photographs of naked schoolboys when he was a Brisbane high school teacher more than two decades ago has been caught working for World Youth Day.

The priest was accused by three of his pupils at Villanova College of taking the photographs of them 25 years ago. Last night the Seven Network reported that the priest had been working at an Augustinian stall at the youth day's vocational expo, setting up an audio-visual display. Organisers said they did not perform background checks on everyone working at the event, and were not aware of the priest's background.

Members of the Augustinian order said they had kept the priest under close supervision during his time at the stall. Once his background became public, he was removed."

Death takes a holiday*

Above: the label says this is a hat worn by Pier Giorgio in a photo of him on a bus in Berlin.

One of the official visitors to Sydney for Catholic World Youth Day is Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati of Torino in Italy. Not that he is seeing very much, and jetlag wasn't a problem; he has been dead since 1925.

This is the first time he has been taken to a World Youth Day. I am not sure exactly why he has made the journey to Sydney, but I suppose it is because he was a young and fervently enthusiastic Catholic, chosen as a role model for young Catholics today? One website devoted to him describes him as the saint for the youth of the third millennium.

Frassati died of polio in 1925 at the age of 24. His father Alfredo was the founder editor of the main Turin daily newspaper, La Stampa, and later an ambassador and senator.
Pier Giorgio was an engineering student who, despite his privileged background, championed and aided the underprivileged. He was a fervent, joyous Catholic, handsome and athletic, who was a keen mountaineer, seeing the sport as an embodiment of his aspiration to higher things.

In 1990 he was beatified by Pope John Paul II. Beatification is the stage before sainthood (a second miracle is required for sainthood; there is an Australian nun, Mary MacKillop who has been beatified and claims of her second miracle are being assessed by the people at the Vatican who do these things. )

Pier Giorgio's body was exhumed at the time of beatification, and his coffin opened. His relatives say his body was intact. The coffin has remained closed in Sydney.

"The day of my death will be the finest day of my life." - Pier Giorgio

To my mind, if you're going to trot a dead'un half way round the world and worship at his coffin, then do it properly. Here's Santa Zita in Lucca - she's 736 years dead, and looking pretty good.

This newspaper article says: "He was propelled on his fast track to sainthood by a vigorous campaign by his sister, Luciana, who wrote several books about him before her death last year (2007) at the age of 105.
Pier Giorgio was recognised as Blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1990. He had been the same kind of strapping, mountaineering, fervent Catholic as John Paul.
And it was no harm to his cause that Luciana had married a Polish diplomat and, during World War II, made risky journeys to Poland to help the anti-Nazi resistance."

Waiting for God....oh...*

I had intended to go up Sydney Tower today and get some aerial shots of crowds following the pope's progress as he "officially" arrived in Sydney (He's been here since Sunday). Unfortunately, there was a wait of at least an hour and a half to get to the top. Lots of young Catholics had the same idea! So, I wandered through Hyde Park, looking for some photo ops, and ended up right at the fence opposite St Mary's Cathedral. The crowd was one deep, so I then decided I would call this post "I did but see him passing by..." and wait with the faithful, as a faithful Sydney blogger, to witness his arrival. After all, there really was only one event in Sydney today.

Here's a pic I took of myself. Waiting.

Here's a pic of the excited (?) crowd.
And here's a pic of the cathedral, with Apollo seeming to be pointing towards it. The side door we were facing is under that middle tower:
It wasn't too long before the masses started to realise that in a triumph of unfortunate planning, il papa was going to arrive in the dark. Maybe it should have happened an hour earlier? Had someone forgotten that it's dark at about 5pm in Sydney in winter? Mutterings began about whether mobile phone cameras would be up to the job of snapping the pontiff as he drove slowly past in the Popemobile. I busied myself trying out various settings on the camera, taking and deleting pics furiously as I tried to decide which setting might cope with both darkness and a slow-moving vehicle. I phoned home to ask someone to turn on the TV and check where he was.

A ripple of laughter went around the crowd (which was getting a bit antsy) as one wag commented that this probably wasn't the popemobile.
Then the helicopters overhead increased in number (about 5) and proximity, one even coming quite low. And a group of cars whizzed past at high speed at the end of the road. I THINK the blurry streak of light you can possibly see behind the telegraph pole was perhaps the popemobile. Or part of his entourage. Someone said it was anyway, so I clicked off a snap.
We waited for the motorcade to round the corner, do a loop around the cathedral and come past us. A group of "official" pilgrims stood on the cathedral steps facing us and waited - at least people around me said they were the official pilgrims' greeting party.

Then a big burly cop with lots of stars on his shoulders came past and said "That's it folks, he's not coming round this way!" Some people thought he was joking and started to laugh. But big burly cops with lots of stars on their shoulders don't joke about these things.

The crowd was left to disperse.

As I was standing right near the merchandising tent, I had to go past the entrance to leave the park. There was a huge queue of people waiting to get inside. It was crammed full so they were only letting a few in at a time. I spoke to a couple at the head of the queue. I asked if they were seeking solace in retail therapy, and it appeared they were...

Moral: Next time, look more closely at the official route map.

* with apologies to Samuel Beckett

God and Mammon - Catholic World Youth Day souvenirs

Once upon a time, the churches opposed retail trading on Sundays. Once upon a time, Mammon was regarded as a false god.

Times change and every large event needs its official merchandising arm.

The merchandising tent in Hyde Park associated with Catholic World Youth Day was doing roaring business on Sunday- everything from national flags, to Benedict XVI baseball caps, t-shirts, hoodies, and not to forget Aussie flag boxer shorts and thongs, and ugg boots.

Screens were set up inside the shop showing Guy Sebastian, a former Australian Idol winner performing his WYD anthem. Sony his music distributor is flogging his latest CD (Nashville songs) as well as the anthem. Sebastian is a member of Protestant Pentecostalist sect, Hillsong.

One Catholic group is protesting against the merchandise. Click here for full story.

"Alan Hockey and Michael Gravener - who help run the Share the Meal charitable group at St Vincent's Catholic Church in Redfern - said yesterday that they wanted to voice their protest against the commercialisation of World Youth Day.
Mr Gravener inspected official "I Love Jesus" T-shirts while wearing an orange T-shirt he had bought online, saying: "Where is Jesus in WYD08?"
"This is actually one of the first times I've actually seen Jesus mentioned in the whole promotion of the event," he said.
Mr Hockey said he would not buy any of the official merchandise."They're selling Guy Sebastian CDs but no one has stopped to ask what he actually practises. He's not Catholic - he's from the Hillsong Church and there's a big difference. We're Catholic and we will protest against anything that doesn't put Jesus at the centre of the faith." "

Happy Birthday! St Matthew's Anglican Church, Windsor

St Matthew's Church at Windsor is the oldest Anglican Church in Australia and the second oldest of any denomination. It is widely acknowledged as one of the best works of the great convict architect, Francis Greenway. Built by convicts between 1817-1820, the site was chosen by Governor Lachlan Macquarie. Macquarie laid the foundation stone 11 October, 1817 - 190 years ago today.


An interesting feature of the interior is a Crying Room. Mum tells me many theatres and cinemas used to have them - a place parents could retreat to if their babies started crying and still watch the movie. I've never seen one in a church. This one was built in 1957. See here for more about St Matthew's.

St Peters Anglican Church, Campbelltown

A closer view of the church in the background of yesterday's photo.

St Peter’s Church is the oldest building in Campbelltown and the third oldest Anglican Church in Australia. It opened for worship on 29th June, 1823.

It was designed and supervised by Frank Lawless, a foreman bricklayer. He seems to have copied the style of the great convict architect Francis Greenway. The style is Georgian (1702-1830)

The pendulum clock was made by Johnsons in London in 1838 (and certainly wasn't shoing the correct time! I was there about 2.30pm)

Campbelltown

Campbelltown, now a suburb/district captured as part of greater Sydney, is 50 kms southwest of the city centre. The Tharawal Aboriginal people lived here for 40 000 people. In On 1 December 1820 Campbelltown was named and founded by Governor Lachlan Macquarie. His wife, Elizabeth's family name was Campbell.

In the decades following World War II Campbelltown gradually change from a town, surrounded by rural land to a suburb of Sydney, with the development of new suburbs along the rail line towards Campbelltown.

This sculpture in Mawson park is of Mrs Elizabeth Macquarie. It was unveiled on 5 August 2006. The sculptor is renowned artist Tom Bass.

Bass’s statue depicts Elizabeth Macquarie with a sunbonnet, apron and watering can, and surrounded by a bed of irises. Bass gained inspiration for the statue from local historical reports, which said Mrs Macquarie was known to have given bunches of irises to local settlers when accompanying her husband on his official visits. I'm glad I was there today in Iris blooming season!

The Anglican church in the background, St Peters, dates from 1823.

Auburn Gallioli Mosque

Auburn is the centre of Sydney's Turkish community. The Gallipoli Mosque was largely built and funded by the Turkish community; about 50% of the worshippers there are of Turkish background.

Omer Kirazoglu is the architect of the mosque, which is designed in the Classical Ottoman Style of Architecture characterised by a central dome and minarets. The builder for the mosque was Ahmet Asim who donated much of his time. The name of the mosque - Auburn Gallipoli Mosque - reflects the shared legacy of the Australian society and the main community behind the construction of the mosque, Australian Turkish Muslim Community.

Malek Fahd Islamic College, Greenacre

Sydney is home to a number of mosques and about 12 Islamic schools. The largest Islamic school in Sydney is Malek Fahd, established in 1989 with a $12 million gift from the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia.

While the topic is hotly debated in other countries, all religious schools in Australia receive federal and state government funding, be they Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Buddhist, Hindu, Scientologist, Exclusive Brethren, Mormon, fundamentalist Christian, Baptist, Sunni, Shi'ite, Wahabi. . . to start receiving funding you have to have the grand total of one student enrolled.

Malek Fahd at Greenacre received $ 8,560,571 from the Australian governmment and $ 3,560,571 from the NSW government in financial year 2005-06. That amount goes up every year. This school is categoriosed as one of the poorest in Australia, receiving the highest grants from Australian governments. How private schools are funded in Australia.

Malek Fahd is academically selective, and students not achieving a certain academic level are asked to leave.

How to recycle a cinema: Panania

St Christopher's Roman Catholic church at Panania used to be an art deco (1930s) cinema, The Panania Star (thanks Jill!) . It's one of the oldest buildings in this quiet Sydney suburb.

What else is there to say about Panania? Well, cricketing twins Steve and Mark Waugh were Panania boys who attended Panania Public School; and actor Bryan Brown hails from here. The nearby Revesby Workers' Club has held a Bryan Brown Film Festival (now called the Reel Deal Film Festival, with Brown as patron). It also provides a $5000 film study scholarship called the Bryan Brown Film Scholarship - so budding film-makers, get the details here!

If you've never heard of Bryan Brown - here he is. In this article, Bryan said: "When I was growing up, no one ever thought about being an actor," he said. "I went to Panania Pictures and it was Tarzan or westerns or Rin Tin Tin."

And if you haven't heard of Mark and Steve Waugh, then you are from a non-cricket country; otherwise you've been under a log for a few decades! (Waugh fans - click on that link - it's great! I'm a fan - my son was coached tennis by their dad at one time. ) . Haven't got a quote from the Waughs about whether they frequented the Panania Star as well.

I'm off to Milperra now, home of another Australian sporting great. . . see you tomorrow.