Following Buddha Through San Francisco

A BLOCK off Grant Avenue in San Francisco's Chinatown -- beyond the well-worn path tourists take past souvenir shops, restaurants and a dive saloon called the Buddha Bar -- begins a historical tour of a more spiritual nature.

Duck into a nondescript doorway at 125 Waverly Place, ascend five narrow flights and step into the first and oldest Buddhist temple in the United States.

At the Tien Hau Temple, before an intricately carved gilded wooden shrine and ornate Buddha statues, under dozens of paper lanterns, Buddhists in the Chinese tradition still burn pungent incense and leave offerings to the goddess Tien Hau in return for the promise of happiness and a long life.

Established in 1852 by Chinese immigrants who came to California during the Gold Rush and named for a 10th-century provincial woman who protected people at sea, the original temple burned down in the fire set off by the 1906 earthquake but eventually found its new home in this three-block-long alley.

Over the next 150 years, San Francisco would continue to water those early seeds of Buddhism planted in America, as geography, social history and waves of immigrants made it fertile ground for a once esoteric tradition now grown so popular that the Dalai Lama regularly fills football stadiums.

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Comments

[onlyThis]

Right here. Right now. Only this. Everything else is speculation.

[lovingkindness]

"Here" and "now" are concepts, speculations. Seeing one's habit of trying to fit the unbounded into a conceptual ( bounded by definition) framework is a step toward freedom.

As "skillful means" trying to focus on the here and now is a necessary starting point, but this has to be overthrown later, to get to :

"Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone completely beyond.."

Indeed, it is the futility of being unable to ever find "time" and "space" that leads to this fundamental shift.

best wishes to everyone on this board.

[Arithrianos]

i have a subtle disagreement, it is possible to find "time" and "space", but only as dependent arisings, dependent on the flow of karmic energies, just as it is possible to find castles in the clouds, they all exist as concepts. What I discovered about time and space is that they have no independent existance, but only contingent existance, which is what i believe you really meant.

[Jonahson]

Buddhhism doesn't promise you heaven; it doesn't promise you riches nor are you guaranteed of developing special power. It is a lot of hardwork and most of the time you work alone within yourself.
Once a while you may get a good guide but most of the time you have to be independent.. It is a down to earth religion with its roots firmly planted on this earth. In short its founder is not from some divine heaven or a medium of some powerful divine god and what he professed is not divine but pure knowledge from a perfect human being.
The Buddha's teachings just concern our liberation of sufferings. As simple as that.

[Js420]

After 30yrs of believing in holy spirits, god & a jesus with magical powers, i was ready to move on. All you have to do is be a good person, treat others as you would like to be treated.
No churches or institutions asking me for money for their propaganda. Meditation helps calm me down. Heaven is within everyone...

[knowBuddhaU]

KNOCK-KNOCK
(who's there?)
BUDDHA!
(boota? boota who?)
KNOW BUDDHA U!

[MajorKong]

I'm thinking of converting to Buddhism - just because I'm starting to look like him.

[uglicoyote]

I'm assuming this is a comment about an increasing girth. You have inadvertently exposed one of the common myths and misunderstandings that non-Buddhists hold about Buddhism. The fat character you often see depicted in shops or other statues is not The Buddha (Shakayamuni) but probably one of several deities or symbolic characters representative of prosperity or good fortune. One Vietnamese and Chinese version is Jambavuhla or M i Fo, the king of prosperity. Another common image is that of Hotei, often depicted as a laughing monk with arms stretched up over his head as if supporting the heavens.. People often rub his stomach for luck. There are others. That thses figures should represent good fortune is not surprising considering their origin in societies and cultures which have known frequent cyclical famines. Fatness is associated with having an abundance of food. The Buddha is seldom depicted as fat as Buddhism is , after all, "the Middle Way", a path to enlightenment between the extremes of indulgence and asceticism. Perhaps you are starting to resemble Mi Fo.

[lovingkindness]

Buddhism is to be found in one's own mind, independent of any particular geographic location. You can't "Follow Buddha" through tourism. The best one can hope for is to encounter inividuals who may be able to help you reveal your own Buddha nature. A few of those people may dwell, from time to time, at these kinds of religious sites, if you are fortunate, and can recognize them. They may or may not be wearing religious costumes.

Please send healing thoughts to HH the Dalai Lama, who is recovering from surgery.

[UCSD101]

Thank you for a wonderful post.

And my thoughts and prayers go forward and onto the Dalai Lama.