Rooftop Orchid Garden At Buddha Tooth Relic Temple Singapore

 I finally visited Buddha Tooth Relic Temple at Chinatown Singapore this Monday. I decided to pray and also to see Buddha's relic at the Sacred Relics museum. Also I wanted to try the vegetarian food at Lian Xin Vegetarian restaurant at basement 1 and explore the rooftop Orchid Garden at level 5. 

The Orchid garden also features ginger plant and various orchids like dancing-lady orchid and also a hybrid bright lime green orchid known as Dendrobium Buddha Tooth. You can read more information from NParks here. There is also a praying wheel at the garden.

At level 3 there is a Buddha museum where you can read the history of Buddha and see Buddha's relics and the tooth relic at level 4. 

I revere the compassionate Buddha and his selfless teaching for 45 years to both humans and heavenly beings on how to end suffering. He also taught us not to accept anything at face value but to question and investigate and relate it to our own experience. May all sentient beings be enlightened and end samsara.  

Namo Buddhaya Amitofo🙏

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple 

https://www.buddhatoothrelictemple.org.sg/

Nearest MRT station: Maxwell MRT station

If you like to look at flowers, you can visit another blog on flowers here https://bloomingflowersnarts.blogspot.com/ 

You can read previous post on the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple first published in 2019 June here. 

There is a Vairocana Buddha prayer wheel at the rooftop garden. 

A serene orchid garden at the rooftop.

Buddhas of the World museum at level 3

Video tour of the garden.Like and subscribe the channel if you like flowers.

                                              Dendrobium Buddha Tooth orchids

                                                        Red Ginger flower 

                                            Dancing-lady orchids

                                                      Orchids

The temple architecture is inspired by Tang dynasty (618 to 907) architecture. 

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Singapore

I finally visited Buddha Tooth Relic Temple at Chinatown Singapore this Monday. I decided to pray and also to see Buddha's relic. Also I wanted to try the vegetarian food at the temple basement 1. To my shock, there were many people eating during lunch time on weekday.

At level 3 there is a Buddha museum where you can read the history of Buddha and see Buddha's relics and the tooth relic at level 4. Some tourists tried to take photo of the relic despite the sign indicating No photography. Some tried to take photo of people meditating at level 4 and they had to be stopped by the security guard.

I revere the compassionate Buddha and his selfless teaching for 45 years to both humans and heavenly beings on how to end suffering. He also taught us not to accept anything at face value but to question and investigate and relate it to our own experience. May all sentient beings be enlightened and end samsara.  

Namo Buddhaya Amitofo🙏

 

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple 

https://www.buddhatoothrelictemple.org.sg/

Nearest MRT station: Maxwell MRT station

Did you know that there is Orchid garden at level 5? I will blog about it on my Blooming Flowers and Arts blog here https://bloomingflowersnarts.blogspot.com/  .

You can read previous post on the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple first published in 2019 June here. 

                       I like the crispy fried spring roll. Quite palatable.

We like this blueberry bun.

Tsz Shan Monastery

Opened in 2019, Hong Kong's Tsz Shan Monastery has a Buddhist art museum where you can see sutras and sculptures. Maybe next year I travel to Hong Kong to visit the art musuem and pray to Kwan Im and Buddha. In 2017, I travelled solo to Hong Kong to pray to the majestic Big Buddha at Tian Tan. I am grateful to Buddha who spent 49 years teaching the path to end suffering selflessly. Next year, I want to spend more time reading Buddhist books and practise Buddha's teaching. 

Tsz Shan Monastery website Click here https://www.tszshan.org/home/new/en/visit.php

                  Tsz Shan Monastery. Image from Li Ka Shing Foundation here

Reaching Spiritual Maturity | Vesak Retreat with Chao Khun Keng | 18 May 2024

 I highly recommend this talk. Another interesting and engaging dhamma talk by Ajahn Keng. 

Another Interesting Sharing by Ajahn Keng

Another interesting dhamma question and answer session by Ajahn Keng. I enjoy listening to his talk as he is humourous and make learning dhamma fun. If you understand Mandarin, I highly recommend you listen to this talk.

The Heart Sutra Lecture 4 :The Five Skandhas

This is Lecture 4 of Heart Sutra from Venerable Guan Cheng from Canada. I find his explanation on the Heart Sutra really good. He asked when is the best season for your mind? It is when there is no obstacles in your mind. What are obstacles? They are mental afflictions like jealousy, greediness, anger, worries and etc. People have to learn how to have no obstacles in their mind. You have to first identify the obstacles, your problems and find methods to resolve it. 

The Heart sutra helps me greatly. For example, most of the problems come from the five skandhas namely form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. For example, there are some people with not so good intentions and will just say unpleasant things. So if I know this person is not so nice, I just treat what they say as 'sound', nothingness with no meaning attached to it and not pay any attention to what that person said and redirect my attention elsewhere like reading. Do not attach to what is said and just let go. Watch the following Heart Sutra Lecture 4 video on the five skandhas. Some people got too attached to what they saw and felt and got addicted to certain websites which create more suffering for them and their families. So be mindful and observe.

There are a total of 28 lecture videos for the Heart Sutra. Basically Buddha taught people to eliminate suffering by becoming conscious of the five skandhas and how it affect you. 

 Experiential thinking has to be introspective. Getting inside your mind to see it. You have to know how you see things, then you looking at the process of seeing things, perception.

Heart Sutra: Perceives clearly that the five skandhas are all empty

All living beings are made of the five skandhas of form, feeling sensation, perception, mental formations and consciousness which accumulate to form the body and they are known as the five aggregates of clinging. The five aggregates arise through causes and conditions, therefore they are illusory and not permanent. Do not be attached to not pleasant feelings and thoughts, and just let go of not helpful thoughts. When we observe he five skandhas are empty,  it doesn't mean it is nothingness. It means we have understood that it is the law of dependent origination and no longer cling to it. Everything is just arising and cessation. 

众生由色、受、想、行、识，积集而成身，故称五蕴。五蕴是通过因缘和合才现前的，所以说他是虚幻的，不是真实存在的。