A Beautiful and Modern Temple in Taipei 水中月， 空中花

After watching a video on this beautiful NungChan temple in Taipei, Beitou, I plan to go to Taipei next year to explore this temple. Perhaps I can just go there and meditate.

水中月（Moon in the water)， 空中花 (flower in the sky)

In Taipei, there is a unique modern temple - Nongchan Temple Shuiyue Dojo. Unlike other traditional temples, there are no overhanging eaves and dougong brackets, let alone heavy colors. They even don't burn incense. What is truly amazing is that the architect Yao Renxi etched the two famous Chinese Buddhist scriptures -- the “Diamond Sutra” and the “Heart Sutra” -- into the external walls of the temple, in order for the Dharma to enlighten everyone in the most natural way.

Can praying to the Buddha or bodhisattva help extend one's life span?

I always enjoy listening to Master Sheng Yen's teaching on Buddhism. I only learned about him last year. Luckily there are many videos of his teaching in Youtube.

Some people do good deeds with the intention to create merit for the sake of themselves as well as for the sake of their descendents. The ultimate merit comes from performing good deeds and not doing evil, while purifying our mind.