One of the first things I noticed about the Temples in Suzhou (and most
of the things in Suzhou) is that many of the sites that people can visit
are cheap or free. The North Temple Pagoda (Beisi Ta in Chinese) is one
of the places that nearly anyone regardless of income would be able to
visit, especially compared to the Temple prices in most of the big
cities like Nanjing, Shanghai and Hangzhou.
At the gate were
tourist busses (every major site has them) and people selling their
wares, as well as some old beggars at the gate. To get there Randy and I
had walked for nearly an hour from the Humble Administrator's Garden.
At the entrance of the Temple just past the gate is a giant fat
laughing Buddha sitting down behind a large stone altar. The Buddha is
made of stone and his face and form is such a joyful way to be greeted
in such a place as this.
The Temple itself isn't all that
large for being a tourist site, which really leaves so much of it's
charm and holiness of the place. In the center of the grounds rises the 9
story Pagoda (was once 11). In the middle of the Pagoda is Guan Yin
draped in a red cape. The darkness adds peacefulness to the place and
the narrow passageway to her is like a baby's entrance to and from the
womb. I did the three bows as the other folks who passed through were
doing and noticed an old couple whose seemed the most present in the act
of worship (compared to some of the younger folks and the few tour
groups).
After that we climbed to the second floor before
descending back down. It was good we didn't go farther up, the walls
have no railings on the way down making it rather dangerous (combined
with the small worn down steps). The Pagoda is ancient dating all the
way back to the 3rd Century, and being rebuilt once more in 1582.
After exciting the Pagoda we entered the Temple grounds where incense
was being burned by couples and individuals. It was here I bought some
incense and burned it for my friend Hien who had died last year. Since
her funeral I've been wanting to visit but have been unable to, so in
China I've wanted to honor her here.
The Three Great Golden
Buddhas rose up as I bowed three times towards them with the incense
that was afire and then placed it upon the sand where the others stood.
In China three is lucky number. Packs of incense are in three, every
Temple usually has three figures at the back.
When I left my heart was full of remembrance and time felt as if it had slowed down as I left the grounds with Randy.
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