https://auntyuta.com/?s=Nan+Tien+Temple&submit=Search
When going to the above link, you find some previous blogs of mine about the Nan Tien Temple.
Today we took some time to pay the temple another visit.
This is in the Teahouse where we had some Lotus Tea.
When you chime the bell you are supposed to think with gratitude of your ancestors. I remember when I once walked to the bell in summer, I got very hot. Last Wednesday in the midst of August, I had no problem walking up to the bell. I do love the bell’s sound. It spreads far and wide over the surrounding area.
Happy Easter everyone!
Sydney and surrounds is bathed in beautiful autumn sunshine. We are so lucky that after all this rain during the past few weeks the skies cleared up.
Yesterday, on Easter Saturday, we went to the Nan Tien Temple. We had planned on having a vegetarian lunch in their downstairs Tea Room. The extended car places near the Temple were all taken. It was absolutely amazing how many cars were parked everywhere. We had never seen the place this packed full. It turned out there were celebrations going on for Buddha’s Birthday. However we found out later that the birthday had already been on the 8th of April. Never mind this, more celebrations are planned. The next celebrations are going to be on the Mothers’ Day Weekend.
It was announced on the speaker system that people could register their children between the ages of two and seven. From 12,30 on these children would be given a special birthday celebration party in the courtyard. Everything for free! Later on we saw lots of food- and gift-stalls near the courtyard. We did not get any food there for we had already eaten an excellent lunch in the tea-room.
My choice was first of all some Cappucino.
I had ordered a curry dish with rice which was delicious. Sorry, I forgot to take a photo of of this rice dish. I took some photos of these interesting glass teapots that contained some exotic teas.
We went for a walk further up the hill towards the Gratitude Bell. Peter took a picture of me near this bell. Martin did give the bell a try chiming it. The sound is very pleasant and carries over large parts of the surrounding area.
The wind on that morning was very unpleasant. Lauren did not go for a swim. Peter and I decided too that we would not go into the water.
The previous day, on Good Friday, we had Caroline and Matthew staying with us and also Monika and a lot of her family, including little Lucas.
Caroline did bring some home baked apple and plum cake along, and Krystal and Monika had also baked some cake!
I bought a card with the five Buddhas on it. So this is just a copy of the card. At the back of the card it says:
“Nan Tien Temple is the largest Buddhist Temple in the Southern Hemisphere. It is also known as ‘Southern Paradise’. The Temple has evolved into a harmonious place where the East and West meet and merge. . . . .”
Nan Tien Temple, Berkeley Road, Berkeley, NSW, 2506, Australia, http://www.nantien.org.au
We’ve seen David yesterday. The place where he’s staying is called Nursing Home now. I think previously it was called Age Care Facility. David is still in te same room where we’ve seen him before. He was asleep when we arrived. The first thing he said when he woke up was: ‘I have a Mother’s Day Gift for Mama.’
I was thrilled that he had thought of me. And he had waited since Mothers’ Day for our arrival so he could hand me his gift! He wrote out a Mothers’ Day card for me as well! Well, Mother’s Day had been more than two weeks ago. His birthday was on the 8th of May. On the same day it is also his sister Kathy’s birthday. Kathy is ten years younger than David. His brother Anthony has been appointed David’s guardian. Anthony told him that Kathy was going to visit him soon. She lives a bit further away from Sydney now. David is very much looking forward to his sister’s visit, I think. His friend Steve had also seen him a couple of times already. And of course Anthony would see him on a regular basis.
We were able to sit with David outside in a sunny courtyard. A nursing help ask him whether he’d like to have his lunch outside. David did like it that lunch was brought there. The friendly help wanted to tie a large bib around his neck. But he indicated that he didn’t need it. David ended up not eating very much.
Today we started trimming some of the trees. After about one hour we thought that we had done enough gardening for the day. Tomorrow we are going to do a bit more gardening.
This picture was taken on Sunday, 26th May. We took lots of pictures walking around the grounds of the Nan Tien Temple. The view across to the escarpment was excellent on this crisp, sunny autumn day.
Off and on we heard the sound of a bell. And then we saw this sign pointing to a walkway up the hill. Peter was straight away keen on going up there. He asked me: ‘Can you make it up there?’ I assured him I could. I didn’t regret it that I walked all the way up to the Gratitude Bell. It was a great experience to make the bell sound over the landscape. Heaps of younger people overtook us on the way up and sounded the bell before us. Others were on their way down already. Once we were up there we were soon the only ones left. We hadn’t noticed anyone walking up there a bit closer to our age. Everyone seemed to be a lot younger than we!
Today Peter announced we could go and see David tomorrow. I was so happy that we finally set a date for this visit, that’s been long overdue. Anyhow this leaves Wednesday/Thursday for us to do a bit of gardening. On Friday I’m going to have my friends coming over for our games afternoon. Last Saturday I managed to go to the pool for a bit. I wonder whether I’ll get a chance this week to do a bit of swimming. At the very least I want to fit in a bit of walking again, also the exercise class from 12 to one o’clock on Thursday.
“You’re so vain. You probably think Nan Tien Temple is about you.”
This is the message I just received from wordpress. And they are right, aren’t they? I am so vain that I think Nan Tien Temple is about me! It certainly is. Did you notice the little photo where I am just about to push this thing to make the Gratitude Bell go off? Well, this is about me!
As I did make the bell sound across the landscape I was thinking of my parents and all my ancestors. What a marvellous journey I’ve had to come to this bell on such a beautiful Day as we experienced yesterday.
I find calm and inner peace reflecting on something like this. We found this verse the other day when we were walking with Caroline around the Nan Tien Temple.
We took the following photos after we had a very satisfying vegetarian lunch in the temples downstairs tea-rooms.
—-
Here in Australia the month of June is the beginning of winter. With sunshine during the day the winter can be quite pleasant. However yesterday it was totally overcast and showers were forecast. Early in the morning Peter and I walked up to the newsagent to get the paper for the weekend. I mentioned to Peter I would like to walk a bit in clean fresh mountain air. I suggested to drive up to the highlands. Even if there was no sunshine it would be great to walk for a bit up there. Peter hesitated to agree. Then he came up with a compromise. He suggested to drive up to Wollongong’s Mt Keira. I happily agreed, that yes we could go there for a walk.
One of the tracks up there turned out to be a bit difficult for me. Peter frequently had to help me out along rocky steps. His strong hands gave me support. At one stage he drifted off a bit to take pictures of some wild flowers. I looked around. Suddenly I noticed a huge stick in the bush. It looked like some one had dropped it there for it didn’t seem to fit in the surroundings. I picked it up. It looked to me to be suitable as a walking stick, even though it was a bit long. It was easy to grab. I was very pleased with its very strong white wood. When Peter saw me with it, he wanted to take a picture straight away. Then he said he would like to put it on Facebook.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
When we arrived at the top of Mt Keira we noticed that the restaurant/kiosk up there had changed owners again and was still closed. It didn’t look to us as though it was going to be opened some time soon even though a sign told us it was going to be under new management in mid 2012.
As I said the sky was overcast but it didn’t rain yet. We took some pictures from the lookout. It’s difficult on these photos to make out where the ocean is and where the sky takes over. There were some boats on the water but you can hardly see them in the photo.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
We decided we would negotiate one of the walking tracks to another outlook. When we arrived at this outlook we found out it was closed off because of danger!
We were looking for these sculptures. After a while we actually did find them! How our day progressed, I’m going to show in another blog. I might publish it in a few hours. So, please, look out for it!
AuntyUta 