I remember someone's comment on Penang's famous Kek Lok Si (极乐寺). When the Buddhist temple was first constructed in 1890, the temple was bestowed a tablet and gift of 70,000 volumes of the Imperial Edition of the Buddhist Sutras by Emperor Guangxu. The temple has grown from strength to strength partly due to the generous
donations from the local Chinese community. Once, there was a huge white plaster Kuan Yin statue here and when that was damaged by a fire, a bronze more elegant Kuan Yin sheltered by a pavilion with 16 carved dragon pillars was built to replace it. Chinese New Year celebrations certainly is a big affair here. The temple will be lit up with thousands of lights and would be open until late at
night for the 30 days following Chinese New Year. During this time and other times too, donations will be collected. Donors can pay a certain sum of money to buy a tile or a brick for the temple etc. It makes one wonder if the Buddhadharma is less important. There is a monk somewhere who is of the opinion that it is more important to share the Buddhadharma. Some temples, he said, seems to be concerned with raising money which he said, is tantamount to selling the Buddhadharma. People may start to lose respect and the Buddhadharma may degenerate. Already, the someone I know, said he had qualms about donating to the Kek Lok Si temple as he said that the monks there drive big cars. Buddhadharma, by the way, is the term used to denote the teaching of the Buddha.
Kek Lok Si celebrating Chinese New Year...
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