Living in Harmony

The oldest Chinese temple in Malaysia is Malacca's Cheng Hoon Teng Temple 青云亭 or Temple of Green Cloud. The temple has been around since the Dutch era, having been founded by the then Chinese Kapitan, Tay Kie Ki @ Tay Hong Yong with materials imported from China. There are several prayer halls there; the main one being dedicated to Guan Yin, the goddess of mercy. One is said to be dedicated to the Buddhist gods of wealth, longevity and propagation; something I do find confusing. Frankly speaking, Buddhism to me, is just about Siddhartha, the Indian prince with his prescriptions of the Five Percepts and Four Noble Truth; but then there's a long list of Gods in the Buddhist pantheon. Confusion aside, Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, a source said, practises the Three Doctrinal Systems of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism; I suppose that means different teachings coexisting in harmony. I rather like the idea of different religions being able to coexist in harmony rather than having people of different faiths raising voices in disagreement over their beliefs, engaging in fistfights or worse still yielding some sort of weapons in some sort of wars to make a point.
























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