Yonghegong Lamasery

Malinda and I about to go into the Lama Temple

((Thanks to Wikipedia  for helping me learn some of the history of The Lama Temple))

The Lama Temple is one of the largest and most important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world. We were fortunate enough to be given another beautiful, blue-skied, Fall day to enjoy the temple yesterday. Building of the temple began in 1694 and it was originally used as a residence for court eunuchs during the Qing Dynasty. In 1722 half of the building was converted into a lamasery while the other half remained an imperial palace. It wasn't until the death of one of the dynasty's emperors that the palace officially became The Lama Temple that we (somewhat) know today.

There are five main halls in the temple: The Hall of the Heavenly Kings, The Hall of Harmony and Peace, The Hall of Everlasting Protection, The Hall of the Wheel of the Law, and The Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happinesses. We weren't technically allowed to take pictures inside of the halls. I understand but it was hard not to be photo-crazy. Inside each of the halls were rows of people kneeling in prayer and burning incense to leave their wish with the gods. People also knelt outside of the halls prior to going in to also pray. Malinda said they are mostly wishing for good things to come their lives. Apparently the larger the smoke from the incense burning, the more likely it is for your wish to come true.

People praying outside of one of the halls

The pot that everyone puts their incense in after their prayer

Each of the halls houses different buddhas. The future Buddha, or Matrieya Buddha, is believed to come to Earth in the future to teach the Dharma  after it seems people will have forgotten it. The Buddha of the future appears three times at the Lama Temple. Once in The Hall of the Heavenly Kings, in The Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happinesses, and again in The Hall of Harmony and Peace. There are also many other buddhas. One being the Bhaisajya-guru, also known as the Medicine Buddha. People pray to the Medicine Buddha to bring them health or their loved ones health.

I am not sure which Buddha this is... But it was the only one I managed to sneak a photo of.

The Lama Temple seemed to bring many Buddhists from around Beijing and China who were wishing for good fortunes. Malinda said she thinks most of them do not actually practice Buddhism but instead maybe their parents do or they simply want to wish for better things. It seems to me that people ask for many things from the different gods. Although I find it interesting it was also a little silly to me. But, hey, most religions do seem silly when you are not a believer. I am happy that we were able to experience a little bit of the religious side of China.

Spinning this is supposed to bring you good things

A bowl similar to a wishing well. There was some money thrown into the pot.

All-in-all we had a great day at the Lama Temple. There aren't many things left on the old Bucket List. We are hoping to do some more exploring next week.

In other news, we only have 40 days until coming home in December. We even made one of those Christmas countdown things to count the number of days left before our return to the states!

Mandarin lesson:
Yōnghé gōng 雍和宫 (Lama Temple) Xīwàng 希望 (wish) Qídǎo 祈祷 (pray)