Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre, Canberra

Di Lac Phat (Maitreya Buddha), Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre, Lyneham, Canberra

I was in Canberra last week and dropped by the Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre, Canberra's largest Buddhist temple (and getting bigger). The abbott there is the Venerable Thich Quang Ba, one of Australia's senior Buddhist monastics, and a revered figure in the overseas Vietnamese community. Thich Quang Ba hails from Binh Dinh province in Central Vietnam, a place I write about a lot in my book about Vietnam, Destination Saigon.




If you ever travel to Vietnam, Binh Dinh is well worth visiting - well off the usual tourist track, it is a beautiful little spot, and filled with a rich religious history.

Quan The Am (Bodhisattva of Compassion), Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre, Canberra

Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre was established in Canberra in the early 80s, and at the moment is undergoing extensive renovation and re-building. When it's all finished it will look amazing. But just at the moment it is a building site and that's about it.

Model of Chua Mot Cot (One Pillar Pagoda), Kwan Yin Pond, Sakyamuni Buddhist Centre

Kwan Yin Lotus, Mingyue Buddhist Temple, Bonnyrigg

You know I am fascinated by the miscellaneous things that get left at Buddhist temples - statues, books, CDs etc. Many of these items are associated with the worship of Kwan Yin, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy - she is easily the most popular figure of devotion in Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhism.
Last week when I was at Mingyue Buddhist Temple in Bonnyrigg I saw this beautiful origami lotus made from gold paper featuring images of Kwan Yin.
I've never come across one of these before - I'm assuming they are made for offering on shrines, though this one was plonked unceremoniously on top of the free books shelf in the main hall. I desperately wanted to have it, but I was too shy to ask, considering it was the only one there.
But isn't it pretty?

Quan The Am Bo Tat

One of the most common objects of popular devotion in Vietnam is this woman – Quan The Am, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy.



In the West she is more commonly known by her Chinese name, Kwan Yin. Shrines to her are to be found everywhere in Vietnam, in people’s houses, on streetsides, in temples.



She embodies the qualities of compassion and unconditional love. Vietnam’s culture has a great reverence for the mother, and people indulge in a great deal of devotion directed toward this idea of the Divine Mother – one of her appellations is Me Hien, the Gentle Mother.



I love this idea of the sacred feminine, and it is one of the aspects of Vietnamese spirituality that draws me constantly back.



I grew up a Protestant boy in rural North Queensland, and reverence for the Holy Mother was not something I had ever encountered in my past.

Two Qualities - Hope and Compassion

I love this photograph, which was taken at my friend's temple in Binh Dinh.
Quan The Am (Kwan Yin), the Bodhisattva of Compassion, stands on the lower terrace, and Di Lac Phat, the Buddha of the Future, stands on the upper terrace above her.
For me it represents two important qualities, qualities which my friends in Vietnam always seem to embody: Compassion and Hope.
Quan Am is the Gentle Mother, the Hearer of the Cries of the World - she can always be turned to in moments of frustration, of betrayal, of confused feelings and pain.
Above her is Di Lac (Maitreya), fat and laughing, representative of a hopeful future, a time of plenty. He always stands in a prominent place in Vietnamese temples, reminding us to retain our own lightness and sense of fun in the face of the often considerable sufferings of this world.