~~~~An aside from my story as I expound my thoughts on Taoism. Now this whole Goddess of Mercy thing... Curiously, I've always had a statue in my house since I can remember. But what do i know about her? Nothing! People who pray to her claim to be Buddhists. While the traditional rites associated with offerings, altars, observing vegetarian days, etc etc are very much Taoist. So Buddhist? Taoist? I think particularly in Malaysia we've developed a hybrid of them both. Where you just 'follow what your parents did' and the lines between Taoist tradition and Buddhist religion became very much blurred indeed. Buddhism for me, though, is a belief in yourself and not in a higher power, so to me (if i understand correctly), Goddess of Mercy = Taoist; Belief in self = Buddhist. Okay, carry on now~~~
So, no cable car ride up Penang hill but we did stop by the foothills where there was *cue cheesy Batman music here* the Bat Cave Temple!!
Right, there were maybe 40 bats in this low 'cave' (dark room that may have once been a cave) behind a temple that had the mandatory altar and little pools by the side with STATUES of tortoises. The patrons of the temple were pouring water on the tortoise statues' backs, either bemused young children fascinated by tortoises or worn-looking adults, praying for luck, fortune or health. [Is it just me or is it really sad that not only is there an artificial bat cave there but they don't even have real tortoises anymore. *sigh* All the old-worldly charm sort of dissipated...]
The other temple we visited was the Goddess of Mercy (Kuan Yin) temple and merciful as the goddess may be, her embodiment on earth was much more lavish and capitalistic than she may have desired.
As we stepped into the temple hall itself, a quarter of the space was taken up by a makeshift shop selling paper money, incense, candles, CDs with recorded chants and goodness knows what other matter of tacky 'religious articles'.
Right outside the hall, one could pay a fee to donate a roof tile to the construction of a new wing of the temple. Your name of course inscribed on the tile so your kind donation would be forever remembered.
The statues of Chinese zodiac animals that lined the path into the temple looked innocent enough - little children clambering on them and posing for photos. And then the realisation that each animal had a coinbank-like slot. Of course the animals would only favour those that provided for them in some manner.
And I haven't even come to the matter of the gift shop right next to the parking lot. A gift shop? With mugs, fans, tacky handmade items from Thailand and Indonesia, animals made of coconut husks, childrens' toys from some rundown factory in China, cutlery, table mats, jewellery, keychains... The array of mind-bogglingly unreligious items was enough to drive you crazy!
So off we ran into the car, glad to escape this hub of commercialism when a sign greeted us at the exit:
We are currently building the largest bronze statue of the Goddess of
Mercy. One of its kind and of unique architecture. Support our efforts by
donating generously to the temple.
A quick dash down the slope as it dawned upon me that Chinese may be Buddhist, Taoist, Christian or even Muslim... But as far as I have been able to observe, To be Chinese is to be Capitalistic. To be Capitalistic, is to squeeeeeze money out of ANYONE at ANY CHANCE POSSIBLE (be it under the guise of religion or community)
*sigh* and still the search for an acceptable devotion continues....
7 comments:
Hi Jeannie
With regards to Buddhist worship. What I have observed is that Buddhists are as inclined to worship as anyone else. Kuan Yin is suppose to be the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara after all. Perhaps they might described it differently as paying homage instead of worship but it is very similar. Same with the rituals and offering. You would be right about the line being blurred since Taoism, Buddhism and Confucian traditions are very much mixed in Chinese culture.
With regards to Buddhism not believing in a higher power, the supernatural bent of the religion cannot be denied (Karma, reincarnation and the concept of 'enlightenment' are strong examples). I think according to legend, the Buddha was pretty much ordained to become a savior of sorts.
I also think you might be using 'Taoism' in the loose sense of Chinese traditional religion, but if you are interested in the more philosophical/ spiritual side of it, you may wish to read Tao Te Ching or the I Ching (my personal favorite). The concepts there do speak to me personally.
As for the turtles being gone, I am happy for them, they were absolutely brewing in the pond before with no means of escape, definely not healthy. They were practically covered in mosses and fungi the last time I saw them. Poor things.
Regarding Chinese capitalism and exploitation, no kidding, this is true. =P
Hey Chin Yee,
So so glad that someone took me up on my musings. It's no fun arguing with myself.
I guess i'm a bit biased while talking about Buddhism. I haven't scrutinised it quite as much, admittedly. You're right about worshipping although I personally believe that that's not what the whole point was.
My understanding is that the Buddha is just someone to aspire to become - like you would admire anyone else you think is worthy of replicating. Therefore not so much Godlike in that the Buddha cannot grant you special favours. Therefore to me the onus is still very much on yourself to do good for goodness' sake and not to please a higher power or to avoid condemnation. (as for all those dewas and demons - i think that's the blurred with Taoism part of Buddhism)
I will definitely move on towards reading up Taoism and will ask you when I encounter hiccups along the way!
(and now kind of relieved i didn't see fungi-covered turtles. *phew*)
Hi Jeannie,
I think your view is that Buddha is just someone who you or other people should aspire to be, and not in any sense religious or worshipful. This is ignoring the fact that the religion preaches the fact that the Buddha was essentially enlightened and free from ignorance. I am not sure what definition of ignorance they are using but its definitely not the usual one of lack of knowledge. I don't think anyone could claim to know the whole world 100%, there's just so much complexity to fit in our little heads and more things to learn than ever will be done.
In this respect, you must have 'faith', the believe in that the Buddha knows what he's talking about, and that there's such a thing as being Enlightened (with a capital E :p). This is pretty much religious. Not to mention the whole concept of him and the monks being holy and deserving of veneration. (His Holiness the Dalai Lama/ Venerable etc.) Now to be fair, I am not saying they have nothing to teach, but to claim that they know the solutions to the world problems is just well.. ignorant =P
Moreover, you seems to have a conception that there is pure Buddhism that is 'untainted' by Taoism. The fact is that dewas and demons are concept which exist in the original Buddhist cosmology. In fact, the very word 'deva' reveal to you that it is very much Indian/Hindu mythological concepts from the beginning, of heavenly spirits and 'yaksha' corrupted demons, garudas, naga, kinaris and a whole plethora of supernatural beings. The fact is that Buddhism as a whole is very much supernatural even before it encounter Chinese beliefs. Now I am not gonna argue that Taoism is free from claims of divinity and such, and there are plenty of unscientific beliefs under its umbrella of associated magical concepts like Chi, Feng Shui or other claims of super powers.
More over, the essential tenet and preoccupation of Buddhism is its obsession with suffering. (See the 4 Noble Truth). Essentially a view that life sucks because we desire things. Along with one of the most unsavory part of the concept of Karma, is that it encourage the perspective that people in good/bad situation somehow deserve their circumstances. A victim blaming mentality. This weakness of spirit is the essence that Buddhist kings can justify their divine right to rule, and the populace to continue and accept the corruptions that the elites, and not working towards to fixing it, essentially a form of acceptance of the Hindu caste system.
Now I am not saying that they have nothing to teach us as we can learn from everyone, and to be fair having a restraint and better control of your mind does help you handle life's situations. However, I think some criticism of the Buddhist institution is probably not unwarranted.
I would go into the details of why my world views are much closer to the principles of Taoism but lets leave that discussion for next time =)
You make a lot of good points that I will acknowledge i try to brush over. I guess the thing about professing a faith is that you feel a bit more free to take liberties with its interpretation. Whereas when I was trying to interpret other religions, i was much more careful so as to not convey the wrong message.
It's clear to me that I need to put a lot more work into Buddhism and Taoism before I can make broad claims like i did!
And most definitely i did just bundle Taoism together with Chinese tradition. They are not one and the same? Where do we get all these silly rituals from?
Regarding the Dewas and demons - i still would like to claim that that is more of the Hindu influence coming into play. But you know, you can't really separate religion and tradition.
I was trying to take the essence of what i thought Buddhism was and I ignored all the cultural interplay that influences the way it is practised and understood. So that's also good to bear in mind while looking at other religions - that you cannot just broadly generalise how people perceive things.
And i especially like the use of Enlightenment with a capital E. I guess i don't really really understand what that means too.
Kind of miss our lunch dates where we could bash these things out and leave a little bit annoyed at each other. haha.. no no.. it's a learning process. I'm definitely keen on taking up your crash course on taoism someday.
Hey Jeannie.
That is the thing right. Sometimes its easier to just profess a faith than you know worry about the details being wrong. Like what happen if you discover down the line that some of the beliefs under the faith is morally incompatible with you, or have no scientific/factual basis. I don't know if most people worry about these things, but I do think about it. Is it really as simple as putting 'Buddhism/Taoism/Christian' on your Facebook profile. What if I like some of the concepts but meeting the adherents of the religion makes me wonder: "What are these people thinking?" Would I need to make up excuses to justify the religious flaws? Do I accept it as it is but keep the identity? Or do I remove my associations? With the rise of acceptance of atheism, the latter is definitely possible now.
Just a little background on Taoism and Chinese folk beliefs for your information. Taoism is a very broad umbrella for a set of philosophical and religious beliefs, but at its core is the concept of the Tao/Dao literally meaning the Way (same character as Judo 'Way of Gentleness'), in essence, a principle/ path for living. Interestingly the Dharma is translated as 'Law', so there's a similarity in principle there. There are heaps and heaps of Taoist related classics, concepts and traditions, but the famous ones are the Tao Te Ching “Classic of the Way and Virtue”, or the I Ching “Classic of Changes”. Some of the major concepts are harmony, acceptance of changes, and moderation. (There are similarity with the Buddhist views here). Its usually represented by the Taijitu or the Yin Yang symbol, which is representing a harmony of the masculine and feminine in dynamic balance, believing the excess of either should be avoided, with just the right blend of strength and gentleness. Meditation is also part of the tradition.
Chinese folk religion on the other hand, is a plethora of nature worship, animism, polytheism, probably much like any ancient religions and traditions, an eclectic mix with a Chinese flavor of the supernatural and the after life. It seems that Chinese are so obsessed with wealth and status that the Heavens are modeled after Chinese courts with the Yellow Emperor at its helm. Certainly, Taoism and the folk beliefs (and Buddhism) do influence each other sometimes to the point where they are indistinguishable, but you can probably find Chinese religious practices which have no Buddhist or Taoist themes. After all, the most religious traditions involve marriage and funerals, and there's a need for practical yet spiritual aspect of all these religions AKA the silly rituals, which you can probably find in every religion, it just depends on whether the believers take it more seriously or not.
Which comes your point of discussion, just because we associate a name with an institution does not automatically make it good or bad. (“No Taoism in my Buddhist tea thanks”, or “Thats not REAL Buddhism/Taoism or whatever”). After all a lot of these names are just labels we apply to practices. In the first two line of Tao Te Ching: “The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao, The name that can be spoken is not the eternal name”. Just because people call themselves something, doesn't mean that they are automatically upholding everything it preaches. A bit of historical aside, Genghis Khan in the Mongol Empire, was so impressed with his discussion to a Taoist monk Qiu Chuji, that he provide tax exemptions for Taoist temples, this resulted in a lot of cultist and magicians formed under the banner of Taoism for his grandson Kublai Khan to clean up years down the line. Interestingly Kublai was a Buddhist due to his wife influence and possibly enjoyed the fact that he was considered a Bodhisattva of War(!) incarnated. Probably an interesting consideration since many religious organization today are also tax exempted. My point is that history and even your personal experience in the present show that there can be a lot of not so spiritual nonsense happening in religions.
So why am I still more inclined to Taoism? Well, compared to Buddhism, I find it more, well natural. One of Buddhist main themes is the suppression/ letting go of desire and attachments. I once asked “Whats wrong with wanting something (or in this case someone =P)”, she replies “But, you are not suppose to be attached right?”, to which I said “Well in that case I am not attached to Buddhism”. =) From the Taoist perspective, desire is natural, its the excess which is bad. The I Ching speaks of differing circumstances, power and creativity to gentleness and acceptance. Of necessity of risking danger and the unknown to find brilliance and illumination, of initiations and of culminations, of making steady progress and joy and celebration of achievements, of times of wealth and strength but also of times of difficulties, conflicts and accidents beyond our control, and acceptance of feelings and even of sex. I am drawn towards the principle of harmony, that in different circumstances, we try to fit in. In my view this is compatible with the evolution view of Survival of the Fittest, which is not the survival of the strongest or the most vicious, but the one that best fit in, the one that knows how to love, to care in time of peace and also to lead and be strong in times of conflict, and that we need to continue to learn as we are all a work in progress.
Anyway, much philosophical ramblings aside, there you have it, the crash course to Taoism. =)
Hey Chin Yee,
wow, i never expected the crash course to be in comment form. But thanks very much! I'm quite inclined to agree with pretty much all your points. i guess i never quite got the point on the absence of suffering in the story of siddharta too. Why indeed do we have to have detachment from emotions, materials and relationships when surely that is part of a full existence? (which we are encouraged to pursue?) In that sense I am in full agreeance that there should not be this guilt associated to what i deem are natural actions.
And you are verging on sounding like an arts student with that point on how the spoken tao is not truly the tao. [And here i quote Shakespeare:
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet]
And that is probably one source of conflict in the world. Everyone interprets things differently. So Taoism to me is not what Taoism is to you or to the next person. I've got to say my impression is greatly altered now though. I'm actually very keen to get hold of a copy of the I Ching. I'm sure dad's got it hidden in the library somewhere.
My real rant was directed at silly Chinese traditions/superstitions then. (and sometimes i wonder how religion, merely because it is formally institutionalised, is any different)
Balance. What a beautiful concept. That everything in moderation and in harmony with you, your surroundings and your brethren. Surely then we'd have a better world? I like it. =)
I hope i didn't actually cheese you off when i made my initial accusations. So rash of me! And so so grateful that you took the time to explain too. Looking forward to a time when we can have philosophical debate over coffee/beer!
Hi Jeannie.
Have a Happy Year of the Ox! Hope it will be an ox-citing one! haha lameness =P
As for being a closet art student, you are probably right, philosophical and political issues have been on my mind since I started working. How it open your eyes to reality. Or maybe its just me trying to be a Renaissance Man haha.
Speaking of names, there's something disturbing I recently learned about a famous figure we both saw at Optus Oval a couple of years back. Yes, its the Dalai Lama himself. As you know, the Tibet Freedom campaign has been in the spotlight recently. I even saw some Tibetans at the Australia Day march yesterday. They have been protesting for political freedom against Communist China and condemning it for human rights abuse.
The interesting part is the Chinese government responded by showcasing the state of Tibetan society before communism. Even until 1950s Tibet was a feudal theocracy with the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Monastery and the nobles with absolute power over the lives of the other 95% who were slaves. The society was practically worse than medieval with overtaxed peasants brutally controled by the elites. While the slaves starves, the Dalai Lama live in not one, but 2 humongous palace. The photographic and video evidence show cruel punishments like amputation and eye gouging. Worse of all, Buddhism and karma was use as a justification for the horrifying life of the slaves. The documented laws even stated that the slaves cannot speak up against their 'betters'. Sexual abuse was rife within the monk community. One account was a woman so abused and terrified she feared suicide because she was afraid she would be reborn in an even worse place. It was no spiritually enlightened Shangrila but one of the worst form of the caste system. Declassified CIA information even show him on their payroll used to fund Tibetans guerrilla. There was even accusation of violent oppression of the eclectic Shugden sect by the 'orthodox' sect of Dalai Lama . Having seen that, it really makes you wonder about this man and religion of peace.
I guess at that point I am tempted to just give the religion the flip as a knee jerk reaction. That said Buddhism has a point, life does sucks sometimes and we can't always do something about it. All the anger at the injustices doesn't necessarily achieve much. Even day to day life in Australia is filled with annoyances like having to go to work with less than 3 hours of sleep, wilting hot weather, over crowded trams and non functioning air conditioning. Or meeting face to face with the religious adherents. Sometimes you just have to accept things and calm down or you just can't function, or be able to understand a different way of thinking.
That said, I am very glad that we shared some common understandings and learn about each others perspective. I am reminded of chapter 58 in the I Ching: Exchange, "Joined lake in exchange, the noble one investigates and explains knowledge to friends". We learn and improve by sharing. That's the glimmer of hope. =)
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