Tag: buddhism

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭: WAT KOH MURALS, Part 3

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This series of murals follows the Buddha’s transformation from solitary meditator to spiritual teacher.

Celestial beings gather around him, symbolizing the heavens witnessing his enlightenment. In one important scene, the deities Brahma and Indra respectfully urge him to share what he has discovered with the world. Another shows the Buddha teaching five monks in the Deer Park at Sarnath—his first sermon and the beginning of the Buddhist sangha, or monastic community.

Offerings of food and flowers represent generosity, devotion and the connection between ordinary people and monastic life. Read together, the paintings move from enlightenment to teaching: wisdom is achieved in silence, but its value lies in being shared.

September 2026

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭: WAT KOH MURALS, Part 2

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Another series of murals at Wat Koh, this time illustrating episodes from the Buddha’s life and the miracles and acts of compassion associated with him.

At the center, the Buddha meditates on the coils of the nāga king Mucalinda, who sheltered him during a violent storm after his enlightenment. Another panel recalls his retreat in the forest at Pārileyyaka, where an elephant and a monkey cared for him. Elsewhere, monks, rulers, devotees and celestial beings approach him to receive teachings, make offerings or pay respect.

Together, the paintings present the Buddha as teacher, healer and peaceful presence—honored by humans, animals and beings of the heavenly realms alike.

September 2026

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 🇰🇭: WAT KOH MURALS, Part 1

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These murals at Wat Koh depict the Vessantara Jataka, the story of Prince Vessantara, a previous incarnation of the Buddha celebrated for his extraordinary generosity.

The scenes follow the prince as he gives away his royal elephant, leaves the palace with his wife Maddi and their children, and lives in exile in the forest. He ultimately surrenders everything most precious to him as a test of selflessness. After his virtue is proven, his family is reunited and he returns home.

Beautifully painted in the Khmer tradition, the murals unfold like a visual storybook. Their central lesson is dāna—the Buddhist virtue of giving without attachment—although, to modern eyes, the story also raises difficult questions about sacrifice, family and the limits of generosity.

September 2026

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: “MOTHER”

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“Nam Mô Đại Từ, Đại Bi Linh Cảm Quan Thế Âm Bồ Tát” (Homage to the Great Compassionate and Merciful Bodhisattva Quan Âm).

Quan Âm Bồ Tát (Avalokiteshvara), the Bodhisattva of Compassion, is widely revered in Vietnamese Buddhist culture. She is often depicted as a motherly figure who hears the cries of the world and offers protection, mercy, and relief from suffering.

July 2026

SAIGON, VIETNAM 🇻🇳: Chùa Lâm Tế Temple

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Chùa Lâm Tế. 212A Nguyen Trai Street, Nguyen Cu Trinh Ward, District 1.

Named after the Lâm Tế (Linji) school of Zen Buddhism, the dominant Buddhist lineage in southern Vietnam. The Linji school originated in 9th century Tang Dynasty China and came to Vietnam through Chinese monks. It teaches sudden enlightenment over gradual study, direct experience over scripture.

The location matters. Nguyen Trai is the main road running through Cholon, Saigon’s Chinatown. The Lam Te lineage arrived in the south largely through the Chinese community. The oldest temple in Saigon, Giac Lam Pagoda from 1744, became a Lam Te temple when Zen Master Vien Quang of the Lam Te lineage became its abbot in 1772. So this isn’t just a neighborhood pagoda. It carries the name of the root lineage that shaped how Buddhism spread across southern Vietnam.

24march26

KATHMANDU, NEPAL: BOUDHANATH STUPA

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The Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu—often referred to as “Boughs Stupa” in some older texts or transliterations—is one of the largest and most significant Buddhist stupas in Nepal.

Origins: Believed to have been built in the 5th century CE during the Licchavi dynasty, though some traditions trace it even earlier.

Purpose: Constructed as a mandala-shaped stupa to enshrine relics of the Buddha, serving as a major pilgrimage site for Tibetan and Nepali Buddhists.

Symbolism: Its massive white dome represents the earth; the square tower (harmika) has the iconic “all-seeing eyes of Buddha” looking in four directions; the spire’s 13 steps symbolize the stages to enlightenment.

Cultural Role: After the 1959 Tibetan uprising, thousands of Tibetan refugees settled nearby, making it a center of Tibetan culture and spirituality in Kathmandu.

UNESCO Status: Designated a World Heritage Site in 1979, it remains a hub of Buddhist learning, prayer wheels, and daily circumambulations (kora).

31july2025

PARO, BHUTAN ART: MAHAKALA!

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This powerful artwork depicts a wrathful Buddhist deity, most likely a form of Mahakala, a fierce protector in Vajrayana Buddhism.

The third eye symbolizes higher wisdom and omniscience.

The fierce expression and fangs are not symbols of evil, but of fierce compassion—wrathful deities destroy ignorance and obstacles to enlightenment.

13july25

THIMPHU, BHUTAN: PRAYER WHEELS AT SIMTOKHA DZONG

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Prayer Wheels in Bhutan: Turning Compassion into Motion

In Bhutan, prayer wheels—called “mani khorlo” in Dzongkha—are cylindrical wheels inscribed with sacred mantras, most commonly “Om Mani Padme Hum.” They are an integral part of Bhutanese Buddhist practice, found in temples, monasteries, roadside stupas, and even streams powered by water.

What They Represent:

Each turn of the wheel is believed to release the power of the prayers inside, multiplying the blessings as if the practitioner had recited the mantras themselves. Turning a prayer wheel symbolizes the movement of compassion and the continuous cycle of life (samsara) turning toward enlightenment.

How They Are Used:

Clockwise turning: Always turn the wheel clockwise, in harmony with the direction the mantras are written. With intention: Devotees often spin the wheels while reciting prayers or walking around temples (kora), offering merit to all sentient beings. Mechanical variations: In Bhutan, you’ll see prayer wheels spun by hand, wind, or even water—each creating a physical manifestation of spiritual momentum.

Why It Matters:

In a land where spirituality blends with everyday life, prayer wheels serve as a quiet, spinning reminder: even the smallest gesture—when done with mindfulness—can carry immense spiritual weight. In Bhutan, turning a wheel is not just a ritual; it’s a moving meditation.

8june25

THIMPHU, BHUTAN: STILLNESS IN PASSING

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“Stillness in Passing: A Moment with a Monk in Thimphu”

It was just a moment.

A curve in the road, a concrete block, and a young monk in deep red robes. The midday sun laid itself gently over Thimphu, and the weeping willows behind him moved as if breathing slowly.

There was something about the way he sat—neither waiting nor hurrying. One hand gripped a simple wooden stick, the other rested calmly. His gaze was soft, turned away slightly, as though in conversation with the trees or his own breath. The world moved past him: cars, wind, a foreigner like me. And yet, he seemed untouched.

As someone who’s been a nomad for over two decades, I often find myself between places and people. Always arriving, always leaving. That day, in the stillness of his presence, I felt the kind of rootedness I rarely touch. The kind that doesn’t cling to place or permanence, but radiates from within.

Bhutan’s Buddhist philosophy teaches that peace isn’t found by avoiding the world, but by observing it without grasping. Letting thoughts pass like clouds. This young monk didn’t preach it. He lived it—in posture, in pause.

And for just a few breaths, I let myself sit inside that silence. No destination. No story to tell. Just sunlight, red robes, and a breeze through the leaves.

Then, I moved on. But something in me stayed behind.

April 2025

THIMPHU, BHUTAN ART: THE TIGER’S EYES

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The tiger’s eyes burn through the wall, wide and unblinking, caught somewhere between fury and wisdom. It is not just paint on plaster—it is a presence, a reminder, a guardian from an older world where symbols hold power and myths walk alongside the living.
In Bhutanese Buddhism, the tiger is strength, protection, a force that does not hesitate. And yet, in the way its body stretches and curls, there is movement, a restless energy pressing against the surface, as if it might leap free, off this wall, at any moment.
In Thimphu, these symbols are everywhere, woven into the streets, the temples, the fabric of daily life. You pass by them without thinking, until one day, you don’t. You stop. You meet the tiger’s gaze, and for a moment, you understand—this place is alive in ways you can’t quite explain.
I notice them everywhere. 🐅 ☸️

February 2025