Ling Shan Temple is situated on the southwestern peak of Wuxi’s renowned Mount Lingshan, located in Jiangsu of China. The temple, that is sometimes also regarded as a stupa or a particular memento structure, was initiated somewhere around 3 A.D. In 515 A.D., when Indian monk Hui Seng travelled southward from Jinling to give a sermon on Buddhism, he once came to Mount Lingshan and saw that the stupas were built facing the wrong directions, which was an indication to him that the teachings of Buddhism had not really arrived to the area. This gave birth to his strong resolve to establish the conditions for the teachings of Buddhism to prosper and develop in China. This legend indicates that Mount Lingshan was the place Hui Seng decided to construct a pagoda to enshrine the square inch of land that he dug at that particular spot, hoping that in the future someone would propagate the teachings throughout China. The vision and resolve of Hui Seng was a profound aspiration to bring Buddhism into China, and the lotus flower that he left on the ground marked an important step for Buddhism’s growth in this country. Temple Columbarium is built upon the same ideals and ideas of the early works by Hui Seng, hoping to promote the propagation of knowledge of Buddhism and to create an affinity with the religion in every event and activity at completing everything with reverence, whether big or small. This is the very purpose and spirit of Temple Columbarium for the promotion of Buddhist teachings and its values. Now that we understand that both temple and temple columbarium have a strong purpose and significance, it is now time to explore the fascinating history of Ling Shan Temple.
History of Ling Shan Temple
First established in Yanzhou in 506 during the Liang Dynasty, most of the Ling Shan Temple was relocated to its current location on the north bank of Lu Xi River in 515. Originally, the temple was situated at the foot of Jin Hill in Jianyang. However, due to floods and war, it was demolished and the remaining monks and disciples moved the temple. On their travels, they encountered a man who turned out to be an avatar of the Maitreya bodhisattva, and he declared that the disciples should preserve a statue of him that was in the temple by building a new one on this spot. For years, generations of stone carvers created their vision of heaven on earth into the statues, hallways, and corridors of the temple. The Golden Age of the temple ended during the Song Dynasty when the statue of Maitreya was destroyed, and the temple subsequently fell into disrepair. The temple was lost during wars in the 17th century, and the site became a small farming village.
Purpose and Significance of Temple Columbarium
Chinese traditions tend to be cyclical. They change, but yet there is a persistence of memory. The Temple Columbarium, by providing a final resting place for the deceased, with the memorial being for the span of 20 generations. This provides future generations the opportunity to remember loved ones who have since passed on. It is a building with niches bearing memorial plaques where ashes of the deceased are placed. It serves as a final resting place for the departed and a center for their descendants to pay respect to them. The Temple Columbarium at Ling Shan Temple is a place for all the faithful departed to be remembered. This is similar to the Christian belief of praying for the dead. Life is seen as a bridge for the departed, spanning from existence to non-existence. By praying for the dead, it is hoped that they can move from non-existence to eternal life. This is indeed a common hope for a better place for our deceased loved ones who have passed away.
Architecture and Design
Traditional Chinese temple architecture can be identified by certain features they all share. The typical layout follows a symmetrical arrangement of halls and courtyards. The guardian halls and the main hall are aligned in the middle; they are joined by an axial path, which is often covered by the so-called “heavenly gate”. Ling Shan temple follows this customary design. The temple complex is arranged in three rows: gates, halls, and pagodas. In between are wide paths that lead to the temple’s main attraction, a huge Buddha statue, which we will talk about later. Between the main path leading up to the Buddha and the gates, you will often find side paths, which will lead to areas for stronghold, like the dining hall, living quarters, and worship areas. These are laid out in a symmetrical fashion, both sides of the temple mirroring the other. The location of the Ling Shan temple has a long-standing tradition of being an area of seclusion and has been built on in order to respect that tradition. Before the temple complex existed, there was a village named Baohua that was saved from Japanese invaders by a feudal warlord, Sun Quan. The site of the village’s victory over the Japanese commandery has now become the memorial site for the dead and the temple’s columbarium. In more recent wartime, a resistance force to Japanese invasion had maintained a few dwellings until the area was taken and rebuilt into a small church. The area has had a long time to establish itself as a stronghold of worship, and Ling Shan temple has been built in recognition of this fact.
Traditional Chinese Temple Features
We use traditional Chinese temple features as the base of temple design with a perfect blend of modernization. Ling Shan Temple Chinese like roof design with carvings is meticulously done to perfection and the dragon pillars, beautiful and magnificent, are all carved with meaningful Chinese culture theme; and across the ridge of the main shrine and situated at perfect angle to catch best sunlight to brighten it up. The temple eaves are with decorative end curves and hitting upwards play a significant part to ensure the temple is brightly lighted; symbolizing prosperity and blessings in Buddhism. The mis-matching pairs of stone statues, i.e. Xian/Immortal and animal are placed on both sides of the temple entrance, serving as a symbolism of “light guard”. The animals are the known to be the fierce guardians of Buddhism teachings and symbols, serve to banish any evil spirits of hindrance to the seekers of truth. A Chinese style garden would be beautifully arranged with rockeries and pool. Paths way would be built across the garden to enable access to every part of the garden. The columbarium would be design last, build with 6 floors high, having a total of 26,000 compartments. Each floor would have an inner and outer hall. The outer hall would serve as a place where relative of the deceased visit the niche and make a small offering of respect to their love one. While the inner hall would be a place for Buddhism prayer service. And each niche would display a link photo of the deceased and an epitaph. A systematic feature to help locate a particular niche level, row and column is done by using the last two digits of the niche number, nail engraved to the niche door.
Unique Elements of Ling Shan Temple
Ling Shan Temple, while modelled on ancient Chinese temples, has refined and combined certain key features to better achieve its purposes. The primary element of the temple is the Grand Hall of the Great Sage – an image of the first temple built in India to house the Buddha. It is also much like Da Xing Shan Temple in Szechuan. It is the first hall one enters coming up from the parking area. It is a hall for prayers and offerings. People come to ask the Buddha for guidance or help in their daily affairs. In the rear, there are stairs and a walkway back down to the lower courtyard. On the right of the Grand Hall is the Archive Room. The temple established its own administrative office in 1986 to sustain its growing needs. In that same year, the director of Dharma examination translated and edited the Pattra-leaf Sutra from traditional Chinese characters to edited printed form. This was to prevent it from becoming extinct during the modernization of Chinese characters. In 1988, this temple became the first to send monks to Sri Lanka to learn Theravada Buddhism. Offering various teachings to the public has made it possible for the temple to turn out numerous devoted followers. This resulted in the need for a more detailed instructional facility. Thus, in 1989 the Administrative Office was established (in the rear of the Grand Hall). Still today, we hold various meetings to discuss ways of Establishing Buddhist Educational Facilities and creating a Pure Land On Earth, with the hope that all of our dreams will come true. With the completion of the Grand Hall in 1992, the Ling Shen Temple-related religious services have flourished more and more. The Sutra Library and Multi-Purpose Classroom has a capacity of seventy to eighty persons. This room is for small scale learning and teachings. Coming out from under the Archive Room, era cross a walkway to the Maitreya Hall on the left. This stone walled building was completed in 1993 and underwent renovation in 1998. Another outstanding feature of this temple is the Chinese style Crowning Hall for Spiritual Ch’an Practice. Although modest in size, it is the only one of its kind in the United States. Master Hui Seng of the Tang Dynasty built the first Chan Hall. It was still during a time when the teaching of Chan was very active in China. Ling Shen Temple’s Abbot built the Crowning Hall in 1990. The distinctive feature of this Hall is the fact that there is no carved Buddha image nor altar with offerings. This is to represent the true practice of Ch’an – nothing at all. This style is adopted from the Japanese Linji Temple, the head temple of the Rinzai sect. Currently, there is a plan to expand this hall in response to the expectations of devoted followers. The temple courtyard is designed with a unique duality. It adjusts to the natural downward slope of the hilltop, but half of it is on stilts. In 1978 and 1986, various grade-level terraces were built on the right. At each terrace, many stones were laid by the Han People group of the Ita Village and the other numerous volunteers, with the hopes of contributing a part of labor toward building a Pure Land On Earth. A Long Life hall was built in 1982 at the end of the lower courtyard. This was a generous gift from some devout followers. It is a simple yet elegant structure with insignificant carvings and paintings – a style appropriate for an old age home and home for the elderly. At the teaching of the Buddha, the Eighteen Hells and the Three Evil Paths give vivid description about the phenomenal actions and their consequences, clearly highlighting between good and various good and bad actions and their respective consequences. This is to guide those who are lost to the right path. Realizing this we built the Wheel Turning King Hall, to picture […]. This structure is to represent the present world and it is a place of the future teachings.
Columbarium Design and Layout
In contrast to the usual dark, dank and cramped columbarium, Ling Shan’s Columbarium is designed as an extension of the temple, with an outdoor courtyard for the permanent placement of ash tablets. Located at the lower basement level of the temple, it is designed to allow natural light into the building, changing the sombre atmosphere of most columbaria. The use of concrete building materials in the structural frame helps to reduce the level and cost of maintenance, lowering overall life-cycle costs for the temple. The most prominent feature of the design is the interior garden and light-well that is located at the centre of the building, intended to give visitors a sense of peace and to act as a reminder of the cycle of life by symbolically providing the garden with time, sunshine, water and care. Each niche is to have a uniform look, with a protective cover that is locked in place to prevent the accidental spill of ashes when niche is being maintained. Accessories such as vases and urns hanging from niche to support the weight of climbing plants are prohibited as they are often unsafe and could lead to incidences of breakage or vandalism. At the far end of the garden is a circular altar room for memorial services. The niches themselves are located in straight rows in a small number of interconnected rooms so as to make access easy for the elderly. This is unlike the more maze-like layout of older columbaria that were built using leftover spaces and niches are often hard to find. Each room is separated with a realistic portrayal of sola et luna, to act as a quiet seat for visitors and to depict the two symbols of time which dictates life and destiny.
Religious Practices and Beliefs
In the past, and indeed the present, many people choose to worship at Ling Shan Temple, lighting joss-sticks and placing offerings to seek help from the divine. Many people see Buddhism as a religion where they depend on themselves for developing inner peace and understanding. They do not have to believe in a god to achieve this, pray to a god or even ask for help from a god. Normally in the Pure Land sect of Mahayana Buddhism, as Ling Shan Temple practices, people will recite the name of Amitabha Buddha and seek rebirth in the Pure Land where they can cultivate the dharma and eventually become a Buddha. Many people who pray at Ling Shan temple will ask for forgiveness from sins and aspire to be reborn in the Pure Land. They believe by asking the help of the divine and performing good deeds, they can improve their current life and remove suffering. Worshippers at Ling Shan temple have the opportunity to see practicing Monks perform rituals to heal sick members of the community. The monks will prepare an altar in the home and quietly and sincerely recite the sutras. The power of the sutras has a potent but subtle effect on the atmosphere surrounding the patient, and it benefits the patient both mentally and physically. This ritual is believed to help the patient establish links with the enlightened ones and seek their guidance and protection in life, leading the patient to a karmic state that is conducive to self-cultivation and eventually liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
Worship and Rituals at Ling Shan Temple
Ling Shan Temple holds regular ceremonies dedicated to its deities. The deities that are worshipped today at the temple include Three Pure Ones (San Qing), Guan Yin and Maitreya Bodhisattva. Common worshippers also burn incense and have a word with the temple’s resident monks about their current family and health situations. After this, the monk will assist the worshipper to select a set of fortune sticks. If a stick is inscribed with a message corresponding to the worshipper’s personal dilemmas, the worshipper may keep that stick and obtain another to get further advice from the deities within the temple. This may seem superstitious to the educated modern individual, but the fortune sticks are used by worshippers as a method of indirect communication with the deities. This is treated the same way as if one were earnestly seeking advice from an elderly person of wisdom during ancient times. Ling Shan Temple also frequently holds large-scale ceremonies and inviting opera troupes to perform in the temple. Today, the temple is known not only for its divine atmosphere, but also for its valuable contributions to the social harmony and well-being of Buddhist culture within the Chinese community.
Importance of Ancestral Remembrance
Before discussing the significance of ancestral remembrance, it is important to understand what this concept entails. In the Chinese culture, the remembrance of one’s ancestors has been a sacred tradition dating back thousands of years. The family unit is considered to be the single most important aspect of Chinese society. It is believed that a family’s ancestors continue to watch over them and influence their lives. When an ancestor dies, their soul passes into an underworld in which they can continue to influence the human world. It is also believed that a family’s ancestors can bring them good fortune and prosperity, but also misfortune if they are not happy with the way they are being remembered by their living relatives. Because of this, the Chinese have continued to adhere to practices aimed at ensuring their ancestors’ happiness in the afterlife. Ancestral remembrance is also an idea that is integral to the practice of Buddhism. One of the five categories of Buddhist doctrine is “ancestral mandate”. This rule stipulates that good fortune and misfortune depend on the morality practiced by an individual. If they lead a happy life as a result of doing good deeds, their descendants will share the same happiness. However, if they lead a life of crime, their descendants will also share this misfortune. This idea coincides with the Chinese belief on influencing the prosperity of one’s descendants. In Buddhism, true filial piety is not only to one’s parents, but also to one’s ancestors. The Sutra on the original vow of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva explains that a filial son or daughter should attempt to lead their ancestor to salvation for seven generations past. Only then can they be assured that their ancestors have been released from suffering in the underworld. This type of salvation can be achieved by reciting Buddhist sutras and dedicating the merit of those recitations to one’s ancestors.
Spiritual Significance of Columbarium
“The philosophic Taoism does not focus on or believe in a hereafter or life after death. However, when the inevitable comes, various rituals that are a mixture of philosophic Taoism and ancestor worship take place. After the funeral, a photograph of the deceased is placed on the home altar. It is believed that the spirit of the deceased will protect the family as it did in life. The photograph is placed in a frame or in a small shrine. Every year, a death anniversary is observed with a Taoist rite, serving the purpose of assisting the deceased in the otherworld, potential communication to the deceased, and also being an occasion.” “Columbarium is considered a good and long-term approach in today’s society where a burial plot is often unattainable or proven to be difficult in Malaysia for an ancestral rite and to commemorate the deceased. The Buddhists believe that when the deceased come to life after death, possibilities for a better or worse rebirth have yet to be determined. The commemoration is to ensure that a bad rebirth can be transformed into a better one. Chanting suttas, other verses, and offering of robes and food are some of the ways to assist the deceased. The last memorial service for the deceased is after seven weeks when the family or relatives can invite the monk to hold a service in the family home. This will mark the end of the shortest mourning period for the deceased.”
Role of Buddhism in Ling Shan Temple
Buddhism is a major spiritual belief in China and the tradition is deeply influenced by Chinese culture. The presence of Buddhism is significant at Ling Shan Temple and both founders were Buddhist. The temple expresses Mahayana Buddhist philosophies and is an example of the Strong Pure Land belief in which the significance of building a temple for the Buddha and reciting his name will ensure rebirth in the Pure Land. This role could be considered to be a form of ancestral remembrance in itself, the founders using their wealth and the hard work of their families to ensure a place in the Pure Land future. Pure Land Buddhism is characterized by aspirations of better rebirth in a Pure Land, there to strive for enlightenment and ultimate liberation. Once reaching the Pure Land, one will be free from the obstacle of delusions and very close to becoming an enlightened being. This is reflected by the founders’ wish for a “place far removed from the human world, and yet still within it”. The idea to create a temple up in the hills was to move away from urban life and into a more peaceful setting, free from distractions and suitable for a monk community. Ling Shan Temple clearly depicts the wish to reach the Pure Land and its state of Nirvana through the quote “The Way is Nirvana, Ever-present Nirvana, is no other than the Way”. This is carved into a large wooden board at the temple which was given by a Pure Land sect in Japan and delivered by a Chinese-Canadian carpenter. Moreover, Buddhists believe in making good causes for future effect and the right conditions for the preachers to spread the teachings. This is illustrated by a Pure Land chapter stating “Making no mistakes, he hurries on the straight course” and the leaders of Ling Shan Temple have manifested it by making plans for a Buddhist University on the temple side. This will ensure the teachings and also create a good opportunity for devoted Buddhists who want to give up lay life and learn more about religion in a suitable setting.
