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Star posted a comment about my 29 April 2009 article, Borobudur has taught me Buddhism. I was about to reply to her comment and post several pictures. Alas, this dinosaur does not know if it is possible to post pictures together with a comment and does not have time to learn about it now.  I am, therefore, posting my reply (with pictures) to Star.  You may find this bit of information interesting as well.

Star -  Wow!  I did not realize there is so much one could learn from a lotus.  Incidentally, I learned a pose in my yoga class some time ago.  The pose is called Padmasana.  Padma means lotus and asana means pose.  In his book, Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar says that Padmasana ”…is one of the most important and useful asanas.  It is the posture for meditation and the Buddha is often depicted in it.”  While the position of the hands of the buddhas in Borobudur change depending on the direction they face, all of them sit in Padmasana.  This is yet again another reason for me to believe that Borobudur takes its inspiration from the lotus.  

Incidentally, I find Padmasana very difficult to do.  I always feel as is my legs would get stuck in that position and I would not be able to untangle myself.  As a result, I have yet to be able to meditate in this pose.

 

Borobudur has taught me about Buddhism

I left Central Java confused about what Borobudur is all about. I did not know whether it was a temple or a monument and why it was constructed in such a way.

Strangely, I came to my own conclusion about what Borobudur means to me while reading a sign in Bali.  The sign spoke of the relevance of a lotus in Hinduism.   The sign reads, in part, as follows: “The root of the lotus sunk in mud represents material life, the stalk passing up through the water typifies life in the astral world, and the flower floating on the water and opening to the sky is emblematic of spiritual being.” When I read this sign, I instant thought of Borobudur.

It is probably because I came across some articles that said that Borobudur is shaped like a lotus.  Frankly, I do not see the similarity in the physical form of Borobudur and the lotus.  I do think that the way in which Borobudur was built emulates the life of a lotus.

Lotuses are not commonly found in the Philippines. It was when I was 25 years old that I first saw a bouquet of green lotus buds being sold in a market in Thailand. The buds were hard and looked liked two palm cupped tightly together in prayer. The buds were beautiful, pristine and sturdy. It was much later that I saw a lotus growing in a pond and observed that it is routed in mud and thrives on murky waters. The lotus later grows round leaves that sit delicately on the surface of the water. It is as if the leaves anchor the lotus above the water and allow the stem to reach out in to the air. Eventually, the lotus produces a huge tight bud, which surprisingly, could be supported by its thin stem. The bud later opens to reveal one of the most beautiful flowers on earth. The flower is ethereal and appears quite delicate. When you touch it, however, you will realize that, unlike a rose petal, a lotus petal is not easily scarred or wilted. It is smooth and firm. (more…)

Some notes on Borobudur

I was a little disappointed at having gone to Borobudur without knowing much about it.  I was even more disappointed when I read about it after my visit and realized that I would have had a better appreciation of Borobudur had I know more about it to begin with.

I put together the few things I learned about Borobudur in this article for you.  Just in case you decided to go there, these tidbits of information may help you appreciate Borobudur more and prevent you from become, like me, disappointed at not having read about it beforehand. (more…)

Candi Borobudur is not a temple but a monument

According to the dictionary, a temple is a place of worship and the dwelling place of gods. It is derived from the Latin word templum, which means “open or consecrated space”. The reason I looked up this word is because Aisha and Danang took pains in emphasizing that Borobudur is not a temple but a monument. Aisha even told us that the literal translation of Borobudur is “monument on a hill”. I found this strange because the signs leading to Borobudur say “Candi Borobudur” and candi is the Indonesian word for temple.

Perhaps what Aisha and Danang meant when they said that Borobudur is not a temple is that, although it is a place where one could pray, it is not a place where people go to worship or bring offerings to their gods as there are no religious icons or statues of gods in Borobudur. The only statues one would find are those of Buddha. According to Aisha, Buddha is not a god and neither does Buddhism teach one to worship Buddha. (more…)

My initial impression of Borobudur

When I was in grade school, one of my teachers said that Borobudur is one of the seven wonders of the world and it is found in Indonesia.  Friends who saw Borobudur said that it was beautiful.  That is about all I knew of Borobudur when I decided to visit it.  On the other hand, LS seemed to know more about Borobudur and Buddhism than Aisha, our Borobudur guide.

LS and I visited  Borobudur late in the afternoon of our second day in Jogjakarta.  Since Borobudur is in Central Java, we drove two hours to get there from Jogjakarta.  During the visit, I felt like I was cramming for an exam by learning all I could about the place in so little a time. Worse, the place was crowded. It took me a long while to find quite in Borobodur. And, when I did find quite, it was time to leave. I was very disappointed.

It is early morning now and I am looking at the pictures I had taken and remembering what  Aisha told us about the place. Strangely, my pictures tell a different story. It is as if, I had a profound experience in Borobudur. Looking back, perhaps I did but had not known it at that time.

A note on the picture of buddha:  Many of the buddhas in Borobudur are headless.  This buddha seemed to have grown back its head when the bees built their hive on top of its body.

An unorthodox retreat

I asked my friend, Fr. Bill, to prepare for me some spiritual exercises I could do while I was in Indonesia. I felt the need to connect with God.  Although I was only able to accomplish one out of seven spiritual exercises, I had somehow achieved my goal of connecting with God in the strangest and most unorthodox of retreats.  I gained a connection with God through the eyes and practices of persons who, unlike me, are not Catholics. For, while I had not gone to Indonesia to learn about religious beliefs other than my own, I received an unexpected crash course in Islam, Buddhism and Balinism and learned more about Hinduism while I was there. My crash course did not, by any means, provide me with a comprehensive understanding of other religious beliefs.  If at all, it would probably take me several lifetimes to understand those beliefs.  I did, however, come away with the simple realization that a connection to God may be made through Islam, Buddhism, Balinism and Hinduism.  And to me, this is really what matters.