life with Lillian B For me, a serious
Surely this complex of golden pagodas has to be one of the wonders of the world and such a well kept secret too!
of these holy objects, it seemed as if I had been transported into another realm.
more than mindful of the immense power
uddhist who is Most imposing of all is the
Shwedagon Pagoda itself; this rises from the ground, golden and imposing in the special shape of a stupa fabulously symmetrical narrowing as it gains height until it reaches its peak where a huge 76 carat diamond sparkles with a special brilliance in the night skies. When you stand at certain “secret
spots” around the complex as you circumambulate
around the stupa,
you can see the diamond’s sparkle; at some spots it is a bright white light, at another it is the red of ruby and at yet another spot it is the green of emerald. Emillee and Honey successfully captured this magical sparkle at different parts of the stupa complex with their cameras, and Han Jin, my nephew created some truly amazing footage of the diamonds and gems sparkling on top of the stupa with his powerful video camera. Looking at the pictures later, we marvel at how modern day technology can create images which are invisible to the human eye. Tere are over 40 million grams of gold plates (about 40 tons of pure gold) on the upper parts of the pagoda and a king’s ransom in precious rubies, emeralds and sapphires set on the globe and pennant at the very top. Hanging around the pagoda parasols are thousands of jewellery pendants, earrings and rings in diamonds and precious stones, donated by devotees over the past fifty years. The gold itself are offerings of supporters accumulated over the years. But
46 FENGSHUIWORLD | JAN/FEB 2011
these are not visible to the naked eye. All that one sees is the shimmer of real gold, but this is enough to awe and inspire.
I cannot think of adjectives that can adequately do justice to our feelings. Te joyousness we experienced as we gazed at this magical sight was very divine. So much devotion and so much honesty in the way the place has been maintained must surely take anyone’s breath away. We are truly humbled by the Burmese people for their devotion despite suffering from trade sanctions and other political woes. Just think, as recent as 1970,
the Shwedagon pagoda, albeit truly special, had nowhere near the amount of gold it has today, or as many prayer halls and Buddha statues. Te structure has been improved and expanded completely from funds donated by visitors and the local people!
PRAYING FOR BUDDHA’S HELP All round the pagoda are special places where one can pray for wishes to get fulfilled. Tere is the wish granting Buddha placed between the sun represented by the peacock; and the moon signified by the rabbit. We are told that everyday this hall is filled with devotees whose prayers have been successfully answered. So I too prayed for my family to always stay blessed. Ten there are the 8 bath places
where the different day Buddhas can be bathed. Tese grant long life and complete purification of one’s obstacles. What you do is bathe the
Buddha the number of times equivalent to your age - and you select the particular Buddha according to your day of birth, i.e. from Monday through Sunday. Tere are two places for Wednesday thus making a total of eight such bathing places. Tis ritual washes away all bad luck. Because I am convinced by the power of these holy waters, I consecrated three jade mala beads with the waters of these 8 Buddhas and washed my eyes with the water praying for my eyesight to improve. And in the four large Prayer halls
where giant Buddhas of each of the three periods before Shakyamuni attained enlightenment and Shakyamuni too, you can offer gold leaf to specially placed Buddhas. Offering gold to the body, speech and mind of the Buddha brings wealth, prosperity and success. We are told that each month the complex collects over several million dollars from visitors and locals alike buying gold leaf to gilt the Buddhas - such is the extent of devotion and belief. I myself bought several packets of gold leaf from here enough to offer gold to the Buddhas of Shwedagon and also to bring some back to gold leaf the Buddhas at my home and office. Tis I know is sure to ensure that I get some of the fabulous chi energy of Shwedagon. Buddhists revere relics of the
Enlightened One and attest many miracles to those blessed by relic energy. Tat weekend each of us got to view an actual hair and tooth relic of the Buddha. We flew home feeling very light hearted and very blessed. Next time we shall visit Bagan where over 2000 stupas await us.
www.fswmag.com
My nephew Han Jin, niece Honey and close friends, Puan Sri Ganalingam and Emillee.
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