Western Platform 八相成道耀西台
Audio 0002 English
Amitabha Buddha! Welcome to the Western Platform of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada.
The Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada is composed of five platforms: Eastern, Western, Southern, Northern, and Central. The Main Hall is situated in the centre of these platforms. This means that when you stand in the Main Hall, in all directions – east, west, south, and north – there are representations of Manjushri Bodhisattva. Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden is the domain of Manjushri Bodhisattva, and the statues of Manjushri Bodhisattva on the five platforms of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada were donated by Venerable Master Miaojiang from China's Wutai Shan. These sacred images are lifelike, compassionate, and dignified.
After the completion of the Buddha statues on the five platforms of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada, in the year 2016, Venerable Master Sing Hung, the founding abbot of Cham Shan Temple at the age of ninety-three, and Venerable Dayi Shi, the President of the Buddhist Association of Canada led a delegation to China to invite the sacred fire from the Four Great Buddhist Mountains of China. This integration of the sacred fire from Canada's Four Great Buddhist Mountains and China's Four Great Buddhist Mountains established a profound lineage and auspicious inheritance.
So, what are the differences between Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada and China's Wutai Shan? The main distinction lies in the unique features of each platform in Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada. For instance, on the Western Platform, there are Eight Stupas to commemorate the Eight Stages of the Buddha’s life.
The concept of the Eight Stages of Sakyamuni Buddha's Life represents the entire path of practice that Buddha underwent from birth to parinirvana. Inside each Stupa, there are numerous Tibetan Buddhist specific ritual items, scriptures, incense, sandalwood, and prayer beads. These were personally arranged by the renowned Tibetan Buddhist master, Langri Rinpoche. The construction of these stupas was accompanied by many auspicious signs and miraculous events.
So, why were stupas built on the Western Platform? At the time, as Venerable Dayi Shi, the President of the Buddhist Association of Canada and abbot of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada, was contemplating the construction of the Western Platform and what sacred items related to Manjushri Bodhisattva should be enshrined there, a lay devotee came forward. He mentioned that he had a stupa that had been consecrated by a spiritual teacher and that he was selling his house. Since there was no place for the stupa to be donated, he asked if it could be offered to Cham Shan Temple. The stupa donated by this lay devotee was over two meters tall. Venerable Dayi graciously accepted the generous donation of the stupa for Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden. Following this, the devoted layperson extended an invitation to his venerable, Langri Rinpoche, to visit and carefully select the most auspicious location for the stupa. This meticulous choice of placement holds great significance in Tibetan Buddhist tradition, symbolizing deep respect and a profound offering to the Buddha.
When Langri Rinpoche arrived at the Western Platform of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden, he was very pleasantly surprised and excited, exclaiming, "This is the very place that appeared in my dreams!" Langri Rinpoche's life mission was to construct various types of stupas. He had previously aspired for a sacred place to build stupas in Canada, and the magnetic field and geographical location of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden's Western Platform were exceptionally suitable. Langri Rinpoche said that the stupa donated by the lay devotee was too small, and he wished to build a larger stupa on the Western Platform. Venerable Dayi subsequently entrusted the entire Western Platform to Langri Rinpoche for the construction of the stupas. This led to the creation of these eight stupas to commemorate the Eight Stages of the Buddha’s Life.
So, what are the Eight Stages of Sakyamuni Buddha’s Life? What is the significance behind it?
Sakyamuni Buddha’s Life went through a total of eight stages. The first stage is called "Descending to the Tuṣita Heaven." Before descending to the human world to manifest as a Buddha, the Buddha resided in the Tuṣita Heaven as a Bodhisattva named "Protector of the Dharma Light." All Buddhas who are to manifest in the human world as Buddhas need to reside in the Tuṣita Heaven as Bodhisattvas before their manifestation, which can be thought of as being on a waiting list for Buddhahood. After completing their residence in the Tuṣita Heaven, they are born into the human world to manifest as Buddhas.
The second stage is "Conception." According to the Buddhist scriptures, on the day of the conception of the Protector of the Dharma Light, Queen Māyā had a dream in which a six-tusked white elephant, holding a white lotus in its mouth, descended from the sky and entered her right side. She immediately felt peaceful and joyful, and upon waking, she realized she was pregnant.
The third stage is "Birth." Following the customs of the time, Queen Māyā returned to her parents' home for childbirth. On her way, she passed by the Lumbinī Garden and saw a flourishing tree. She touched its branches with her right hand and at that moment, Prince Siddhartha was born from her right side, surrounded by a golden light. The newborn prince took seven steps in each of the four directions, and a lotus flower bloomed at each step. This is often referred to as "Lotus Born with Every Step." At that moment, the prince pointed one hand towards the sky and the other towards the earth, declaring, "In heaven above and on earth below, I alone am the honoured one!"
The fourth stage is "Renunciation." When Prince Siddhartha was still in the palace, he travelled outside and witnessed the suffering of old age, sickness, and death. He then developed the aspiration to renounce worldly life and seek the path to liberation. One night, he left the palace, shaved his head, and took up the life of a monk, vowing to eradicate defilements, together with all sentient beings.
After renouncing worldly life, the fifth stage of the Buddha's life is "Defeating the Demons." At this stage, the demon king Māra, fearing that the Buddha was about to attain enlightenment, gathered his demonic forces and attacked the Buddha with various temptations and threats to prevent him from attaining enlightenment. However, the Buddha remained undisturbed and eventually defeated Māra's forces.
The Buddha then progressed to the sixth stage, "Enlightenment." Under the Bodhi tree, the Buddha looked up at the stars and contemplated the truths of the universe. He realized that all sentient beings inherently possess the wisdom and virtues of a Tathāgata (a fully enlightened being). From this point, the Buddha achieved the most profound compassion and wisdom, and he became known as Sakyamuni Buddha. At that very moment, the earth shook in six ways, and the heavenly beings scattered flowers in homage.
After attaining enlightenment, the seventh stage of the Buddha's life is "Teaching the Dharma." The Buddha travelled to the Deer Park in Sarnath to deliver his first sermon, explaining the Noble Eightfold Path and other teachings to the five initial disciples. They prostrated before the Buddha, took refuge in him, and became his first monastic followers. They followed the path he laid out and soon achieved the state of Arhat.
The final stage of the Buddha's life is "Parinirvana." Sakyamuni Buddha, having foretold his own passing away in Vaishali, finally attained Parinirvana between the twin sal trees in Kushinagar on the 15th day of the second month of the lunar calendar in the year 543 BCE. He lived to the age of seventy-nine.
Now you comprehend why the Eight Stupas are being built around the Manjushri Bodhisattva at the Western Platform of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada. This is done to commemorate the Eight Stages of the Buddha's life, from birth to parinirvana.
Amitabha Buddha! Welcome to the Western Platform of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada.
The Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada is composed of five platforms: Eastern, Western, Southern, Northern, and Central. The Main Hall is situated in the centre of these platforms. This means that when you stand in the Main Hall, in all directions – east, west, south, and north – there are representations of Manjushri Bodhisattva. Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden is the domain of Manjushri Bodhisattva, and the statues of Manjushri Bodhisattva on the five platforms of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada were donated by Venerable Master Miaojiang from China's Wutai Shan. These sacred images are lifelike, compassionate, and dignified.
After the completion of the Buddha statues on the five platforms of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada, in the year 2016, Venerable Master Sing Hung, the founding abbot of Cham Shan Temple at the age of ninety-three, and Venerable Dayi Shi, the President of the Buddhist Association of Canada led a delegation to China to invite the sacred fire from the Four Great Buddhist Mountains of China. This integration of the sacred fire from Canada's Four Great Buddhist Mountains and China's Four Great Buddhist Mountains established a profound lineage and auspicious inheritance.
So, what are the differences between Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada and China's Wutai Shan? The main distinction lies in the unique features of each platform in Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada. For instance, on the Western Platform, there are Eight Stupas to commemorate the Eight Stages of the Buddha’s life.
The concept of the Eight Stages of Sakyamuni Buddha's Life represents the entire path of practice that Buddha underwent from birth to parinirvana. Inside each Stupa, there are numerous Tibetan Buddhist specific ritual items, scriptures, incense, sandalwood, and prayer beads. These were personally arranged by the renowned Tibetan Buddhist master, Langri Rinpoche. The construction of these stupas was accompanied by many auspicious signs and miraculous events.
So, why were stupas built on the Western Platform? At the time, as Venerable Dayi Shi, the President of the Buddhist Association of Canada and abbot of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada, was contemplating the construction of the Western Platform and what sacred items related to Manjushri Bodhisattva should be enshrined there, a lay devotee came forward. He mentioned that he had a stupa that had been consecrated by a spiritual teacher and that he was selling his house. Since there was no place for the stupa to be donated, he asked if it could be offered to Cham Shan Temple. The stupa donated by this lay devotee was over two meters tall. Venerable Dayi graciously accepted the generous donation of the stupa for Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden. Following this, the devoted layperson extended an invitation to his venerable, Langri Rinpoche, to visit and carefully select the most auspicious location for the stupa. This meticulous choice of placement holds great significance in Tibetan Buddhist tradition, symbolizing deep respect and a profound offering to the Buddha.
When Langri Rinpoche arrived at the Western Platform of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden, he was very pleasantly surprised and excited, exclaiming, "This is the very place that appeared in my dreams!" Langri Rinpoche's life mission was to construct various types of stupas. He had previously aspired for a sacred place to build stupas in Canada, and the magnetic field and geographical location of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden's Western Platform were exceptionally suitable. Langri Rinpoche said that the stupa donated by the lay devotee was too small, and he wished to build a larger stupa on the Western Platform. Venerable Dayi subsequently entrusted the entire Western Platform to Langri Rinpoche for the construction of the stupas. This led to the creation of these eight stupas to commemorate the Eight Stages of the Buddha’s Life.
So, what are the Eight Stages of Sakyamuni Buddha’s Life? What is the significance behind it?
Sakyamuni Buddha’s Life went through a total of eight stages. The first stage is called "Descending to the Tuṣita Heaven." Before descending to the human world to manifest as a Buddha, the Buddha resided in the Tuṣita Heaven as a Bodhisattva named "Protector of the Dharma Light." All Buddhas who are to manifest in the human world as Buddhas need to reside in the Tuṣita Heaven as Bodhisattvas before their manifestation, which can be thought of as being on a waiting list for Buddhahood. After completing their residence in the Tuṣita Heaven, they are born into the human world to manifest as Buddhas.
The second stage is "Conception." According to the Buddhist scriptures, on the day of the conception of the Protector of the Dharma Light, Queen Māyā had a dream in which a six-tusked white elephant, holding a white lotus in its mouth, descended from the sky and entered her right side. She immediately felt peaceful and joyful, and upon waking, she realized she was pregnant.
The third stage is "Birth." Following the customs of the time, Queen Māyā returned to her parents' home for childbirth. On her way, she passed by the Lumbinī Garden and saw a flourishing tree. She touched its branches with her right hand and at that moment, Prince Siddhartha was born from her right side, surrounded by a golden light. The newborn prince took seven steps in each of the four directions, and a lotus flower bloomed at each step. This is often referred to as "Lotus Born with Every Step." At that moment, the prince pointed one hand towards the sky and the other towards the earth, declaring, "In heaven above and on earth below, I alone am the honoured one!"
The fourth stage is "Renunciation." When Prince Siddhartha was still in the palace, he travelled outside and witnessed the suffering of old age, sickness, and death. He then developed the aspiration to renounce worldly life and seek the path to liberation. One night, he left the palace, shaved his head, and took up the life of a monk, vowing to eradicate defilements, together with all sentient beings.
After renouncing worldly life, the fifth stage of the Buddha's life is "Defeating the Demons." At this stage, the demon king Māra, fearing that the Buddha was about to attain enlightenment, gathered his demonic forces and attacked the Buddha with various temptations and threats to prevent him from attaining enlightenment. However, the Buddha remained undisturbed and eventually defeated Māra's forces.
The Buddha then progressed to the sixth stage, "Enlightenment." Under the Bodhi tree, the Buddha looked up at the stars and contemplated the truths of the universe. He realized that all sentient beings inherently possess the wisdom and virtues of a Tathāgata (a fully enlightened being). From this point, the Buddha achieved the most profound compassion and wisdom, and he became known as Sakyamuni Buddha. At that very moment, the earth shook in six ways, and the heavenly beings scattered flowers in homage.
After attaining enlightenment, the seventh stage of the Buddha's life is "Teaching the Dharma." The Buddha travelled to the Deer Park in Sarnath to deliver his first sermon, explaining the Noble Eightfold Path and other teachings to the five initial disciples. They prostrated before the Buddha, took refuge in him, and became his first monastic followers. They followed the path he laid out and soon achieved the state of Arhat.
The final stage of the Buddha's life is "Parinirvana." Sakyamuni Buddha, having foretold his own passing away in Vaishali, finally attained Parinirvana between the twin sal trees in Kushinagar on the 15th day of the second month of the lunar calendar in the year 543 BCE. He lived to the age of seventy-nine.
Now you comprehend why the Eight Stupas are being built around the Manjushri Bodhisattva at the Western Platform of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada. This is done to commemorate the Eight Stages of the Buddha's life, from birth to parinirvana.