A Visit to Temple in Chicago
A Visit to Zhengjue Temple
Zhengjue Temple is located on Wentworth Avenue in the center of China Town in Chicago. It is a small-scale Mahayana Buddhism temple founded in 2003 by a Malaysian nun. It currently consists of two nuns --- the Abbot and founder of the temple and Rev Chi-Miu Sik.
The decoration of the temple looks very similar to temples I used to visit in China, except for the fact that Zhengjue Temple is smaller in size. It has one big hall mainly used to place the statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and one small room used to shelve the Sutras. Several cushions are put on the ground of the hall and in front of the Buddha Statues. They are mainly used for meditation and making worship. During my visit, I mainly talked to Rev Chi-Miu Sik, who arranged the weekly meditation events and took care of the daily operation of the temple. Everyone is required to take off their shoes when they walk in. Rev Chi-Miu Sik is dressed in a long grey robe with a pair of white shoes made of cloth. She wears a grey hat. I got a seat on one of the cushions in the center of the hall and started to have a look on the general layoff of the hall. There are three main statues seated in the center of the hall. All three are gigantic and are in golden color. Shakyamuni Buddha is located in the middle of the three. He is also the biggest one. Guan Yin is on the left side of Shakyamuni. Guan Yin in Zhengjue Temple is a really amicable female character. She has long hair and is holding a white little vase in her hand. There is also a small piece of plant in the vase. Ksitigarbha Buddha is on the right side of Shakyamuni. While Guan Yin is the Bodhisattva who hears the cries of everyone and be of most help to those who suffer from pain and who need liberation, Ksitigarbha Buddha focuses on saving people from the hell realms. He has a small tower placed on his left side. And it is said that the tower is used to draw the ghosts or those with bad karma with great power into the tower
Zhengjue Temple is located on Wentworth Avenue in the center of China Town in Chicago. It is a small-scale Mahayana Buddhism temple founded in 2003 by a Malaysian nun. It currently consists of two nuns --- the Abbot and founder of the temple and Rev Chi-Miu Sik.
The decoration of the temple looks very similar to temples I used to visit in China, except for the fact that Zhengjue Temple is smaller in size. It has one big hall mainly used to place the statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and one small room used to shelve the Sutras. Several cushions are put on the ground of the hall and in front of the Buddha Statues. They are mainly used for meditation and making worship. During my visit, I mainly talked to Rev Chi-Miu Sik, who arranged the weekly meditation events and took care of the daily operation of the temple. Everyone is required to take off their shoes when they walk in. Rev Chi-Miu Sik is dressed in a long grey robe with a pair of white shoes made of cloth. She wears a grey hat. I got a seat on one of the cushions in the center of the hall and started to have a look on the general layoff of the hall. There are three main statues seated in the center of the hall. All three are gigantic and are in golden color. Shakyamuni Buddha is located in the middle of the three. He is also the biggest one. Guan Yin is on the left side of Shakyamuni. Guan Yin in Zhengjue Temple is a really amicable female character. She has long hair and is holding a white little vase in her hand. There is also a small piece of plant in the vase. Ksitigarbha Buddha is on the right side of Shakyamuni. While Guan Yin is the Bodhisattva who hears the cries of everyone and be of most help to those who suffer from pain and who need liberation, Ksitigarbha Buddha focuses on saving people from the hell realms. He has a small tower placed on his left side. And it is said that the tower is used to draw the ghosts or those with bad karma with great power into the tower