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Name Shawn Loo Bing Huang Jonathan Tan Jit Ming Lim Gabrielle Module Code GES1005/SSA1208 Tutorial Gp. D7 Assignment Temple Repo Name Shawn Loo Bing Huang Jonathan Tan Jit Ming Lim Gabrielle Module Code GES1005/SSA1208 Tutorial Gp. D7 Assignment Temple Report Submission Submission Date 03 November 2017 1. INTRODUCTION Singapore is a melting pot of religion. Diverse sets of religious practices and beliefs can be found in Singapore; as contributed by the array of ethnic communities living in this part of the world. In this project, we shed light on the Mahayana strand of Tibetan Buddhism which exists as an esoteric branch of Buddhist philosophy and practices. This focus is scoped through our field visit to The Amitabha Buddhist Centre, which proffers the Mahayana branch of Buddhism (大乘佛教) in Singapore. Our fieldwork took place on the morning of 26th of September 2017, wherein a guided tour of the site with Serene1 lasted for over an hour. We gained multiple insights on Tibetan Buddhism from this visit, in particular the orthodox figureheads (‘the who’) and the religious underpinnings (‘the what’) of Mahayanism. In this essay, we first introduce the Amitabha Buddhist Centre by providing background information on its history, location and founding leaders. Secondly, we highlight the spatial organisation of the Centre. Here, we focus on how sacred spaces are being organised and the worshippers’ interaction with these spaces during their rituals. Next, we expound on the three main sacred figures of Mahayana Buddhism within the Centre as introduced by Serene. Admittedly, the Centre houses more than these three main Mahayana Buddhism figures which cannot be fully explained within the remits of this essay. For this reason, we have compiled the sights of our learning experience into a short visual booklet2 to give a more holistic view of our encounters during our fieldwork. Lastly, we showcase the affiliations that the Centre has with The Kopan Monastery in Nepal, in which geographical networks of Mahayana Buddhism are being extended (‘the where’), before concluding with our reflections on this learning journey. 2. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CENTRE In the early 1980s, Tibetan Buddhist Monks Lama Zopa Rinponche and Lama Thubten Yeshe, founders of the Foundation of the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), visited Singapore and came across a group of students to whom they suggested “Amitabha” as their name. In 1986, Lama Zopa Rinpoche returned and introduced FPMT teachers to them as he saw how structured classes on Buddhist teachings could help them. The students were inspired to officially establish the group as a Buddhist society, thus marking the beginning of the Amitabha Buddhist Centre in 1988. Over the years, the centre has moved around the same neighbourhood in Geylang. It first occupied a building in Lorong 26 Geylang before moving to Lorong 15, which functioned as a holding site while their current building was being built. Today, the Centre occupies a 7-storey 1 Serene is a full time staff at the Amitabha Buddhist Centre who offered to show us the main features of the site. 2 Attached as a hard copy to this essay building in Lorong 25A Geylang; which has been the holding site for the teaching and learning site of Mahayana Buddhism since 2007. 3. MOVEMENTS AND INTERACTIONS IN SACRED SPACE(S) One important principle that underpins the relationship between space and humans within the worldview of Chinese religion is the balance and harmony of the cosmos3. Here, the perspective is that there exists an integral relaionship between the world of humans and the ‘other’ world. Therefore, as Eliade4 (1957) argues, places and objects can be imbued with religious meanings insofar as time structures lives and events. Within the Amitabha Buddhist Centre, we show how four of the seven storeys carry out these religious meanings dedicated to Buddhist practices while the remaining three levels are used for the storage of materials for public religious functions, books and thangka paintings. On the ground level, the most prominent structures include the prayer wheel and stupa table. Figure 15 shows a layout of this ground level. The golden prayer wheel (Figure 2) sits in the corner near the entrance and it is the first thing worshippers normally interact with. It contains an incredible 156 billion mantras of “Om Mani Padme Hung”. Worshippers may turn the prayer wheel and circumambulate it in a clockwise direction while reciting this mantra. This movement symbolises an accumulate of the same merit (‘good karma’) as having to recite 156 billion mantras. The reflective surface of the prayer wheel also serves to help the worshipper visualise light beams being emitted and illuminating them, purifying them from negative thoughts and obscuration. Next, devotees may purchase incense sticks and offering bowls from a staff worker before moving on to circumambulate the stupa table in a clockwise direction. The stupa (Figure 3) is a hemispherical mound that is surrounded by Buddha figures contained in a glass display. By reciting mantras and making offerings on the tables encircling the display, worshippers are once again able to remove negative karma and purify themselves. The significance of this procession-like movement across the space on the ground floor is that it serves to prepare and purify the worshipper before entering the prayer and teaching rooms on subsequent levels. In the Buddhist tradition, clockwise circumambulation is a sign of respect and showing reverence before requesting the teachings of Buddha. Therefore, this ritual must be done first to humble themselves and better present themselves before the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and other spiritual leaders. 3 Kiong, T.C. & Kong, L. 2000, "Religion and modernity: Ritual transformations and the reconstruction of space and time", Social & Cultural Geography, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 29-44 4 Eliade, M. 1957, “The Sacred and the Profane”. Translated by W.R. Trask. San Diego, New York and London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1959 edn. 5 All figures as attached in the Appendix Following on, we were introduced by Serene to the biggest prayer hall of the Centre at the second storey (Figure 4). Here, the hall provides space for large numbers of worshippers to gather to listen to Buddhist teachings from resident nuns, FPMT teachers or the Lama himself. The space is organised such that the spiritual teacher will be situated in the middle during the recitals with the sacred figures in the backdrop. Altogether, the affective atmosphere of this space enhances the devotees’ worship experience – reminding them that while they are listening to their spiritual leaders speak about Buddha’s teachings, they can also make a connection with the Buddha by being able to see their statues at the backdrop them. Thus, the visual representations that is coupled with the auditory experience serve to elevate the devotees’ sense of spirituality during their learning process. The third and fourth storeys (Figure 5 and Figure 6) host similar rooms that act as teaching rooms, prayer halls and spaces for meditation. In both rooms, there are long tables that span across one side of the room, with various altars situated side by side. Each altar has 8 offering bowls for different kinds of offerings like incense, clean water, food and perfume. This compression of space allows for devotees to worship different sacred figures within the same setting. Interestingly, a retail shop which offers religious materials, relics and sourvenirs is also located on the fourth floor. We surmise that the shop helps to enrich the worshipper’s spiritual life by providing them with additional lesson materials and Buddhist sutras. Moreover, the souvenirs also cater to the demands of religious tourism, where tourists attend lessons on Buddhist teachings out of curiosity or to experience a new spiritual pathway. 4. THE MAHAYANA TRADITION AND AMITABHA BUDDHA Despite the carrying the title of Amitabha in the name of the Centre, we found that there is no statue of Amitabha, the Buddha of infinite Light. Amitabha is said to have created and resides in the land of Sukhavati, a pure land. Lama Tsongkhapa, the founder of the faith that the Centre follows, is said to have written one of the famous prayers for taking rebirth in Sukhavati. We learnt from Serene that Amitabha is not the primary figure of the Centre because within the Mahayana tradition, the Amitabha has manifested into several different variants of the sacred figure in which the Centre has shown. Limited by the parameters of this essay6, we aim to show the three main sacred figures which feature at the second and third storeys of the Centre. 6 Refer to attached booklet for a summary of the other Amitabha variants found in the Centre. 4.1 SPIRITUAL LEADERS AND SACRED FIGURES Three main sacred figures of Mahayana Buddhism are introduced in this section. The first is the Shakyamuni Buddha, the current and primary figure in Buddhism. Its statue is located in the public prayer hall on the fourth level. He is recognised by Buddhists as an enlightened teacher who attained full Buddhahood, and shared his insights to help sentient beings end rebirth and suffering. His teachings include The Middle Way, which gives insight into how one would obtain emptiness, Four Noble Truths, which suggests why we suffer and the Noble Eightfold Path, which suggests how to end suffering. The second is Lama Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug school. Its statue is located in the public prayer hall on the fourth level, with his two disciples on both sides. In Tibetan Buddhism, the Gelug school is the newest of the four main schools, and is the main tradition that the centre follows, as passed down from the two founding lamas. The high lamas of the Gelug school are usually distinguished by the wearing yellow hats, as opposed to the other schools who wore red hats. The main teachings of Gelugpa are based on Tsongkhapa’s teachings such as the Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path and The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra, both of which highlight how one would attain buddhahood.
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