World's Tallest Bronze Buddha

Come see the world's tallest bronze Buddha. It's so huge you can see it from miles away. I went with a couple friends and we started off by getting some food. I pulled a classic vegan move. This place is called Ling Shan Grand Buddha Scenic Area and it's right off Lake Tai in Jiangsu province, about an hour's drive away from the Wuxi train station. It was built in the 1990s during the country's Buddhist revival. When this Grand Buddha was unveiled in 1997, it was the tallest open-air Buddha statue in the world, quickly becoming a popular pilgrimage destination for Buddhists, travel destination for non-Buddhists, and moneymaker for the local government. Here is an altar of the Buddha's footprints. As you can see from the sign, the Buddha's footprints have long been worshipped and are now symbols of the Buddha's, quote, down-to-earth and tireless efforts. In the middle of them, we can see the Wheel of Dharma, one of the most important symbols in Buddhism. Dharma meaning the cosmic law, natural order, the ethical way of living. This wheel represents the Buddha's teachings and the path to enlightenment. Its circular shape representing so many concepts, including completeness, the cycle of existence or samsara, movement, unity, and connectedness. The center hub of the wheel represents a stable mind, discipline. The spokes, of which there are eight, represent the teaching called the Noble Eightfold Path, which is the practical guide to training our minds, living ethically and with the wisdom to achieve enlightenment or nirvana. And the wheel's rim represents the mindfulness and concentrated meditation that holds the practice together. And then here on the balls of his feet and on his toes, we can see another one of humanity's most ancient symbols, a left-facing swastika called a sauvastika, which in East Asian Buddhism symbolizes the eternal cycle of life, good fortune, and more. And when appearing on the Buddha's footprints, represents his divine presence and path. This was like the most beautiful avenue I have ever walked on. Nicknamed the Road of Enlightenment, this is Bodhi Avenue. Of course, underneath a bodhi tree is where Siddhartha Gautama was said to have achieved enlightenment and become the Buddha. But due to the climate here, it's usually gingko trees that are planted instead of bodhi trees. Gingko trees are native to China and their species lineage dates back millions of years, so they are a sign of longevity, vitality, and hope in China. The ground beneath our feet had this mesmerizingly gorgeous, never-ending cloud design, which as you can imagine, has so many meanings. Some of my favorites include the interconnectedness of all life, as well as the ever-changing nature of existence. This avenue floor also had a seven-step lotus pattern to represent the legend of baby Siddhartha Gautama taking seven steps in the different cardinal directions upon birth, after which lotus flowers appeared beneath his footsteps. This fountain is called the Nine Dragons Bathing Fountain. It was made to bring a Buddhist legend to life. A legend of nine dragons appearing in the sky soon after baby Siddhartha Gautama was born and raining water down from their mouths to bathe him. This fountain has nine elaborate dragons on it and it's hard to see but a baby Siddhartha Gautama in the middle of the lotus at the top. When I was there, this fountain came alive in the evening. Water shot up 10 meters high from all nine dragons' mouths in synchronicity with dreamy music playing. It was absolutely enchanting and I included some clips from the serene experience at the end of the video. I also just can't get over the level of detail in this beautiful modern Buddhist art. You can purchase bird feed here to feed the birds and I just love whenever Buddhist temples include these adorable little monk statues. We all love the sound of these ringing bells and look how far away we still are from the Buddha. Here we arrived at the Buddha's hand. This hand is an exact replica of the one up ahead on the Grand Buddha of Lingshan. It is 11.7 meters tall. In Chinese, Buddha's hand or Fo Shou sounds similar to Fu Shou which means happiness and longevity. So a lot of visitors here believe that touching this big hand will bring good fortune. And as you can see, there's another wheel of Dharma on it. This is now possibly my favorite statue on earth. I could not stop smiling looking at it. It's just radiating joy, isn't it? It is called 100 Children Playing with the Maitreya Buddha. No matter how naughty they are being, playing all over his body, even peeing on him, he remains unbothered. He is tolerant, forgiving, and loving. The Maitreya Buddha is the future Buddha. Prophecy to be the successor of the present Buddha Siddhartha Gautama and coming to join this earthly realm once all the current Buddha's teachings have been forgotten in order to usher in a new era of peace and harmony. He is a symbol that goodness will prevail. Just past him, we saw all of these vibrant koi fish which according to ancient Chinese feng shui are auspicious for many reasons. Firstly, they represent wealth and abundance given their bright gold and red colors. Plus the word fish sounding the same as the word surplus in Chinese. And additionally, they represent perseverance, determination, and strength given their remarkable ability to swim upstream even in strong currents. And the ancient folklore about them doing so in the Yellow River up until a treacherous waterfall at Dragon Gate that those who bravely leaped across transformed into powerful dragons afterwards as a reward for their resilience and strength. So this Grand Buddha of Lingshan is a Shakya Muni Buddha. Shakya is the name of the clan that the ancient prince Siddhartha Gautama was born into. Muni means sage or wise one and of course, Buddha means awakened or enlightened one. So together, Shakya Muni Buddha means the enlightened sage of the clan Shakya. The Shakya Muni Buddha in contrast to other Buddhas is the historical and earthly manifestation of the present Buddha. The Shakya Muni Buddha often appears as he does in this statue with a simple monk's robe draped over his body, elongated earlobes from the royal jewelry he once wore but now renounces, serene half-closed eyes and a gentle smile to convey his inner calmness, a small raised dot between his eyebrows called an urna representing his spiritual vision, and an ushnisha, which is that semi-circle coming out from the top of his head representing vast wisdom. And there's a savasthika over his heart which can mean source of infinite compassion. The positions of his hands are also two common madras or signs in Buddhist art. These two in particular are often used in combination. His right hand being held up like this, palm facing forward is an abhaya mudra, a gesture of safety and fearlessness. And his left hand facing down near his waist, palm also facing forward is the varada mudra, which means bestower of blessings. We were too late to see the Brahma palace and five mudra mandala, but we got to enjoy this spectacular fountain show and I hope you do too.