Tang Dynasty, New York

Chuang Yen Monastery on a crispy winter day.

I first heard about a place called Chuang Yen Monastery from a group of friends. They were planning to visit for the occasion of the Lunar (Chinese) New Year. I was quite interested in tagging along and after making the plans, we made the trip there. It was January 2004.*

The trip from NYC took about two hours. The monastery is normally closed during the winter  months as the often treacherous weather can make traveling a bit tricky (and dangerous). The monastery does, however, open for the Lunar New Year. Once we were on our way from the parking lot to the temple complex, I was astonished by what I saw.

Before my eyes, in the middle of a scenic, rural area in upstate New York, was a large series of temple buildings built in the traditional Chinese style. I was immediately filled with a sense of bizarre wonder. To me, it almost felt as if the buildings were copied and pasted straight out of Tang Dynasty China.

The Great Buddha Hall of Chuang Yen Monastery.

My friends and I weren't there simply for a leisurely visit, however. We were actually volunteers for the day and would be helping out with the various tasks that needed to be done. Lunar New Year is one of the most important festivities in Chinese culture, a fact that doesn't depend on geography. Even in the middle of a frigid winter day in New York, the place was buzzing with (mostly Chinese) devotees making offerings of various sorts. As my Chinese language skills were (and as of press time, remain) nonexistent, I was assigned to a post that didn't require much Chinese: the kitchen.

Working with a dozen other volunteers to prepare food for literally hundreds of people was quite a fascinating experience, to say the least. The whirlwind of jovial chopping, boiling, frying,  and baking left a lasting impression on me. The image of one fellow stir-frying a massive amount of vegetables with a shovel in the biggest (~1 m/3 ft) wok I'd ever seen is not something I'll soon forget. My experience in the kitchen wasn't so much profound as much as it was just damn fun. I resolved that I would learn how to cook and, unlike my halfhearted desire to learn Chinese in the ill-defined future, I eventually did learn my way around the kitchen.

After lunch and cleaning up, my friends and I were basically finished with our tasks and we had time to explore the environs of the monastery. Before describing the rest of my visit, however, I should probably explain just how a large, Tang Dynasty-style temple complex in the middle of New York came to be.

Chuang Yen ("majestsically adorned") monastery, is the home of the Buddhist Association of the United States (BAUS), a non-sectarian Chinese Buddhist organization. With the help of Dr. C. T. Shen, a prominent figure in the establishment of Buddhism in the U.S., construction began in the early 1980s and was finished in 1985.

A view of the Kuan Yin Hall.

One of the main buildings is the Kuan Yin Hall, which, as the name implies, is dedicated to the bodhisattva Kuan Yin. Used for smaller-scale ceremonies and as meditation space, the hall contains a number of artistic treasures. Centrally placed on the main altar is a porcelain Kuan Yin statue dating from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE). To the left of the this statue is a large wooden statue of Kuan Yin that actually does date from the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE). I don't know the exact story surrounding this statue except that it was donated to the monastery and required much restoration work. These days, the calm, effortlessly blissful expression and the elegantly postured figure make a powerful impression on those who view it up close. When I first entered the hall, I was all alone and it was very quiet, which made the experience even more calming.

The porcelain, Ming Dynasty-era Kuan Yin.

The wooden Kuan Yin, which really does
come straight out of the Tang Dynasty.

The Bodhi Path facing the
parking lot.

The stone Bodhi Path (also shown as the second image in this post) guides visitors from the main parking lot to the Main Hall. Statues of the Buddha's arhat disciples flank the route. The path ends in front of the entrance to the Buddha Hall. One of my friends and I walked the path and paid our respects to each enlightened master. The fact that it was freezing cold and a bit slippery didn't both us all that much (I think).

The Bodhi Path facing the Kuan Yin Hall (right) and the
Great Buddha Hall (left).

The Great Buddha Hall is as massive as it looks in the pictures. Visitors enter it through side entrances since, according to tradition, the main entrance in the center is reserved for special guests as well as for the abbot of the monastery. Although I was technically indoors, I definitely felt a sense of expansiveness. Perhaps it was because there are no columns standing in the middle of the hall which would make one feel cramped.

Inside the Great Buddha Hall.

The buddha statue that is the focal point of the hall depicts Vairocana Buddha making the vajra mudra. This statue is also thought to be the largest buddha statue in the western hemisphere. The pedestal on which the buddha sits is adorned with reliefs of various bodhisattvas, all of which display the blissful elegance that characterizes much of Buddhist art. Directly opposite the reliefs is a colorful mural showing various buddhas in a heavenly realm surrounded by celestial beings and bodhisattvas. On top of this mural lies a host of 10,000 small buddha statues. In contrast to the vibrant and other-worldly images on and directly opposite the giant buddha's lotus pedestal, the artwork facing away from massive statue gives a very different impression.

The path below the great
buddha statue.

Some of the 10,000 buddhas

Manjushri Bodhisattva.

A stern, black and white mural shows the 500 Arhats, a popular subject in  East Asian Buddhist art. If I remember correctly, C. T. Shen himself, the benefactor of the monastery, is supposed to have painted some of the figures on this mural. Reflecting on the two different murals was a useful experience for me. In terms of dharma practice, it's easy to swing between the two extremes of strict austerity (as exemplified by the arhats) and attaching to wonderful ideas of a perfect realm far away from our own troubles (shown in the celestial mural). But as the buddha himself taught, we should always aim for the middle path.  

The 500 Arhats Mural.

The cosmic assembly.

A closeup of the arhats.

The rest of the buddha hall is filled with things you'd expect to find in any other main hall; smaller altars, prayer books, shrines dedicated to specific buddhas and bodhisattvas, etc.

A view of the main hall.

The final stop of the trip was the Seven Jewels Lake. The traditional list of the seven jewels includes gold, silver, colored glaze, crystal, coral, pearl, and agate. This area of the monastery grounds includes a garden and some pavilions. To say this was a tranquil place would be a serious understatement. The frozen water, the cold yet crisp air, the cold yet gentle breeze, the sound of nothing but he wind, and most of all, the beautiful Kuan Yin Bodhisattva statue overlooking the lake all reminded me that in such busy times, places of quiet solitude can still be found. Sometimes they can even take the form of ancient-looking Chinese monasteries in upstate New York.

   

 


*Although this trip took place in the winter of 2004, the pictures shown were taken in February, 2005. As not much changed (including the amount of snow and ice), I decided to use the photos from my later trip to illustrate my first visit.