Dharma Hall

Most Buddhist temples have a Dharma Hall that also serves as a library.

The Dharma Hall in KMSPKS houses a Myanmese-style Shakyamuni Buddha statue. The ground floor of this building serves as a lecture hall where Dharma talks and courses are conducted regularly.

Steps away from this building is a 10.65-metre tall granite statue of a standing Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva (Guan Yin Pu Sa), one of the four great bodhisattvas in the Chinese Mahayana Buddhist tradition who is renowned as being foremost in the virtue of great compassion.

The library is on the second floor of this building. It houses Buddhist scriptures and literature, including the Tripitaka (a collection of the Buddhist doctrine), comprising three main divisions of the Buddhist Canon – the Sutra[1], Vinaya[2] and Abhidharma[3]. The Buddha’s teachings cover such a phenomenal depth of wisdom and knowledge that it is said even a lifetime is insufficient to study them. However, diligent practice can lead to the realisation of the Dharma’s essence within one’s lifetime.

The white elephant on the roof of this building represents the Dharma being spread far and wide. During the Buddha’s time, elephants were used to carry Buddhist scriptures throughout India under the reign of the great Buddhist missionary, King Asoka.

 

[1] The Sutra Pitaka is a collection of discourses or sermons delivered by the Buddha.

[2] The Vinaya Pitaka refers to the texts containing the monastic disciplinary rules.

[3] The Abhidharma Pitaka is a systematic categorisation of the Buddha’s teachings in terms of Philosophy and Psychology.

 

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