The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Pictures of revered teachers, places, rupas, temples, bhikkhus, shrine rooms etc. that bring inspiration to our members. Pilgrimage advice, devotion etc.
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DNS
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Re: The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by DNS »

Yes, that is a good one. I used that to replace the 'Sacred Tooth' one to update the original page I made:

http://www.dhammawiki.com/index.php?tit ... hist_World" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Samuel
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Re: The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by Samuel »

The 32 Marks of a Great Man are not supposed to be taken literally as physical qualities, but have always been seen to represent characteristics of the Great Being.
That's just not historically true, but rather one of those ideas that have been spread among Buddhists later on to justify outdated legends in the suttas. The fact is that the 32 marks were definitely considered to be actual physical attributes of the Buddha. We can see this in many suttas, i.e. where the Buddha shows his sexual organs to prove that they are concealed in a sheath (one of the 32 marks). It's not the topic of this thread, but I wanted to clarify this. Hope that's alright.
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dhammastudier
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Re: The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by dhammastudier »

Manapa wrote:Image
Sagaing Hills would be in my list rather than the Dambulla cave temple.
wow that is a magical looking place!
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Re: The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by DNS »

I just finished reading a great book on the history of Sri Lanka:

Island of Light, by T Y Lee:

http://www.dhammawiki.com/index.php?tit ... d_of_Light" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

After reading about the Ruwanwelisaya Great Stupa and the amazing size of it, considering it was built around 161 BCE, I put that on the list instead of the Dambulla Cave Temple. Anyway, typically wonders of the world refer to man-made structures and not natural ones, such as the cave temples. So I edited some of the posts above to reflect my new version of this list and updated the Dhamma Wiki page:

http://www.dhammawiki.com/index.php?tit ... hist_World" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Parth
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Re: The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by Parth »

I am sort of surprised that

1. the stupa at sarnath (deer park) where the dhamma was first taught,
2. the remains of Anathpindaka, jetvana monastry where Buddha spent most of his time
3. Kushinagara, where Buddha decided to attain his parinibbana

do not find mention in the list. I think eight is not enough.

Regards

Parth
householder
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The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by householder »

Has anyone (in the UK) watched?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... ist_World/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pretty simplistic as expected, but full of pretty shots of various impressive monuments. Never heard of the one in LA though! Nice little shots of Wat Pho too, which I'm about to jet off to in 6 hours!
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The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by cooran »

householder said:: Nice little shots of Wat Pho too, which I'm about to jet off to in 6 hours!
Can't see the movie here in Australia - but enjoy your trip!

with metta
Chris
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---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
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PeterB
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The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by PeterB »

Yes, we watched it two nights ago.
First off its wildly ambitious. It attempts a potted history of Dhamma in all its cultural and developmental diversity in one and a quarter hours........
Secondly its choices of location seem odd.
The presenter for example to illustrate Zen visits a Chan Temple in California, but hardly even mentions Japan..
Having said that the presenter ( Bettany Hughes ) is clearly sympatico and is articulate and highly professional.
She is a historian who has fronted a number of TV history documentary. She is both learned and telegenic, which keeps her busy in front of TV cameras.. There is input from both Uma Thurman's dad, and Richard Gombrich who comes across like a parody of a Teutonic academic...
It is beautifully filmed.
I think it may well arouse an interest in some of its viewers. And thats about as much as one can expect from a populist TV programme isnt it ?
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The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by Mawkish1983 »

I just watched it. I think the presenter pronounces Theravada in an odd way and badly misrepresents some of the Dhamma (for example; kamma and punabbhava). I think it fails as a sightseeing film (it missed some key locations in favour of big shiny statues) and as an educational film. I found it disappointing.
PeterB
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The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by PeterB »

Mawkish1983 wrote:I just watched it. I think the presenter pronounces Theravada in an odd way and badly misrepresents some of the Dhamma (for example; kamma and punabbhava). I think it fails as a sightseeing film (it missed some key locations in favour of big shiny statues) and as an educational film. I found it disappointing.
I think she was actually rephrasing Gombrichs rather odd interpretation of kamma.
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The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by PeterB »

I can only recall six of them David...
Bodhgaya
Bodhinath Temple in Katmandhu
The Temple Of The Tooth in Kandy
Wat Pho in Bangkok
Angkor Wat and
Hsi Lai Temple in San Francisco.
David N. Snyder wrote:Since it can only be viewed in the UK, can one of you who saw it list the 7 wonders mentioned in the documentary?

I have a similar list here: http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=1905" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and here:

8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

My list is probably more 'Theravada' biased, compared to the BBC version, which I am sure will have plenty of Mahayana buildings.
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The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by DNS »

PeterB wrote:I can only recall six of them David...
Bodhgaya
Bodhinath Temple in Katmandhu
The Temple Of The Tooth in Kandy
Wat Pho in Bangkok
Angkor Wat and
Hsi Lai Temple in San Francisco.
Thanks PeterB.

Hsi Lai is actually in Los Angeles. http://www.hsilai.org/en/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It is the largest temple in the Western Hemisphere, in terms of square footage, about 105,000 square feet in about 10 buildings. My wife and I visit it often.
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The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by PeterB »

I beg its pardon...Just shows why I shouldn't try to rely on my memory... :smile:

:namaste:
Mawkish1983
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The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by Mawkish1983 »

Mawkish1983 wrote:I just watched it... ...I found it disappointing.
Wow, my post was negative! Sorry, I must have been in a grumpy mood that day.
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imagemarie
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The 8 Wonders of the Buddhist World

Post by imagemarie »

Mawkish1983 wrote:
Mawkish1983 wrote:I just watched it... ...I found it disappointing.
Wow, my post was negative! Sorry, I must have been in a grumpy mood that day.
And here's me thinking you were telling it how it is :tongue:

:anjali:
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