The Buddha Bathing Ceremony (Vesak Day Celebration) organized by Miao De Chan Temple and the Miao De Bodhisattva Society Foundation is held every year at Robinsons Place in Malate, Manila. This year, the whole day event runs from May 9 to 11 at the open area in front of Chaa Tea Shop.
Chaa Tea Shop is a cozy little place that has a good selection of teas at affordable prices. All dishes served are vegetarian with no MSG, garlic and onion. Food there is also affordable and quite good.
I had fetuccini funghi, Mom had spaghetti puttanesca and Dad had Chaa clubhouse together with a pot of ti kuan yin tea. Too bad Robinsons Place Malate is not my usual haunt or I'd be a frequent customer. It's difficult to find a place that serves traditional teas, and not the type that's full of sugar and flowers that taste like potpourri.
I highly recommend Chaa Tea Shop for those who would like to enjoy traditional teas that won't burn a hole in your wallet. It is also on my short list of good vegetarian restaurants.
Miao De Chan Temple is located in Tagaytay City. They organize retreats, seminars and scholarships for Filipinos. Their success is due to the fact that all their lectures and dharma services are conducted in English. Actually, it's bilingual, Mandarin Chinese and English. Ms. Sweet Go does an excellent job interpreting Venerable Master Jing Ping's lectures.
I first visited Miao De Chan Temple on May 3, 2008 when I was in Tagaytay for this year's Toastmasters International District 75 Convention at the Taal Vista Hotel. My cousin Ida Sih knows Ms. Sweet Go and the way to the temple. We were given a tour of the place and took some photos. I'm still waiting to get the photos from cousin Ida.
It was my first time to attend their Vesak Day celebration. The opening ceremony was a sutra chanting and prayer service conducted in English. It was kind of unusual to hear Buddhist chants in English accompanied by traditional Buddhist instruments. However, I believe they are on the right tract in finally bridging the language gap. KUDOS!!!
On April 18 and 19, IBPS Manila and BLIA Philippines jointly organized this year's Vesak Day celebration at the largest mall in Asia, the SM Mall of Asia in Manila. Held at the open-air Music Hall, the event was open to the public.
I spent 2 days as a volunteer taking photos and video... mostly video of the event. I just finished editing raw footages into a 1 minute news clip today at Auntie Grace's house.
More information and photos are available at
the official site.
This news clip was sent to BLTV.
http://abty888.multiply.com/tag/buddhism
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