Temple in Taipei

Since coming here I have been meaning to see some unique buildings or places. One such place is a temple. I entered a small temple in Danshui and was amazed by its beauty and style. Esther walked me through some guidelines, for example, you have to walk in through the right entrance and have to walk out the left side. The middle door is not to be used. You could smell the essence from the burning wood as people were praying. Later that day, Stanley told me that a main temple rests in Taipei. After hearing this I had been longing to see it with my own eyes.

7/18 Sunday Morning - Stanley being the nice and cool guy that he is offered to take us to Taipei to show us around the city and take us to the temple. We meet at seven-eleven and go eat breakfast, our whole guy group, Stanley and Abby(Stanley's girlfriend). After breakfast, we socialize for awhile and try to figure out our plan. Some of the guys want to use their free time to do some work so we have to part ways. We take a cab to the train station; me, Stanley, Abby, Ivan, Matt and of course Ankit(picture man). We take the train to the MRT transit and take a subway to Taipei.

We arrive in Taipei and the excitement rises. Stanley asks us to follow him so we follow Stanley. As we follow Stanley he points out various places and gives us information. And then we see the temple, even from a distance it stands out. The elegant style and vibrant colors make it a sight to see. We walk through a gate that seems to be made of gold into a beautiful open area. On the right side there is a waterfall and colorful fish swimming in the water below it. We walk through the right gate into an area with some shops. As we keep walking we come to a big open area with a temple in the middle. There is a pot in front of the temple where wood is burned. You could see people praying both in front of the temple and the burnig pot.

We walk around the temple and come to some rooms with statues of gods. Each god reperesents a different aspect of life. While behind the temple we notice a man staniding there and throwings these wooden objects on the ground. We find out from Stanley that he is praying and the way the objects land gives the person an answer. This was very interesting but the best part of the temple was coming up.

Matt and I walked upon a shop in the temple area and bought some beads. Stanley and Abby gave informed us of a blessing ritual that most people do when they buy beads. Abby accompanied us to the front of the tempe in the middle of the square. We prayed in front of the temple and then took our beads to the burning pot and made three circular motions over the pot. So now I currently wear blessed beads.

The whole temple scenario was a wonderful experience. I learned a lot about another religion and culture. I'm gald I got to see it. Thank you Stanley and Abby.