2015年6月15日 星期一

駱駝會:Visiting a Brahma Temple in Changhua City

#2015-0615

今日「駱駝會」前往彰化的「禾家牧場」及「四面佛寺」參訪,別有一番趣味;午餐在「淘米樂」吃素食自助餐,感覺愉快又健康!

This morning, together with my Camel Brothers and Sisters, Jean and I as well as our first grandson, Little Bee, visited "He-Jia: a feed lot" and the Brahma Temple located in Changhua, Taiwan.

I was especially interested in seeing the different cultural/religious things at the Brahma temple. I asked the person in charge, Mr. Fengyong Lin, whether this temple originated in India -- or was, in some ways, connected with Hinduism; he replied that it was from Thailand, the main deity being Phra Phrom, called in Chinese "Si-Mian Fo" (四面佛, the Four-Faced Buddha) or "Si-Mian Shen" (四面神, the Four-Faced God).

Oh, Lord! I know little about Phra Phrom or Brahma or something like that. I just know that if I want to, I can learn much more by reading an encyclopedia of religions, the history of religions, etc. But the "Philosopher" (or "Teacher") in the Book of Ecclesiastes has said, "My child, there is something else to watch out for. There is no end to the writing of books, and too much study will wear you out." (Ecclesiastes 12:12, Good News Bible)

---- 以下取自中文維基百科 ----

梵天(梵文:ब्रह्माBrahmā),原為古印度的祈禱神,地位並不是很高,現印度教的創造之神,與毗濕奴濕婆並稱三主神。他的坐騎為孔雀(或天鵝),配偶為智慧女神辯才天女,故梵天也常被認為是智慧之神。全印度幾萬座印度教寺廟中供奉梵天的寺廟卻極為少見,現存最有名的專門供奉梵天的地方位在拉賈斯坦邦城鎮普須卡,其他各地印度教徒大多供奉濕婆毗溼奴

佛教也將梵天吸納為護法神之一,在南傳佛教的東南亞,尤其泰國,得到很大的發揮,華人稱之為四面佛四面神,據說有保佑人間富貴吉祥的功能,在東南亞有非常多信眾。

---- The following information is taken from The English Wikipedia ----

Brahmā (/ˈbrɑːmə/; Brahmā) is the Hindu god (deva) of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Manu, and from Manu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, he is often referred to as the progenitor or great grandsire of all human beings. He is not to be confused with the Supreme Cosmic Spirit in Hindu Vedānta philosophy known as Brahman, which is genderless. Brahmā's wife is Saraswati. Saraswati is also known by names such as Sāvitri and Gayatri, and has taken different forms throughout history. Brahmā is often identified with Prajapati, a Vedic deity. Being the husband of Saraswati or Vaac Devi (the Goddess of Speech), Brahma is also known as "Vaagish," meaning "Lord of Speech and Sound."

The 15 pictures below are taken 
on Monday, June 15, 2015, 
in Changhua, Taiwan.

















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