Day 15 - 九華山

Today we went to 百歲宮. Here houses 無瑕和尚's undecayed body. The story of Master Wu Xia is another amazing one. He came to Jiu Hua at the age of 26 and cultivated in a cave for 100 years exactly before entering stillness at the age of 126 in the full lotus position in 1623. Many years later, a temple was built over his cave unknowingly and the monks realized a strange light issuing from the temple that seems to react to the light of 金地藏菩薩's body in the neighbouring peak. Suspecting that there might also be a 肉身僧 around the vicinity, they dug around the temple grounds and finally found his body undecayed after many years.

There was a big fire one day at Mt Jiu Hua that threatened to burn to temple down. The disciples tried to move the master's body but they could not lift it. Then they thought that it must be the master's intention to let his body disappear with the fire, so all ten of them sat around his body and decided to leave with the master. At that moment, even though Master Wu Xia had entered stillness for a long time, his two hands rose up slowly and crossed over his chest and suddenly a storm occurred that drowned the fire.

During the cultural revolution, the master's body was placed in a wooden box and buried in the ground for 10 years. After the revolution, everyone thought that this time, the master's body is done for. But when they went back to the spot, they found the wooden box totally decomposed but the master's body was just as it was with his hands still crossed over the chest. They then gilded him with gold and placed him in the main hall for all to come and get his blessings.

百歲宮 was our last destination at Mt Jiu Hua. And so i took a slow walk down the few thousand steps to the bottom with Mr Zhou, while the rest of the group took the cable car. After lunch, we headed for Nanjing. Visited the Confucius temple there, which had been turned into a shopping street. Then we headed to the hotel early.

Day 14 - 安徽: 九華山

We heard from the guide that there was a snow storm at 九華山 yesterday. So she was unsure if today's weather will be good, but we had perfect weather today and she said it must be blessings from 地藏菩薩 as the area is usually covered in snow, rain or fog throughout the year. 九華山 is an amazing place and there are just so many stories about this mountain that I'm not sure if I'll be able to cover them all.


We first went to 化城寺, the oldest temple in 九華山. This is said to be the place where Earth Store Bodhisattva first cultivated when he arrived at 九華. It houses many artifacts and stories about the Earth Store Bodhisattva of Jiu Hua. And I got my name carved onto the wall tiles of the temple! So next time if you do come, look for the side that says March, 2009 and you'll find my name there! Lolz

We learned that the Earth Store of Jiu Hua Shan is an actual person from what is now Korea, by the name of 金乔覺. He came to 九華when he was 24. Same as me! Lolz. Oh wells, but I'm way far off from his level... When he passed away, his body did not rot, thus becoming a 肉身僧. People then realized that his features were just like the Earth Store Bodhisattva described in the sutras. And only then did they realize that it was Earth Store Bodhisattva who had taken on a human form. But in order to differentiate them, they named his human form 金地藏菩薩 after his family name.


肉身僧, like shariras, is another miracle of the Buddhist world. To attain a body that doesn't decay, the cultivator must have achieved the 金剛身 during his/her lifetime and they will undergo a test after death. Upon death, the body is placed in a huge jar for 3 days. After 3 days, it will be checked for any signs or smell of decay. Then it is stored for 3 years. If still no signs of decay occurs, the cultivator is said to have become a 肉身僧 and it will be gilded in gold as a form of respect. In 九華山, there is a total of 6 肉身僧 including that of 金地藏菩薩(A.D 794). The other 5 was of 無瑕和尚(1623), 大興和尚(1985), 慈明和尚 (1991), 仁義師太 (1995), 明淨和尚 (1999). The last 3 are all very recent!


We visited many temples. 上禪堂 is a place that houses a Guan Yin statue that has water dripping from her vase year through even when temperatures drop to -12 degrees celcius. The backyard also has a very beautiful view. 護國月身寶塔 is the place that houses the un-decayed body of 金地藏菩薩. 地藏禪寺 is the place that houses 慈明和尚's un-decayed body. Many of the locals personally knew 慈明和尚 as he was known to be extremely kind hearted.


After lunch we had to take the cable car to the half way point of one of Mt. Jiu Hua's peak, then climb up another hundred or so steps to 古拜經臺 where 金地藏菩薩 spent many years reciting the sutras here so much so that his foot print was imprinted into the ground which hardened over the years. Along the way there was also a huge rock that looked like a bird and the story was that when 金地藏菩薩 was reciting the sutras, a huge Peng Bird (大鵬鳥）landed on the mountain side to listen to the sutra. Upon attaining the way, it transformed itself into a rock and lived on the mountain side.


From that temple, it was a steps, steps and more steps! A total of 1300 steps to climb up to the peak where 天臺寺 is located. 1300 metres above sea level. Scary but the view was breath taking! Well, partly due to the thinner air up there, but also the surrounding mountains and temples made it look just like a chinese painting. In the last picture above, you can see 天臺寺 far far behind.


On the way back to the hotel, I had a random thought of eating fried bananas and guess what... the first dish served during dinner was exactly that! I guess that was the bodhisattva's way of saying good job for making it all the way to the top! =)

Day 13 - 寧波

We spent the morning in 寧波 visiting 天童寺 and 阿育王廟. 天童寺 is set in the mountains and the air here is really fresh. Much less smokers as well thus making the visit pretty pleasant. Lolz. The temple also housed images of the 18 arhats that managed to get preserved during the revolution as they were painted over with the slogans of Mao Ze Dong. There were lots of students visiting this temple as well and I found out that the local schools actually bring their students here for field trips. Outside of 天童寺, I also spotted a house in the shape of a soccer ball! Lolz. Pretty cool.


阿育王廟 housed the sharira of the Buddha's crown. Unfortunately when we got there, they were holding some Buddhist event and thus we did not even get to see the pagoda housing the sharira. Much less the shariras themselves. Bummer...

After lunch, we set off for 九華山 - the home of 地藏菩薩. It was a long bus ride. We left directly after lunch and arrived at 9pm. And we heard from the tour guide that 9 is a number that Jiu Hua Shan has lots of affinity for. It is afterall called the Nine Flowers Mountain as there are 9 peaks in total. Furthermore, in order to get to our hotel on the top of one of the mountains, we had to go through 99 turns. And there are 99 streets in Jiu Hua Shan. And the main statue of Earth Store Bodhisattva is 99 meters tall! Lolz

Since we arrived after dark, nothing could be seen. But so far, 九華山 sounds exciting!

Day 12 - 普陀,寧波

Went to 法雨寺 and 普濟寺 today. The 2 biggest temples on 普陀. 法雨寺 was where Master Hua took the novice precepts. The temples were all rebuilt after the revolution and have also become tourist destinations. We left after lunch and took the ferry to 舟山 then transferred to another ferry to 寧波. So basically most of the time was spent on the sea.

Day 11 普陀山

It rained the entire day today thus making it difficult to take any photos. Pu Tuo Mountain has basically become a tourist destination flooded with tour flags and cameras. Incense smoke and cigarette smoke is mixed in the air. It wasn't what I expected. Too crowded for my liking.

Fan Ying Dong, the cave where many people said they miraculously saw Guan Yin Bodhisattva's apparition is unfortunately under renovation. I really don't understand what can be renovated about that? Perhaps because some people didn't get to see Guan Yin so they're building a holographic Guan Yin now. Lolz. I don't know. It was quite disappointing though. But then I guess we can still count ourselves lucky for making it into Pu Tuo for all the ferry services from Shanghai is cancelled tomorrow due to level 9 winds from the Eastern Sea. Great... Now we're stuck in Pu Tuo with no Guan Yin to see...