Foo Hai Ch'an Monastery

Foo Hai Ch'an Monastery (Chinese: 福海禅寺), is a Buddhist monastery in Singapore. The foundation was originally set up by Venerable Hong Zong of Taiwan. The present premises are located, adjacent to Sri Sivan Temple, in front of Paya Lebar MRT station, exit C at Geylang East Avenue 2, Singapore.

Foo Hai Ch'an Monastery
Monastery information
OrderMahayana
Established1935
People
Founder(s)Venerable Hong Zong
Site
LocationGeylang, Singapore
Public accessyes
Websitewww.foohai.org
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Overview

Foo Hai Ch'an Monastery was founded in 1935 by Taiwan-born Japan-ordained Venerable Hong Zong who came to popularise Buddhism in Singapore. He was succeeded by Venerable Miao Shou in 1975.[1][2] The monastery founded the present day Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre at Novena.

Monastery

Built in Zen-style, the Monastery has several structures, statues, Bodhi tree and Buddha relics that are of religious importance and of interest to tourists.[3][4]

Heng Ha Dharmapala Entrance

The main entrance of the Monastery has two Dharmapala protectors, called Heng and Ha. Heng and Ha, the Chinese name of the Dharmapala protectors. During the Chinese adoption of Buddhism, under the influence of Taoism and folk religions, where even numbers are considered sacred, two larger-than-life Dharampala protectors, Heng and Ha, made from metal, were installed on the main entrance of the monastery.[3][4]

Bell and Drum Towers

Inside the boundary wall from the main entrance are two towers, one each on the north and south corners of the platform housing the main monastery building, a Bell gong tower to the north side and drum tower to the south side. In the morning, the gong is played 108 times, descending from louder to gentler sound, to announce the end of the night and to awaken from deep unconscious. In the evening, the gong is played 108 times, ascending from gentler to louder sound. The sounds are played to remind listeners of illusions.[3][4]

Main Monastery Building

The multi-storey main monastery building has a large airy 15 m high prayer hall in the front, which houses a 4-storey high reception, office, administration, auditorium, meeting rooms and toilets at the back. The main hall houses 3.3 meters statue of Buddha and 9.9 meter tall statues of Guanyin.

Foo Hai Ch'an Guanyin

Inside the main large prayer hall, there is a 9.9 m (32.5 feet) tall 1000-hands Guanyin (or Guan Yin) statue of Buddha, which is the South Asian adoption of the Indian-origin Bodhisattva, the feminine representation of compassionate qualities of Buddha.[3][4] There is a large altar in front of the deity, several ornate statues in the roof, and several rows for praying.

Buddha Relic Foo Hai Ch'an Pagoda

A five-story high pagoda, built in 2004 by the Siddhartha centre which donated Sg$6 million to Foo Hai Ch'an in 2004, lies in the central north direction. Each floor houses decorated statutes of Buddha in various styles; the top floor houses the sacred Buddha relics.[3][4]

Guest House and Teaching Centre

Inside the main entrance, to the immediate right side, there is a five-storey above-ground teaching centre, library and guest house building with toilets.[3][4]

Singapore Bodhi Tree

Singapore Bodhi Tree is a sacred Bodhi Tree,[3][4] between the main monastery building and pagoda. It is a gift given to the monastery by the then visiting president of Sri Lanka. It comes from the cutting of Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi tree (planted at Anuradhapura in 288 BC, by king Ashoka's eldest daughter Sangamitta) after taking a sapling cutting from the original UNESCO World Heritage Site Bodhi Tree at Bodh Gaya in India under which Buddha attained the enlightenment.

Foo Hai Ch'an Columbarium

Foo Hai Ch'an Columbarium,[3][4] housing urns containing ashes of cremated deceased people, lies in the basement under the pagoda and guest house building.

Fraud By Ming Yi

Venerable Ming Yi of Foo Hai Ch'an Monastery as of 2015[5] was also imprisoned in a high-profile corruption scandal for misappropriating funds and giving false information.[6][7][8][9] The Commissioner of Charities suspended him from decision-making positions in Foo Hai Ch'an Monastery and other related organisations.[10]

See also

References
  1. "认识福海". Foo Hai Ch'an Monastery. Archived from the original on 2014-09-11. Retrieved 2014-09-10.
  2. "2006 April Activities". For You Information (204).
  3. "Foo Hai Chan Monastery". Archived from the original on 2017-08-09. Retrieved 2017-05-19.
  4. Foo hai Chan Monastery details
  5. Aw, Cheng Wei (11 May 2015). "Buddhist monk glad kidney recipient has second shot". Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  6. "Ming Yi's monk status questioned over $1,000-a-table dinner". AsiaOne. 2 Dec 2010. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  7. Chong, Elena. "Ren Ci head Venerable Ming Yi charged with 10 counts". Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  8. "Former Ren Ci chief breaks down in court". AsiaOne. 21 Apr 2009. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  9. Yong, Amanda. "He buys BMW, racehorse in Perth". Archived from the original on 31 July 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  10. "Ming Yi suspended from office in 5 other bodies". Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2016.

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