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Nan Tien Temple
Nan Tien Temple () is a Buddhist temple complex located in Berkeley, on the southern outskirts of the Australian city of Wollongong, approximately south of Sydney. Nan Tien is one of the branch temples of the Taiwanese Fo Guang Shan Buddhist order, founded in 1967 by Hsing Yun, which has over 120 branches worldwide. The temple is one of the largest Buddhist temples in the southern hemisphere. History It was founded by and constructed under the auspices of the Mahayana Buddhist organization known as Fo Guang Shan, and completed in 1995. The organization itself was founded in Taiwan in 1967 by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, and has 120 branches throughout the world. Fo Guang Shan Buddhism is rooted in the Mahayana tradition which emphasises that Buddhahood is within everyone's potential reach. Fo Guang Shan followers strive to bring Buddhism into daily life and describe their philosophy as " Humanistic Buddhism". The site of the Australian branch's temple was reputedly chos ...
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Berkeley, New South Wales
Berkeley is a suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales. The suburb is located in Wollongong's southern suburbs, on the northern shore of Lake Illawarra, and is one of the city's most populous suburbs. At the , it had a population of 7,605. History Historically a farming community situated between the hills and Lake Illawarra, Berkeley became one of the Illawarra's solutions to a public housing shortage in the early years. Subsequently, several public housing developments were established and most of these are still in existence today in certain parts of the suburb. To date approximately close to one in four dwellings consist of public housing owned by Housing NSW. The suburb has however enjoyed significant growth in the last two decades, with younger working families moving into the district in search of new homes. Berkeley's distance from Wollongong and vast space at the time identified it as an attractive option to new families and today much of the farmland is occupied by housi ...
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Frank Arkell
Francis Neville (Frank) Arkell (13 September 193526 June 1998) was an Australian politician. Arkell was a long-serving Lord Mayor of Wollongong and an independent member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing Wollongong. In 1998 Arkell was violently murdered in his home, aged 62 years. His home was exposed as the venue of pedophile parties with some boys brought from Brisbane and the Gold Coast, with Arkell identified as the one paying money to the traffickers. Arkell was a Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy, according to his biography on the Parliament of NSW site. Early life Arkell was born on 13 September 1935 in Port Kembla, New South Wales. He grew up in a modest house out on the swamplands south of Wollongong, within walking distance of the Port Kembla steelworks that was built in the 1920s and which employed his truck-driving father through the Depression and beyond. The Arkells sent their sons to the local Christian Brothers College. The mos ...
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T'ai Chi Ch'uan
Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called " shadowboxing", is an internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and meditation. Tai chi has practitioners worldwide from Asia to the Americas. Early practitioners such as Yang Chengfu and Sun Lutang promoted the art for its health benefits beginning in the early 20th century. Its global following may be attributed to overall benefit to personal health. Many forms are practiced, both traditional and modern. Most modern styles trace their development to the five traditional schools: Chen, Yang, Wu (Hao), Wu, and Sun. All trace their historical origins to Chen Village. Concepts ''Yin'' and ''Yang'' The concept of the '' taiji'' ("Supreme Ultimate"), in contrast with '' wuji'' ("without ultimate"), appears in both Taoist and Confucian philosophy, where it represents the fusion or mother of yin and yang into ...
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Chinese Culture
Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying greatly between provinces, cities, and even towns as well. The terms 'China' and the geographical landmass of 'China' have shifted across the centuries, with the last name being the Great Qing before the name 'China' became commonplace in modernity. Chinese civilization is historically considered a dominant culture of East Asia. With China being one of the earliest ancient civilizations, Chinese culture exerts profound influence on the philosophy, virtue, etiquette, and traditions of Asia. Chinese characters, ceramics, architecture, music, dance, literature, martial arts, cuisine, visual arts, philosophy, business etiquette, religion, politics, and history have had global influence, while its traditions and festivals are celebrated, ...
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Potala Palace
The Potala Palace is a ''dzong'' fortress in Lhasa, Tibet. It was the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas from 1649 to 1959, has been a museum since then, and a World Heritage Site since 1994. The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, the mythical abode of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. The 5th Dalai Lama started its construction in 1645Laird, Thomas. (2006). ''The Story of Tibet: Conversations with the Dalai Lama'', pp. 175. Grove Press, New York. . after one of his spiritual advisers, Konchog Chophel (died 1646), pointed out that the site was ideal as a seat of government, situated as it is between Drepung and Sera monasteries and the old city of Lhasa.Karmay, Samten C. (2005). "The Great Fifth", p. 1. Downloaded as a pdf file on 16 December 2007 from It may overlay the remains of an earlier fortress called the White or Red Palace on the site, built by Songtsen Gampo in 637. The building measures east-west and north-south, with sloping stone walls averaging thick, and th ...
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Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majority regions surrounding the Himalayan areas of India (such as Ladakh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and a minority in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand), in much of Central Asia, in the southern Siberian regions such as Tuva, and in Mongolia. Tibetan Buddhism evolved as a form of Mahāyāna Buddhism stemming from the latest stages of Indian Buddhism (which also included many Vajrayāna elements). It thus preserves many Indian Buddhist tantric practices of the post-Gupta early medieval period (500 to 1200 CE), along with numerous native Tibetan developments. In the pre-modern era, Tibetan Buddhism spread outside of Tibet primarily due to the influence of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), founded by Kublai Khan, which had ruled Chin ...
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Pagoda
A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, and were often located in or near viharas. The pagoda traces its origins to the stupa of ancient India. Chinese pagodas () are a traditional part of Chinese architecture. In addition to religious use, since ancient times Chinese pagodas have been praised for the spectacular views they offer, and many classical poems attest to the joy of scaling pagodas. Chinese sources credit the Nepalese architect Araniko with introducing the pagoda to China. The oldest and tallest pagodas were built of wood, but most that survived were built of brick or stone. Some pagodas are solid with no interior. Hollow pagodas have no higher floors or rooms, but the interior often contains an altar or a smaller pagoda, as well as a series of staircases for the vi ...
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Five Dhyani Buddhas
5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an award-winning comics anthology * ''No. 5'' (manga), a Japanese manga by Taiyō Matsumoto * The Famous Five (novel series), a series of children's adventure novels written by English author Enid Blyton Films * ''Five'' (1951 film), a post-apocalyptic film * ''Five'' (2003 film), an Iranian documentary by Abbas Kiarostami * ''Five'' (2011 film), a comedy-drama television film * ''Five'' (2016 film), a French comedy film * Number 5, the protagonist in the film ''Short Circuit'' (1986 film) Television and radio * 5 (TV channel), a television network in the Philippines (currently known as TV5 from 2008 to 2018 and again since 2020), owned by TV5 Network, Inc. * Channel 5 (British TV channel), British free-to-air television network sometim ...
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Kuan Yin
Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She was first given the appellation of "Goddess of Mercy" or "Mercy Goddess" by Jesuit missionaries in China. Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World." On the 19th day of the sixth lunar month, Guanyin's attainment of Buddhahood is celebrated. Some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Guanyin in the heart of a lotus, and then sent to the western pure land of Sukhāvatī. Guanyin is often referred to as the "most widely beloved Buddhist Divinity" with miraculous powers to assist all those who pray to her, as is mentioned in the ''Pumen chapter'' of ''Lotus Sutra'' and '' Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra''. Several large temples in East Asia ...
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Columbarium
A columbarium (; pl. columbaria) is a structure for the reverential and usually public storage of funerary urns, holding cremated remains of the deceased. The term can also mean the nesting boxes of pigeons. The term comes from the Latin "''columba''" (dove) and, originally, solely referred to compartmentalized housing for doves and pigeons called a dovecote. Background Roman columbaria were often built partly or completely underground. The Columbarium of Pomponius Hylas is an ancient Roman example, rich in frescoes, decorations, and precious mosaics. Today's columbaria can be either free standing units, or part of a mausoleum or another building. Some manufacturers produce columbaria that are built entirely off-site and brought to the cemetery by a large truck. Many modern crematoria have columbaria. Examples of these are the columbaria in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris and Golders Green Crematorium in London. In other cases, columbaria are built into church structures. O ...
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