On the first day of this new year we visited the sacred Wat Dharmararam Buddihist Temple south of Stockton. Nic's brother, Ted, Ted's wife, Mary, and their girls, Laura and Lilly, accompanied us on our first visit to this Wat.
Our new year started today, but we'll have to wait till April 13th or 14th to celebrate with these monks their new year.
Only speaking for myself, I was overwhelmed. I don't read Devnagari, Khmer or Cambodian, if that's what you call it, I don't know, because I'm ignorant; however, some research has indicated these giant sculptures are depicting scenes from the life of Siddhartha Gautama on his journey to become Buddha. The first statue erected here, which I didn't measure, but estimate it to be a 50 to 100 foot long, is Buddha on his death bed -- its production may have started six years or so ago. The picture below gives an idea of how enormous the statue is :


The temple is on the list of things to see in Stockton, and photos don't quite tell the story. The informational placards may be informative, but, again, I'm ignorant because I don't read Devnagari well or, for that matter, at all. So the information may have told the story of the statue, or possibly who the donors for the project were, or possibly conveyed a blessing.

Unbeknown to us, we lined up with heaven's king of angels and his 7 daughters ( each having a name of one of the days of the week ) for a photo opportunity. Lilly is standing next to Sunday. Laura is standing next to Saturday. Wednesday is hidden by the king of angels. The devotional safe next to the green incense holder is not as conspicuous as Wednesday.



Other statues of the sisters, the angels, show each angel and her protectorate. The statues convey, I should understand, that each angel protects something -- the earth, the sky, the oceans.

If any of us achieve moska, I'm sure we'll enjoy our passionless nama-roopa.

Maybe this year it'll happen.

There certainly seems to be something on the wire. The vibrations are strong here.

But I'm not sure if I'm ready to fast.













And why is it necessary to cut hair in order to become a saint?
And to have to cut hair with a sword ( and that's a real sword amongst the wire, cement and paint ) seems unusually cruel, but I'd guess it works if that's part of becoming a saint.
















I think many of us are anticipating a good musical year -- we'll romvong around the sun and play special gigs.

The picture below was the last picture Nic took today. And this statue, which is very close to the temple, seemed to have the most offerings.

We'd like to offer you a blessed new year filled with love, family, friends, music and all that will fulfill you on your journey to Nirvana.