Title: June 1st - 12:54
Medium: Super-8 film
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Resolution: 2880 x 2160
File Type: H.264 Codec / MP4.
Comments: We planned to meet with Jacky and Jing Lee for an early morning adventure to the Tian Tan Big Buddha at the top of the hill. The group met at the gondola station that lifts you high across Lantau North Country Park. It was raining, otherwise we would have done the walk to Buddha. We arrived at the entrance to the temples and walked through a park with twelve statues with faces of animals. It was the creatures of the zodiac. Each animal was equipped with a unique tool or weapon. Some warriors, others olympians. I always look for the monkey, because I am a monkey. Slowly walking to observe the details on every single statue, as if it were a ritual. We continued toward to what felt like a stairway to heaven. The big Buddha was smiling and waving us in. I made Jackys and Jing Lees portrait the moment we saw the Buddha between the men and the trees. We are one! Ascending the stairs slowly and mindfully in the rain as if in a meditative trance. Quietly listening to the water dripping on the stone; The bronze, like a bell ringing. Once we made it to the top we stood there for ten minutes admiring the scale and the location of the enlightened "super-human." We entered the Buddha and realized it was an art museum. There were many Buddhist scrolls and illustrations on the three floors. Once you reached the crown of the Buddha building there is a mystic crystal. A Śarīra, which are crystalline, pearl-like objects sometimes found among the cremated remains of Buddhist masters, particularly high-level monks or bodhisattvas. Ethan and I were in awe that this was possible to achieve. We talked about this crystal meditation and philosophical ideas on its origins in this attic chamber for a while. Jing Lee came up and suggested we go light some incense for our ancestors. We decided to get the life size incense sticks for a bit of a prayer boost; these sticks were the length of a baseball bat. We sat to watch it burn... The bat engulfed less than a an eighth of the way before leaving, since it would take all day to burn away. The sun started shining through the rain clouds and we were walking past the zodiac again. This time taking a few more minutes with each one in the sun, reveals new dimensions. We hopped back on the gondola and rode over the mountain to go back to the city and drink some tea with our friends.
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