Seng Guan See Temple; Philippines

It was my birthday and I kind of wanted to detox from all the mundane things I had been doing for the past few days. And since I haven't been able to visit a temple in months, I decided to take the day off and head to my "home" temple, Seng Guan See.

Let's enter the temple....

Seng Guan See is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in Manila (and if I am correct in the Philippines too), of Mahayana Buddhism. It was the first temple to have a resident monk, Venerable Seng Guan, who the temple was named after. It was built in 1949 to help bring Buddhism to the Philippines.

The 3 forms of Buddha on the 2nd floor; the Nirmaṇakāya, Sambhogakāya & Dharmakāya

I honestly forgot to take photos of the first floor halls (also because of the amount of foot traffic that day, I didn't want to make the other people there uncomfortable with a kid taking photos).

And since I was done doing my prayers on the first floor I headed up to the second floor, where you can find the 3 forms of Buddha (the Nirmaṇakāya, Sambhogakāya & Dharmakāya). I also forgot to take photos of the cravings the story of Siddhartha and how he reached his enlightenment  which hang above the statues (I will definitely take photos during my next visit to Seng Guan See).

The Medicine Buddha Hall

I then headed to (what I believe is the highlight of Seng Guan See) The Medicine Buddha Hall. It is the biggest among the halls of the temple, and houses the large golden statue of སངས་རྒྱས་སྨན་བླ། (Tibetan: Sanggye Menla) or भैषज्यगुरु (Sanskrit: Bhaiṣajyaguru), more commonly known as The Medicine Buddha.

He is, as his name suggests the Buddha of Healing and is often depicted as the Buddha with deep blue skin. He is a doctor who heals "dukkha" (suffering) using the medicine/s he has (his teachings).

Time to pray and meditate....

The Medicine Buddha Hall is probably my favourite among the halls of the temple. It provides the perfect space to sit quietly, meditate and worry less about everyday things. You feel protected and safe under the Medicine Buddha's watchful eyes. And as you meditate, you feel him healing you and ending the many "dukkhas" in your life.

The Ancestral Hall; Krshitigarbha/ Dizang/ ས་ཡི་སྙིང་པོ, guarding the Ancestral Hall

As I finished my meditation, I decided to pass by the Ancestral Hall and say some prayers to the ancestors before I leave the temple. And like the many halls of the first floor, there were people who were praying and lighting incense sticks in the Ancestral Hall, so I was only able to take the one photo you see above.

The Ancestral Hall is "guarded" by Krshitigarbha/ Dizang/ ས་ཡི་སྙིང་པོ. The bodhisattva who took the vow of forgoing his buddhahood until all hells are empty and free of souls. He is often depicted as a monk who has a halo around his shaved head and carries a staff (to open the gates of hell) and the wish-fulfilling jewel (to light up the darkness).

I will be visiting Seng Guan See again soon, as it is my "home" temple and the temple where I decided I would follow the teachings of Buddha and become Buddhist. And I will take more photos next time and make yet another blogpost on Seng Guan See very soon!

Seng Guan See is located at:

Narra St, Tondo, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines

*near Divisoria and Tutuban Mall!

Operating Hours: 6:00am-10:00pm