What's New at The Temple Guy?

Here's a listing of new, COMPLETED posts and pages, with the most recent listed first. (There are lots more in various stages of construction, but these are DONE.)

Enjoy!

November, 2023:

Of course, LOTS has happened in the past few years, most notably my Temple Tales Newsletter (and Podcast) on Substack.

But of special interest today is that I've just finished transferring/recreating my "Ascent of Hsi Lai Temple"--literally the first major project of The Temple Guy, written as a paper at Hsi Lai University (now University of the West) over 20 years ago!

It may be of limited interest unless you're planning to visit the temple in Southern California; but still, it's where my interest in temples--and my desire to understand them and communicate that understanding--really got off the ground.

Take a look!

October 2019:

• I have spent most of the month reposting my Aki Meguri from the old Temple Guy site to this one. It is in three unequal parts:
• The 53 Stations of the Old Tokaido, covered entirely on foot;
• A jaunt through several sites in Old Yamato (Nara and Asuka, as well as Koya San); and
• The 88 Temples of Shikoku, traveled partly on foot and partly by public transportation.
• In addition, I have included all the background information about how I organized this 10-week trip. Take a look!

September 2019:

• 9/30: Bliss, Bush, and Bullshit: Ties together a Tibetan sand mandala, George W. Bush (how I miss him!), and Joseph Campbell
• 9/27: My "Ancestral Shrine": The story of my own personal backyard shrine
• 9/22: The Ruins of Pindangan Church, San Fernando, La Union, The Philippines (visited in July of 2019)
• 9/20: The 18 Arhats at Ma-Cho Temple, San Fernando, La Union, The Philippines (visited in July of 2019)
• 9/17: Ma-Cho Temple, San Fernando, La Union, The Philippines (Visited in July of 2019)
• 9/14: "My Lady's Parlour" (A very short story by W. Somerset Maugham about a Chinese temple)

August 2019:

• Completed the transfer of FaceBook albums to the archives here
• Completed the transfer of my Chinese PilgrImage postcards from another site to the archives here
• Made significant progress on transferring and completing the Shenzhen Daily "Key Temple" articles to the archives here. (I moved all that had been completed on the other site; more to do, and all the more important since most are now inaccessible at the Shenzhen Daily site)

July 2019:

• 7/13: Me and the Abbot: Venerable Hui Chuan of Hsi Lai Temple (a reminiscence of encounters while working there)
• 7/12: After months of hammering away, all sub-guides (see Guide page for a list) and Google maps are complete! I'm now ready to start regular blog posts. YAY!

May 2019:

• 5/12: The Golden Spike c. 1995 (May 10, 1995)
• 5/01: In which the Temple Guy "Meets" the Emperor and Empress of Japan (October 22, 1999)

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Technical Note: Older posts are dated according to when I visited the site (or sight) described. That is, if I went to Yufo Temple in Shanghai on August 26, 2009 (which I did), the post about Yufo will bear that date and an approximate time. (For sites visited numerous times, the date of the first visit will usually--but not always--be used.) Any site can be found more easily by using the Guide pages or the Search box.
More recent posts will contain more general information: profiles of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, reminiscences of my travels, etc. I'll also use them to tell you about other activities (like videos or podcasts--soon!)
You can also follow updates on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Thanks!