City Beat | Karma and the art of cooling political tensions in Hong Kong
Buddhist philosophy can help ease political problems, including anger over parallel trading
Tuen Mun Town Plaza recently caught the eyes of many as radical protesters against parallel trading clashed with mainland visitors and police in the biggest shopping mall in the northwestern New Territories.
One popular way for local residents or shoppers from across the border to get to the mall is by taking the light railway to Pui To stop.
Many may not know that Pui To is not just the name of a nearby road. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, a Buddhist monk named Pui To came to Tuen Mun from India. He is believed to be the first monk to have brought Buddhism here.
I'm no expert on Buddhism and this column is not going to focus on the history of this great religion. It's just that few people realise that Pui To is linked to tycoon Li Ka-shing's decision to finance the construction of the just completed Tsz Shan Monastery in Tai Po.
While the media reported widely on the private bullet-proof safe house and meditation room for Li, visitors to the Tang dynasty-style temple, which opens to the public on Wednesday, will hopefully find tranquility of nature and soul rather than thinking about the various stories surrounding Li and his intentions in donating HK$1.5 billion for the project.
Li initiated the idea more than 10 years ago because he felt there was too much negative sentiment in the city. In the epilogue of a book on the construction of the monastery, Li wrote: "There is a precious pearl deep in everyone's heart. As long as you can find it, your heart will be enlightened. The issue is 'have you found it'?"