Walking into Still Thoughts Hall
Sutra Hall
Nian Ting
Located on the second floor, Sermon Hall can accommodate about 2,000 people; its roof is 36.35 meters high, allowing natural sunlight to enter the hall, so people inside can feel the warmth of sunlight, as well as Tzu Chi spirit of Great Love.
Buddha Lecture Chart
Carved on wood, the picture can be clearly seen in the morning, lit by sunshine. The picture describes the scene when the Buddha first gave sermons “Four Noble Truths” to his five disciples in India after obtaining awakening under the bodhi tree. “Four Noble Truths” refers to: suffering, the arising of suffering, the cessation of suffering, the way leading to the cessation of suffering, which teaches people to do good deeds and let go of our greed and desires.
The Adobe of Still Thoughts
The model’s size is one-fifth of the original Jing-Si Hall, it is different from the real Still Thoughts Hall on the vertical side. The human word design is by Master Cheng Yen, and it symbolizes the spirit of humanity. People usually associate The Abode of Still Thoughts with Tzu Chi volunteers’ spiritual homeland.
White Marble Stone Embossment
Four jade pillars stand next to the picture of “The Buddha Heals the World”, in addition, the patterns on the door of Wuliangshan Yoshitsune are also carved from marble stone. The design on the door of Wuliangshan Yoshitsune depicts 11 different Tzu Chi volunteers flying back to their second homeland -- Jing-Si Hall. The white marble stone carvings are so dazzling, that people usually cannot take their eyes off of the artworks.
Unlimited Justice Door
The doors are 4 meters high, and they weigh 700 kilograms; the interior material is Germany steel, while the exterior is made with Taiwan cypress wood, and pasted with cloisonné. On the mid-section of the door, there is carving of the handwriting of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings by Master Cheng Yen; the writing is very neat and straight, it seems to tell us to be upright.
Buddha Purity Chart
It is 24.6 meters high, and 16 meters wide, the picture is designed by Master Cheng Yen, and created by Chinese artist, Mr. Tong-Hui, with about 3,400,000 pieces of mosaics, the artwork was done on the eve of Tzu Chi’s 35 year anniversary. The subject of the picture is the Medicine Buddha and it uses a single tone of color. The wisdom of the Buddha is to spread love in the world and purify human minds. As one enters the Sermon Hall, one sees picture of the Buddha Healing the World, and feels serene and peaceful.
Wooden Blinds
It is 30 meters high, made with Taiwan cypress. The cypress was torn down from Taichung sugar refinery’s Japanese-style houses and shipped to the mainland China by Taiwanese businessmen, ready to turn it into furniture. Tzu Chi volunteers bought the precious Taiwan cypress from this person and turned it into the wooden blinds.
Galaxy Design on the Roof
Silver-colored plates are on the roofs on the 9th floor and up to the 11th floor. Inside the plates are glass fibers which absorb sounds, and therefore can help control sound effect in the rooms. Thousands of fiber-optic light bulbs on placed on the plates, and through special lighting design, them help make the environment similar to that in which the Buddha expounded Dharma teachings under the stars thousands of years ago. The galaxy effect emulates the galaxy on the day of Mater Cheng Yen’s birthday, it presents the splendid stars and milky way and its construction was finished on the day of Tzu Chi’s 33-year anniversary.
Lotus Chairs
It is designed by Mater Cheng Yen, and has been modified 20 times, showing how much thought went into its design since Master wants people to feel comfortable sitting in these lotus seats. The lotus seats are made with walnut wood; there are 1,064 seats in the Sermon Hall.