Dharma Drum Mountain Introduction
Fo Guang Shan is located in Sanjie Village, Jinshan District, New Taipei City, situated on a hillside at the intersection of the Northern Coastal Highway and Yangjin Highway. The architecture primarily uses brown, gray, and white tones, celebrating the Earth and reflecting the steady and tranquil characteristics of Buddhism. Here, Master Sheng Yen gathered the merits of devotees to build the integrated educational, practice, and cultural World Buddhist Education Park of Fo Guang Shan. Along the road to Fo Guang Shan, there are three pilgrimage trails: the Streamside Pilgrimage Trail, the Wishful Pilgrimage Trail, and the Pilgrimage Boardwalk. The landscape along the trails is surrounded by mountains, with beautiful scenery and the sounds of birds and flowers. Travelers visiting Jinshan might as well take a walk in Fo Guang Shan and experience the atmosphere away from worldly turmoil. The azaleas under the Wish Hall at Fo Guang Shan bloom every March, and along the Wishful Trail, visitors can be surrounded by a sea of pure white azaleas. Following this, the tree commonly known as "April Snow" appears, and by May and June, the native Taiwanese flower, the Taiwan Lily, takes its turn, providing beautiful floral scenery in each season. The term "Fo Guang" is derived from the Lotus Sutra: "We hope that celestial beings will respect and turn the supreme Dharma wheel, strike the great Dharma drum, and blow the great Dharma conch, to rain the great Dharma rain, liberating immeasurable sentient beings. We all humbly beseech, to express the profound and far-reaching sound." This expresses the hope that the sound of Dharma can help those who do not understand it to comprehend, and allow those who have never encountered it to see it, with the expectation that everyone can benefit from the Triple Gem of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, all bathing in the rain of compassion and wisdom, turning the human world into a healthy, peaceful, and harmonious paradise. Travelers visiting Jinshan might as well take a walk in Fo Guang Shan to feel the atmosphere away from worldly turmoil.
