Buddhists Inaugurate Bodhi Path in New York

May 31, 2004

Source: The Journal News

http://www.nyjournalnews.com/newsroom/053104/a0131buddhists.html

On May 31, 2004 The Journal News reported, "To religious chants and drumming, hundreds of Chinese Buddhists came to the Chuang Yen Monastery yesterday for the inauguration of a walkway designed to put adherents on the spiritual journey to enlightenment. The two-hour ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Western hemisphere's largest Buddhist temple dedicated the Bodhi Path, or Path to Awakening, a three-block-long cement walk leading from the monastery's parking lot to a large temple housing a giant statue of Buddha. The Bodhi Path is lined with statues of 18 arhats, historic Buddhist disciples, which are meant to remind the path's walkers that they should follow the teachings of Buddha. The Chuang Yen Monastery is run by the Buddhist Association of the United States, which yesterday also celebrated its 40th anniversary. Most of yesterday's speakers addressed the crowd in Chinese, except Kent Supervisor William Tulipane, among other non-Buddhist speakers."