๐๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ค ๐๐จ๐ค ๐๐ข ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐, ๐๐๐๐จ๐ญ ๐๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐ง, ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐๐ค ๐๐จ๐ค ๐๐ข?
๐ผ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ฆ, ๐กโ๐ ๐โ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐คโ๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐ค๐๐ ๐ท๐ ๐๐ข ๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐๐โ, ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐โ๐ก๐๐.
The founder of the Kek Lok Si Temple, Abbot Beow Lean, was a scholarly and devout Buddhist who arrived in Penang at the end of the 19th century from Foochow, China. He was the Abbot at the Goddess of Mercy Temple at Pitt Street. Soon, he grew tired of the bustling city and saw the calm and serenity of the Air Itam hill which resembles the shape of a flying crane. It was at that instant he had the idea of building a monastery on the hill. Noticing that Penang had a large community of elderly wealthy women who were interested in religion, Beow Lean knew that this was the perfect opportunity for him to raise funds for the construction of an immense temple amidst the lush green hills of Ayer Itam. Over a period of five years, the temple steadily took shape, spreading over the thickly wooded slopes and arousing admiration in those who happened to cast their eyes on it.
Not long after that, vicious rumours, originating from jealous owners of less popular places of worship, began to spread about ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. These wicked slanders reached their zenith in 1905 when the temple was completed. It took a further two years of ruthless onslaught to finally bring the abbotโs seemingly endless patience to its knees.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ญ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ๐ฌ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ !
According to Dr Wu Lien Teh, the physician who tended to the abbotโs wound, "๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐จ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ญ ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ. ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐, ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฉ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ง๐ฌ, ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ค๐!"
Dr Wu stuck to his ethics and upheld his Hippocratic Oath by not judging Beow Lean for his act. The skilled physician focused his attention on stopping the bleeding, relieving the excruciating pain and preventing urine retention. He was so meticulous that it was already daybreak by the time he left the sacred precincts of the temple.
After that, Dr Wu made daily trips to dress the abbotโs wound made sore by dripping urine and resulting sepsis. Fortunately, the injury granulated over time and by monthโs end the pain had ceased completely. The formation of sufficient new skin allowed Dr Wu to finally cease attendance. He didnโt charge the abbot anything for his monthโs work and merely revelled in the fact that he had helped save a life.
The abbot recovered completely. He spent the rest of his days making sure that Kek Lok Si served the needy and provided shelter to anyone who sought refuge under its roof. When he died, Beow Lean was cremated within the temple walls, allowing generations of worshippers to remember his meritorious deeds and selfless sacrifice.
Tonight, the Kek Lok Si Temple will be draped in thousands of lights to usher in the Year of the Ox.
And we have the Abbotโs meritorious deeds and selfless sacrifice - the Dr Wu Lien Teh for saving the Abbotโs life - to thank for.
Photos by: - Sherwynd Rylan Kessler - Geraldine Ng on Unsplash - http://leavingfortherisingsun.blogspot.com/.../chinese... - New Straits Times Sources: [1] https://www.nst.com.my/.../kek-lok-sis-dark-secret-uncovered [2] Plague Fighter: The autobiography of a modern Chinese physician. Wu Lien-Teh (available at https://arecabooks.com/.../plague-fighter-the.../)