The Nan Tien Temple (also known (roughly translated) as "Southern Paradise") is located near Wollongong south of Sydney, and is claimed to be the largest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere. It was created by the Fo Guang Shan monastic order, which promotes a humanistic form of Chinese Buddhism. The estimated total construction cost as at January 2000 was $50 million, although with future expansion plans that will increase.

The temple received approval and support from Wollongong City Council in 1990, with construction work beginning in 1991. In the same year the temple bought 29 acres and leased a further 26 acres (for $AUD1 per year) for the creation of the hillside gardens which will be seen in this gallery. The Federal Government paid for the lease for 100 years during the inauguration ceremony in 1995.

Plans are underway for the construction of a study institute which will cater to 3,000 students and 360 staff, with up to 30% of the students living on campus. There's also the Pilgrim Lodge, a hotel which looks quite well equipped but... not for me. No smoking and no alcohol, no problem. No meat... no way!

Much as I find Buddhism interesting, it's not something that I could ever take on board personally. First, I'm a carnivore and neither my pet T-Rex nor I have any intention of changing that. Second, a large part of Buddhism's Dharma (teachings) are about overcoming desire, and at the risk of going all Gordon Gekko I believe that desire, for want of a better word, is good. Desire clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Desire, in all of its forms; desire for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind. And while it can be frustrating, tedious and demoralising to have unfulfilled desires... if you keep at it long enough sometimes some of them can be fulfilled for the betterment of yourself and others. It's better than aestivating and waiting for your next cosmic life cycle and becoming bland and passionless. Or maybe that's just me. So while I respect and in some cases admire some aspects of Buddhist teaching... I must agree to disagree. Nice temple, though...