Must Visit Temple in Genting Highlands, Malaysia (Chin Swee)
Dear friends,
I went a few days ago with Pastor Loh Seng Piow, Justin Ripley, Ethan and Bryan to CHIN SWEE TEMPLE in Genting Highlands which is about one hour away from our capital Kuala Lumpur. We went up there to shoot a episode of me telling Paranormal stories for TSEM RINPOCHE’S PARANORMAL ZONE and I got entranced by the Temple. I had visited this temple around ten years ago, but since then they have added more and improved upon it. I was impressed. The temple is surrounded by mountains, mist and a feeling of serenity. The weather is cool at 4,600 feet above sea level so you need to bring a light jacket. Must go!!! Must visit!!
The temple is dedicated to Saint Chin Swee of the Anxi, Fujian Province of China. Chin Swee was a monk around 900 years ago. He was very pious and studied dharma forgoing wealth, prestige and name during the Song Dynasty. He also not only mastered the Buddha’s teachings but also learned traditional Chinese Medicine. He became an expert in it. From his Buddhist compassion and knowledge of medicines, he healed the sick who came in crowds from all over to seek his healing, dharma and care. He tirelessly took care of others. When his district had a huge drought threatening famine, the local people came to see him and through his prayers he made the rain fall saving the lives of many and the crops were plentiful. People from distant places would seek his rain making abilities and when they came to him and requested, rain would fall in their distant provinces before they even returned to their homes.
The locals found him a location and he liked it very much. The coolness, springs, foliage, greens and scenes… made Chin Swee very happy there. They built him a temple and he lived there. Thousands came to see him… Due to his blessings the natural springs at the temple became powerful healing water when people drank it or washed in it… When he died, the locals reverently buried his holy body at this site in Anxi. Temples dedicated to this Saintly monk Chin Swee sprang up all over Fujian province, China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
One of his followers here in Malaysia made a Chin Swee temple in Genting Highlands as the land resembles that in Anxi, Fujian Province, China. The natural spring here in Chin Swee Malaysia also is said to be blessed and heals incredibly. As a result thousands of people visit this temple to get the water from the natural springs for various ailments or just a blessing up till present day in Malaysia. They don’t have to travel to China…
Much care and wishes to everyone to always be blessed,
Tsem Rinpoche
Tsem Tulku Rinpoche Visits Chin Swee Temple, Genting Highlands, Malaysia
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/Malay05-Chin Swee.mp4
Take a look at how beautiful this temple is… watch and enjoy the video…
I am standing in front of the main shrine dedicated to Saint Chin Swee. Rev Chin Swee is depicted behind me with a black face, robes of a Chinese monk and 5 Dhyani Buddha crown. His face is black because according to his biography he was locked into a cave for days battling evil spirits. The spirits tried to burn him and obstruct his ministry. They couldn’t burn Chin Swee but the soot from the fire, blackened his face during the psychic battle… At the end, he subdued the four evil spirits and bound them to not harm anyone and remain as guardians at the temple. He subdued the four powerful spirits due to his great compassion and his faith in Buddha. This statue behind me is very famous and visited by tens and thousands of people yearly. I made offerings of candles and incense and asked Chin Swee to please bless me to benefit others. I recommend you to visit this temple very much for healing, making offerings and blessings from Chin Swee. Open 9am-7pm…
Outside the shrine is a turtle and fish pond which I enjoyed feeding..
This is the beautiful Buddha built next to the shrine dedicated to Saint Chin Swee…..
It’s open 24 hours as it’s outdoors, but the lights around the Buddha is not bright at night…
This is the view from the temple… wow..
Also they have a path that walks up to visit the depiction of the Buddhist hells…
The Chin Swee pagoda at dusk… we filmed our paranormal episode here… the same day..
I am in front of this beautiful outdoor Buddha…
Left to right: Pastor Loh Seng Piow, Bryan, Justin and Ethan who came with me to assist… they were very good.
At the Chin Swee temple there is a vegetarian restaurant with very friendly service.. am at the entrance… We enjoyed the clean food. Closes at 8:30PM….
The 18 Arhats according to Chinese Buddhism outside at the Chin Swee temple…
This is the gateway entering the depiction of the Buddhist hells on a small scale but nice… Ethan and Bryan will organize a trip up there soon to film and photograph more extensively Chin Swee temple, the hells, the outdoor area much better and more thoroughly. I want everyone to know more about this beautiful Malaysian Chin Swee Temple… I like to share…
This is just a quick post because I am excited to share first before they do more extensive footages… I just put up some pictures here and a short video for all of you to enjoy… for now… wait for more soon…
Plaques outside each hell to describe the causes to take rebirth of each hell…
Just a few pictures here of the ten hells for now. On a future post, I will post all the hells completely… Bryan and Ethan will film and passed to me for blogging… it will have more pictures..
One of the judges of the hells passing sentence…
Denizens of the hells..
Here’s the depiction of beings taking rebirth into the different realms of samsara… after their time is up in the hells… the karma is exhausted for their stay..
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Very interesting place to visit….but those life like statues regarding hell realm will definitely give me nightmares. Thank you very much Rinpoche and blog team for this really interesting sharing!…lol!👻👀👁🙏😨
1984 Los Angeles-Left to right: Geshe Tsultrim Gyeltsen, His Holiness Kyabje Zong Rinpoche, monk assistant to Zong Rinpoche and the 18-year-old Tsem Rinpoche prior to ordination. Read more- https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/category/me
I was walking past a second hand shop on Western Ave selling old things. They had a Japanese-style clay Buddha which was beige in colour on the floor, holding the door open. I thought the shopkeeper would collect a lot of negative karma without knowing if he kept such a holy item on the floor as a doorstop. So I went in to talk to him, but he didn’t look like he wanted to talk or that he even cared. So I asked him the price and he said US$5. I purchased it so he did not collect more negative karma. I was 17 years old and that was in 1982.
I escorted my new Buddha home and washed it lightly and wiped it. I placed it on my altar and was happy with the Buddha. I would do my meditations, prayers, sadhanas, mantras and prostrations in front of this shrine daily. When I left for India in 1987, I could not bring this Buddha along and gave it to a friend. It was a nice size and I made offerings to this Buddha for many years in Los Angeles. In front of the Buddha I placed His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s photo. I remember I was so relieved that the price was affordable. But US$5 that time was still expensive for me but worth it I thought. But I was happy to have brought the Buddha home. Tsem Rinpoche
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com
Tsem Rinpoche at Kechara Forest Retreat, Bentong, Malaysia
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing the history of Saint Chin Swee and pictures of this temple. It is a very beautiful temple. I didn’t know that Saint Chin Swee actually has fought and subdued 4 evil spirits.
I remembered I’ve been to this temple with my parents many years back and the opportunity to take a picture in front of the beautiful Buddha statue. Would love to visit this temple again if I have a chance to go Genting.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing the information and beautiful pictures and video of Chin Swee temple. I have been there many times, but I didn’t know the story of Chin Swee until I read Rinpoche’s blog post. I remember I once talked to my wife, saying I have no idea who was that statue with black face. At first I thought it was some deity from the mountain. Now I know he is Saint Chin Swee who fought evil spirits and the fire made his face turn black. Personally, I like to go Chin Swee temple. Whenever I drove up to Genting, I would surely stopby Chin Swee temple for praying. There are many side story about Chin Swee temple. According to those who go Genting for gamble, they won’t stop by Chin Swee temple when on the way up, it is because they believe “Chin Swee” (in Chinese saying is clear everything) will cause them to loose everything in the casino 🙂 Despite all the side stories, I like this temple very much. I don’t believe all those made up stories and I don’t gamble. And I find that the hell chambers are very good, they give teaching to people so that they will do good. _/\_
The hell depictions are excellent, and the Temple just beautiful. Thank You Rinpoche.
I visit there 3 months back with KP colleagues. The outdoor Buddha was really huge and i hope KFR Buddha statues to be much bigger in size. 🙂
Beautiful temple. Lew & i brought our girls to the temple last Sun for a short day trip to Genting to reward them for behave well and helping their grandma after our maid left.
We love the temple , the big Buddha and Chenrezig. We offered incense to the Buddha and Lew taught our girl to pray to Buddha, to be able to learn Dharma from young age, and benefit others, and become a Dharma teacher…
May more people can learn Dharma from young, and benefit others. May KWPC & KFR manifest soonest so that more people can be benefited.
The Chin Swee temple at Genting Highlands is incredible for the concept. People always can to Chin Swee temple walking and relaxing.The view of this temple is very beautiful, beside that also very meaningful. Because you can contemplate the death….
And thank you for Rinpoche gave a very clear picture about Chin Swee master.
Carmen wrote from FB: “Dear Rinpoche, I don’t know many who has visited this temple. Actually, I didn’t hear of this temple until Rinpoche’s blog post. In regards to Rinpoche’s question, I haven’t visited this temple yet. But from the video, I like the scenery very much. I can imagine it being very cooling and peaceful – the feeling naturally invoked when you’re up in the mountains; the same feeling you get in Tsem Ladrang in Nepal as well. I like the depictions of the different hells within the temple grounds. I didn’t know littering would bring you to the lower realms also. Very interesting. Thank you for sharing, Rinpoche. May I visit the temple one day too. Much regards, Carmen.”
Recently we dropped by at Chin Swee temple while going up to Genting Highlands. I was amazed at such a serene temple within a short distance from KL. There are many spiritual things to see in this whole area. The environment is cooling and the air is fresh. I would love to visit it again. Much time and effort have been spend to build up the whole area, the temples, the buddha statue.
Dear Rinpoche,
once I showed disrespect to a plastic Japanese Buddha, how to avoid the horible karma depicted here? Can I do something??
Many thanks in advance!!!
P.D.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thanks for the wonderful picture and explaination on this temple. The last time when I was there, its very peaceful place. I been there a few times and even climbed up the pagoda.
But I am very sad that some people, create rumours that if you visit the temple, you will eventually loose money in Genting.
Will drop by for a visit maybe next weekend….
Dear Rinpoche,
All beautiful pictures and I especially love the picture of you near water turtles, those lovely creatures are very dear to me!
Thank You for allowing me to see and learn about places so distant from me!
Many many thanks Rinpoche for sharing this. Did not know that there is such a wonderful temple in Genting Highlands. Thank you for your teachings and all the pictures of the temple. I will definitely visit. Thank you.
Thank you for your sharing, Rinpoche. My family stayed at the Chin Swee Apartments last year and we walked thru the different levels of hells with my children. We explained to them and showed them that transgression will result in punishments after we die. Hopefully they will be mindful of their thoughts and actions but may need a few more visits. I agree that the temple now has many interesting features and we’ve spent a good few hours there exploring. Will make another visit sometime again as we missed the tortoise pond and blessed water.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for a wonderful post on Chin Swee temple and it is indeed very fascinating to learn about the Buddhist master Chin Swee. It is very fascinating to learn about Chin Swee and how he became attained in his practice and benefited many people and subdued spirits just like Guru Rinpoche. Perhaps, he practiced Tantra in his day but never pass his lineage down because there weren’t suitable students during his time.
They hell carvings are very interesting and I find their expressions really well made and realistic. Chinese Buddhist temples always have such public reminders of what makes us suffer. I think they were excellent source of teachings in the past as they inflict a good fear. These days, people are more skeptical and less inclined to believe in such a place of retribution. Nevertheless, they are still a form of reminder for us that are less incline towards reading Dharma books.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thanks for sharing the film shooting at Chin Swee Temple.
At KWPC, are you planning on allocation space to build depiction of a heavenly realm and not a hell realm (too gory la)?