Nine Pillars

During Vesak we construct a path of nine pillars, leading through our place of celebration to a main stage where we worship, and where our Master meditates for peace.

This is a path of contemplation and each pillar signifies important teachings of our faith.

We are often asked about the significance of the symbols and text on the pillars and on these pages we would like to share with you the meaning of these symbols.

Each pillar carries the Moh Hong Buddhist Shrine logo and you will also find symbols in our logo repeated on some pillars. The logo represents many important beliefs:

The Lion represents:
Manjusri, the embodiment of the supreme wisdom of Buddha

The Elephant represents:
Samantabhadra, the embodiment of supreme compassion. He is the Lord of Truth, who represents the practice and meditation of all Buddhas.

The Ring of Fire
The surrounding flames of the circle slowly culminates into a bright flame, which represents the external truth and divinity (Nirvana).

The Lotus represents:
world peace, wellbeing and happiness of mankind.

The Bell represents:
Sangha, a sanskrit word meaning “spiritual community”. The three pillars of Buddhist teachings and philosophy are: The Buddha, The Dharma and The Sangha - the community of beings aware of the spiritual connection between all life.

The Branch represents:
the Bodhi Tree

The Three Coloured Rings represent:
impermanence of life and sufferings of mankind.

The Swastika represents:
compassion and kindness.

Take the journey through the 9 pillars with us.  Proceed to the First Pillar