Rejoicing with the Buddha: Living Buddha Lian Sheng and Shimu Master Lian-Hsiang Visit Chihuly Garden and Glass
[Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple News / By Shi Lian Yi]

On July 29, 2026, more than eighty masters, Reverends, Dharma propagators, and fellow disciples from Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple and Rainbow Temple accompanied His Holiness Living Buddha Lian Sheng and Shimu Master Lian-Hsiang on a visit to Chihuly Garden and Glass, one of Seattle’s best-known artistic attractions. Following visits to the Seattle Asian Art Museum, Snoqualmie Falls, and Woodland Park Zoo, this marked the fourth stop in the “Rejoicing with the Buddha” series.
 
Located beside the Space Needle at Seattle Center, Chihuly Garden and Glass is an important exhibition venue dedicated to the works of internationally renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly. Combining indoor galleries, a Glasshouse, an outdoor garden, and live glassblowing demonstrations, the exhibition presents the richness and diversity of glass art through light, color, and form.
 
The major exhibition areas include Winter Brilliance, Chihuly’s Inspirations, the Sealife Room, Persian Ceiling, Mille Fiori, Ikebana and Float Boat, Chandeliers, and Macchia Forest. Each presents a distinctive theme, revealing the imagination, vitality, and expressive power of Chihuly’s art.
 
Before the group departed, Master Lian Chi thoughtfully introduced the artist Dale Chihuly to Grandmaster and played a short video so that he could become familiar with the principal exhibits and the creative ideas behind Chihuly’s work. As explained in the introduction, Chihuly lost sight in one eye following an accident in his early years. A later shoulder injury prevented him from personally blowing glass, and he gradually shifted his creative focus toward drawing, conceptual design, and collaboration, working with a studio team to produce his large-scale glass installations.
 
The group entered the exhibition in a long and impressive procession, nearly filling the walkways throughout the galleries. One staff member smiled and remarked that even on weekends they did not always see such a large group, much less on a Wednesday. The comment highlighted how lively and extraordinary this fourth “Rejoicing with the Buddha” outing truly was.
 
After entering the exhibition, Grandmaster slowly made his way through the galleries, carefully observing each display. Chihuly’s glass works were vivid in color and unusual in form. Some resembled creatures from beneath the sea, while others appeared like flowers, vines, flowing flames, or fantastic figures from a fairy-tale world.
 
As he viewed the works, Grandmaster offered spontaneous observations with his characteristic humor and perceptive eye. Some pieces reminded him of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” while others resembled tacos, octopuses, or ice-cream cones. His comparisons brought knowing smiles to everyone around him. Upon seeing a group of tall, sharply pointed glass forms, he joked that it would be terrible if someone parachuted down and landed on them. Laughter immediately filled the gallery.
 
During the visit, everyone also saw Chihuly’s original conceptual drawings. Their bold lines and brilliant blocks of color could be compared with the completed glass installations displayed nearby, allowing visitors to see how an initial idea on paper gradually developed into a luminous, three-dimensional work of art.
 
Whenever Grandmaster views a work of art, he is often able to discern very quickly how it was created. He also explained to the group the differences between liuli, a form of colored crystal glass traditionally associated with decorative art, and ordinary glass. Listening beside him, the disciples were once again impressed by the subtlety of his observations concerning form, color, and artistic conception.
 
Grandmaster remarked that some of the glass works, with their deep colors and solid, block-like appearance, reminded him of grass jelly. Others used flowing curves to reveal the remarkable transformations that take place when glass is shaped through intense heat and skillful hands.
 
In the Persian Ceiling gallery, an array of brilliantly colored glass forms covered the ceiling overhead. As light passed through the glass, vibrant colors were projected onto the floor and onto the figures of the visitors below.
 
Shimu Master Lian-Hsiang also demonstrated her artistic eye. Rather than photographing only the exhibits themselves, she used the interplay of light and shadow to capture a creative image of the shoes of the monastics gathered together beneath the ceiling. Through composition and colored light, ordinary footwear became a charming and unusual picture. Art exists not only within the objects on display, but also in the eyes of those who are able to discover beauty.
 
The most iconic central space in the exhibition is the Glasshouse, a glass-and-steel structure approximately forty feet high and covering 4,500 square feet. Suspended within it is a monumental sculpture extending one hundred feet in length and composed of hundreds of individually handblown glass elements. Dominated by red, yellow, and orange, the installation creates a powerful visual impact beneath the natural light.
 
While viewing it, Grandmaster described the forms as spreading outward like dried lotus leaves. As everyone looked upward, the individual glass pieces seemed to unfold like flowers and leaves, while also resembling flames flowing through the air. Above and beyond them, the open sky was visible through the transparent Glasshouse, creating a striking harmony between the sculpture and its surroundings.
 
The outdoor garden was another highlight of the visit. Colorful trees, plants, and flowers formed a living landscape that echoed the glass artworks placed among them. The installations were therefore not confined to the indoor galleries, but interacted with natural light, vegetation, the sky, and the changing seasons.
 
As the group walked through the garden, glass sculptures appeared and disappeared among the flowers and foliage. Human creativity and the beauty of nature blended together in a particularly delightful way.
 
Grandmaster paused before a radiant glass installation, with yellow and orange forms glowing behind him against the blue sky and surrounding greenery. The scene became one of the most memorable images of the day and perfectly embodied the joyful spirit of “Rejoicing with the Buddha.”
 
Grandmaster and the group also watched a live glassblowing demonstration. Staff members explained that glass must be worked at temperatures exceeding one thousand degrees before being placed in an annealing oven heated to more than five hundred degrees, where it is gradually cooled and stabilized.
 
The artists first used a blowpipe to inflate the molten glass into shape. They then employed tweezers, shears, and other tools to trim, stretch, and form the material, adding different colors along the way. Through the careful coordination of heat, breath, experience, and technique, a glowing mass of molten glass slowly took the shape of a vase.
 
The audience was also told that glass artists may work with more than three hundred different colors. Watching the material transform from red-hot softness into a completed form helped everyone appreciate the concentration, experience, and mastery required by this art.
 
The exhibition also contains a theater showing films about Chihuly’s creative process. Grandmaster was initially interested in going inside to watch. However, when he reached the entrance, he noticed that several visitors were already quietly viewing the film. Concerned that the group’s large number might disturb them, he decided not to enter.
 
Without saying much, Grandmaster quietly led everyone away. This seemingly ordinary change of direction nevertheless revealed to the accompanying disciples how thoughtfully he considers the comfort of others in every situation.
 
During the visit, the group also browsed a variety of art-inspired merchandise and saw how glass art could extend beyond museum installations into objects used in daily life.
 
At one point, an Italian staff member warmly approached Grandmaster and his entourage, joyfully requesting a blessing and a commemorative photograph. Every excursion, often in unexpected ways, becomes an opportunity to form meaningful connections with people of different cultures and backgrounds.
 
After the tour, Shimu Master Lian-Hsiang distributed snacks that she had prepared in advance and continually asked whether anyone was hungry. A few packages of cookies and several simple expressions of concern allowed the disciples to feel her meticulous and thoughtful care.
 
Later, Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple arranged a dinner for the resident monastics and participating disciples together with Grandmaster and Shimu Master Lian-Hsiang. Long-serving temple volunteers were also specially invited, giving them a precious opportunity to spend time in close proximity to Grandmaster and Shimu.
 
Every group cultivation session and Dharma ceremony is able to proceed smoothly, and every teaching given by Grandmaster is able to reach audiences throughout the world, because many volunteers have quietly remained dedicated to their responsibilities over the years. Through this dinner gathering, the temple also expressed its gratitude to the members of the audio and video team for their selfless support and service.
 
On this day, amid light and color, everyone accompanied Grandmaster and Shimu Master Lian-Hsiang in appreciating the wondrous transformations of glass art. Later, during the warm and intimate dinner gathering, they experienced the simple and affectionate bond shared between Grandmaster, Shimu, and their disciples.
 
A glowing mass of molten glass must pass through intense fire and be shaped through breath and skillful hands before it can become a clear and luminous form.
 
Perhaps “Rejoicing with the Buddha” is much the same. It is not merely about viewing an exhibition together or walking along the same path. Rather, through an ordinary visit and a shared journey, the laughter along the way, the appreciation of art, and the gratitude and support exchanged among everyone gradually crystallize into a pure, radiant, and heartwarming joy in the Dharma.
 
And the footsteps of this shared journey have not yet come to an end. Grandmaster has already decided where the next outing will take everyone.
 
Please look forward to the fifth stop in the “Rejoicing with the Buddha” series.