2 Spiritual Buddhist Experiences in Borobudur

2 Spiritual Buddhist Experiences in Borobudur

If you want to have more Buddhist experiences, why don’t you try the ones we introduce below?
These activities are not known widely because there is no any information in travel guidebooks, but it’s really “Hidden Gems” that we want to tell you in secret.
Here, another holy experience is calling you.

Night Meditation in Mendut Monastery

Just next to Mendut Temple, there is a Buddhist Monastery where Indonesian Buddhist monks live.
They always open the door to anyone in daytime, you can see the unique Buddhist statues in the gardens. According to a monk, the Buddhist statues were donated from Indonesian/Overseas Buddhist organizations or Buddhist individuals.

Night meditation is one of the monk’s routines and they open the door to join in meditation to anyone too.
If you would like to join in, you don’t have to make a reservation in advance, just go to the monastery directly around 19:00 and join in the meditation. Basically they meditate every night except for their special days (no meditation on Waisak Day). First, they chant mantra under the light and continue to meditate in dark. In total it lasts about 1 hour.

What you need to know before joining, this meditation is not a meditation class for tourists, but purely religious activity for the monks. So the monks don’t teach you how to chant/meditate or what you should do there. They chant and meditate, you just follow chanting/meditating behind of the monks.

There aren’t any tickets to enter the monastery or join in the meditation, but it’s very beautiful if you gave an offering by small money to the monastery and security guard when you finish.

Mendut Buddhist Monastery
https://mendut.business.site/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=referral

Meditation in front of “Unfinished Buddha”

Now there are 504 Buddha statues in Borobudur Temple.
But in fact, there is one more Buddha statue that is believed to be found in the main stupa of the temple when Dutch survey team restored the temple in 1904 – 1907.As the Buddha statue looks uncomplete by comparison with other 504 Buddha statues, it was named “Unfinished Buddha”.

Because any historical explanation about the Buddha hasn’t found at all until now, this Buddha statue is a big mystery of Borobudur Temple.
Why was this Buddha statue in the wall-off stupa?
Why is this Buddha statue unfinished or unperfect?
No one can answer clearly, but people believe that this Buddha statue has a deep reason and a certain meaning of its existence.

Now you can see this Buddha statue in the Archaeological Museum (Karmawibhangga Museum) where is located in Borobudur Temple Park and only 10-min walking away from Borobudur Temple.
The space in front of this Buddha statue is great place to meditate. You can feel holy ambience from the Buddha statue. Luckily, most of the tourists don’t stop by the museum, it’s always very quiet around the Buddha statue even in daytime.

Archaeological Museum (Karmawibhangga Museum)