Dhammakaya Temple: A Community of Peace and Meditation : หน้า 65/200

The Dhammakaya Temple is more than just temple buildings. It is a community that exemplifies a culture of peace and non-violence where meditation comes first and material concerns come last. Established on Magha Puja Day, February 20, 1970, the Temple was created with this ideal: “Build a temple to be a true temple. Build monks to be true monks. Build people to be good people.” It follows the Buddha’s teaching of the Four Favorable Environments, which consist of favorable place, favorable food, favorable people, and favorable Dhamma. Every construction is implemented on the basis of minimum budget, maximum benefit, and longest-lasting. Principle facilities consist of the world’s largest meditation hall, the Dhammakaya Meditation Hall, which comfortably accommodates 150,000 people in one gathering, and the Dhammakaya Cetiya, the world’s biggest Buddhist monument ever built. The exterior dome surface is enshrined with 300,000 personal Buddha images engraved with the names of individual donors. The interior is enshrined with the Buddha relics, the principal Buddha statute cast in pure silver, and 700,000 personal Buddha images. The surrounding Cetiya grounds have the capacities to accommodate 1,000,000 people. Other major buildings include the Main Chapel, the Grand Meditation Stadium, the Memorial Hall of Phramongkolthepmuni, Khun Yai Chand Centennial Building, Memorial Hall of Khun Yai Chand, and Khun Yai Chand Refectory.