Postcards from Longhua Temple

I’ve discovered that one of my favourite things about Buddhism is the cats. Temples appear to be excellent homes for our little feline pals and you couldn’t turn a corner without almost tripping over one or two. They basked in the hot summer sun, they hid in the cool shadows of trees, meandering around as if they owned the place - the way cats are wont to do. There was even a tiny little black kitten with white socks that appeared to live in a building filled with hundreds of golden Buddha statues. She climbed delicately over them, drinking from red ceramic bowls of plant water (the significance of which I'm afraid I don’t know). Of course the lanterns and flags and intricately detailed, breathtakingly beautiful Buddhist sculptures where lovely too, but you know, cats.