The Buddha Came to Our World to Teach All People to
Eliminate Suffering and Attain Happiness

All beings possess Buddha-nature and thus should learn to attain Buddhahood

Shi Chin Kung
 

The Events in the Life of Buddha Sakyamurni
An agonizing world filled with hatred and rage is a world of Hell.
A painful world filled with greed, desires and madness is a world of
Hungry Ghosts.
A world of ungrateful, dishonorable, corrupt and shameless people is a world
of Animals.
The Buddha was born to bring reconciliations and
resolutions to these Three Worlds.

编序

　　释迦牟尼佛一生事蹟的图相众多，而本书图片摄自高雄元亨寺，元亨寺创建于乾隆年间，是台湾少数古刹之一，旧称“元兴寺”，几经变迁，寺名改为“元亨寺”。殿堂建筑古朴不华，一九七三年，上菩下妙法师率众兴建大雄宝殿，大殿供奉释迦牟尼佛，内外镶有释尊一生事蹟的浮凋，共有三十二相，格局堂皇，庄严肃穆。

　　寺内的三十二相浮凋，其中第二十四相及第二十七相因为角度的关係，无法完整摄取画面，图相以局部呈现。图说内容以元亨寺原来图说为本，稍加修改，并加以注解，特此说明。

　　There are numerous paintings and sculptures that depict the life of Buddha Shakyamuni.All the photographs in this book were shot in Yuanheng Temple, Kaoshiong. Yuanheng Temple was built in the reign of Emperor Qianglong of the Qing dynasty. It is one of the few remaining historical temples in Taiwan. Its original name Yuanxing Temple has since been changed to Yuanheng Temple. The style of the architectural design was delicately simple and subtly elegant. In 1973, Venerable Pumiao led followers to finish the building of the main cultivation hall where the main statue of Buddha Shakyamuni is respectfully placed. On the inside and outside of the main hall, there are sculptures of the life of the Buddha. There are thirty-two sculptures in total. All the sculptures were created in styles that portray solemn magnificence.

　　Of the thirty-two sculptures, the 24th and 27th are partly hidden from the camera due to their location. Hence the sculptures can only be presented partially here. All captions for the sculptures are the original explanations. Minor footnotes were added for clarification purpose.