Peace in the Yun Yang Garden

This image of my boyfriend was taken at the Yun Yang Temple in Victoria, Australia. This is a Buddhist temple and the image is in front of the Ru Yi Pond. It is a beautiful sacred place where you can practise meditation and stroll through the gardens.

I love this image because of the warm yellow light surrounding Mitch, and the abundance of greenery and nature. I also love that he is perched very carefully on the edge of the rock showing off a very skilled focused meditation. If you look at the shadow made from his extended arms it can appear that he has wings and could take flight.

In the garden there is water flowing down the waterfall and into the pond covered in lily pads. The beauty of the nature is designed to encourage us to detach from the material world for a while. The Yun Yang Temple describe the Vajra Waterfall as a "Wisdom Diamond Sword that can cut through our deluded mind and purify the Three Poisons; Greed, Anger, and Ignorance."

There are many meditation halls and shrines throughout the temple and while exploring them my boyfriend and I came across a small tea house which was full of members of the Buddhist community. We were curious and poked our heads inside to be greeted by a warm welcome and invite into their tea house. Here we drank the special Yun Yang Tea while everyone around us discussed Buddhist teachings. Although we couldn't understand the conversations being had in mandarin we felt the warmth of this community who were so welcoming.

This picture was taken during a warm sunny day in December last year and we could never have predicted the events which were to come. The Yun Yang temple is currently closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and I am meditating on the day where we could sit in the sunshine and feel the soft grass below our feet. During a time where a lot of us are feeling isolated from human connection and it is taking a toll on our mental well being, it is important to remember when we were welcomed together as a community.

December 2019 was the very beginning of Mitch and I's relationship. I believe I am his Yin and he is my Yang because our time together has brought me nothing but peace and joy.

The Buddhist teachings in regards to romantic relationships are to accept your partner for who they are, never holding them to an impossible standard, and always love them unconditionally.

I chose this image because it is very coincidental that we found ourselves meditating at a Buddhist temple when these values were to become the foundation on which our relationship grew.

When I look at this photo I remember the excitement of beginning a new relationship, of finally finding someone who I connect with on a deeper level, and who I could fall in love with, after searching so long. This is a very warm joyful picture to me as it was taken at the beginning of something very special.

My partner and I have now been dating for seven months and we are living together. Every day I get to experience the love, support, and happiness that he brings to my life. We have experienced some hardships and stress during our time together, such as uncertainty in where we are going to live, but I know we can support each other through anything.

I hope everyone reading this has a memory of their own Yun Yang Temple to remember and keep them going through the challenging times.