After a week in the monastery, Ihave moved on to my next adventure in Lukang.
While in the monastery, majority of my time was spent discussing different aspects of both Buddhism and life in general with Hue Shou. I learned more from him than I ever thought I would going into this. He’s a very insightful man with an interesting perspective of the world.
I’ve mentioned the meditation meals that I participated in, but yesterday I also went to an Amitabha chanting session. You sit on a cushion in the same posture you would meditate in, crossed legs and hands folded in your lap. The service begins with a long prayer type thing, I’m not sure what it’s called exactly but that’s what I would compare it to. Then for the next 45ish min you sit and chant the same thing over and over. “O Mi Tou Fo, Namo O Mi Tou Fo” (Amitabha Buddha, Namo Amitabha Buddha). I dont know what the Namo part means. They do this as “spiritual cultivation”, another term I’m not entirely understanding of the meaning. It’s sort of like how Christians go to church and sing hymnals I guess. I was really weary going into this, but Hue Shou wanted me to try out the different Buddhist practices, so I was going to do it anyways. Honestly, as strange as it was, I ended up enjoying it a lot. Getting into the rhythm (there was a nun using a bell to keep us in time), I lost myself in it and even started swaying slightly. Though I got a bit distracted a few times throughout the service because my legs kept falling asleep and it freaked me out, the times where I stayed focus for an extended period left me feeling very calm. My mind was more at ease and there was just this weird peacefulness that it created in me. I didn’t expect that to happen at all. I thought it was just going to be weird and awkward and I would sit there the whole time wondering when it would be over. And, though my legs were not fans of sitting like this for an hour, my mind sincerely rejoiced in my giving it a break from real thinking.
I also met the sweetest nun yesterday. Her name is Lou Kuai. I wasn’t sure what I was doing when I showed up to the chanting hall and she saw me so she brought me over and showed me how to sit, turned a fan in my direction, and then gave me the English translation and how to say the chants. Afterwards she asked if I was shy and wanted to take a picture with me. She is adorable. Hue Shou met me at the chanting hall and we headed over to lunch meditation. She had gone down there and was working as a server that day. She again brought me an English translation for the chant. A bit later when we were all eating she came by again and set down a spoon for me to use in my soup. I smiled and bowed my head in thanks (since we can’t talk) and she did this little smile/smirk/giggle and went on doing her job. It’s hard to describe to you how sweet she is, you would need to talk to her, to see her demeanor, to really see what I saw. Our picture together was pretty funny. She’s maybe 5 feet tall. So yeah, I bent down for the picture.
I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with Fo Guang Shan the way I did. Really it was the people that I love though. The nuns were amazing. Today when I went by the office to say goodbye to people, one of the nuns I had spent a good amount of time with was in the office. Yesterday she began calling me Mei Mei (little sister). When I told her I was leaving in about an hour she got up and came over. She asked me questions about where I was going next (all in Chinese btw, Hue Shou is the only one who can actually speak English) and what I thought of FGS while I was there. Then she gave me this braided key chain type thing with beads on it. It’s really pretty. She also asked to exchange emails and apologized that she would only be able to email in Chinese. Of course I gave her my email and I’m hoping to keep in touch with them. I’m so touched that after just a week of having me around, they felt so strongly about my leaving.
Hue Shou was the one who was a bit more upset. I think he misses having westerners around. He said he used to have Malaysian and Canadian monk friends who worked there and they understood him better. It’s just different, you know? Our culture and the way we grow up is not like the culture of the Chinese/Taiwanese. So I think he really enjoys having people there who understand his perspective.
I’ll miss them. I can see myself revisiting Fo Guang Shan again in the future.
The traveling Fink... 