In PURE LAND, you can have a rest in the joy of Buddhist landscapes.
FOREWORD BY TRANSLATOR
This article is interpreted and adapted from an essay written by a member of the TV program team of Phoenix TV, Hong Kong, according to their filming experience in Bolin Temple in Hebei Province, China. It has been made into a documentary TV show called Open the Buddhist Gate, played on Eyeshot of Phoenix in Chinese. The original Chinese article can be found on the website: Guidance to Buddhism. Nowadays, many temples in China host a variety of Buddhist events, including summer and winter camps open to the public, dedicated to the experience of learning Buddhism. To better cater to the needs of public and society, these events mainly focus on education and the importance of human kindness from a Buddhist tradition, rather than theoretical Buddhist knowledge. They are also broken into different types of activities for all ages, such as events for college students, young people, and so on. The translator participated in one of the events designed especially for college students for seven days. It is a joyful and mindful experience within deep enlightenment. What the Bolin Temple demonstrates here is one of the typical experiences one might have in the temple.The Joy of Zen (I)
On an afternoon in the twelfth lunar month, our TV program team departs from Beijing to Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province. With genuine respect and a bit of curiosity, we drive the car into the old town of Zhao County, which sits about four hours’ drive from the city center. Just as we were looking for the temple gate, someone in the car shouts with excitement, “Pagoda!”
Though simple and unadorned, the top of the pagoda stands out distinctly against the various buildings. Even before seeing the temple, it is the pagoda that welcomes us.
This pagoda enjoys a great reputation in Buddhist history; it locates in the Bolin Temple. According to historical records, the pagoda is the symbol of Monk Zhaozhou, who established the discipline of Zhaozhou Zen. He stayed in the temple for forty years to teach and spread Buddhism, which had a deep influence on the local people. After 120 years, Monk Zhaozhou received the respectful nirvana. This pagoda contains his bones and clothing in honor of him.
For six hundred years, the pagoda outlasted the other structures in the temple compound as they crumbled to ash.
The Rhythm of the Bell and Drum
It is a symbol of monastic life to ring a bell at sunrise and beat a drum at sunset. At the Zhaozhou temple, the tolling of the bell has been known by the nation since ancient times.
It is the night of the sixteenth day of the last lunar month. The bright moon casts a light upon us. At ten o’clock in the evening, we wait outside the Bell and Drum Tower. This rebuilt tower is about 55 feet in height and has a bell on the second floor and a drum on the third. From the top you can have a bird’s eye view of the whole temple at night, as well as the lights of the county outside the wall.
At that precise moment of ten o’clock, a young monk strides towards the tower to open the door. We keep pace with him up to the third floor. We watch as he puts on white gloves and calmly lights candles before the statue of Buddha. The rhythm of the drum then bursts out in strikes. Different from normal, hard strikes, the monk knocks heavily with his right hand while holding down the other stick, sliding fluently in various directions, which creates a dynamic vibration and rhythm.
Every night, the monk strikes the drum at the Bell and Drum Tower absorbedly.
The rise and fall of rhythm create the illusion of a couple of drums being struck together, like thunder in a heavy storm. Actually, the name of this sound is exactly called “thunder and lightning,” to show people’s awe as well as its closeness to the nature. We silently open the wooden windows to spread the liberal chime further.
The beating of the drum lasts for ten minutes, until the bell begins to ring. We go downstairs immediately to see an elder monk in a gray costume tolling the huge bell. Half closing his eyes to immerse himself in the singing of a Buddhist song, he rings the bell with an inner strength of peace. The outside world is disregarded here; the tolling is perpetual.
Hearing the “DANG DANG” reverberating among the cypresses and groves in the tranquil moonlight, we amble down the wooden corridor around the yard. The practice of monastic life ends in the tolling. The light in the guestrooms and monks’ dormitories disappear one after another, making the quiet temple even more tranquil.
The pause between each tolling becomes longer and longer, just like someone walking further and further into the distance. Nobody realizes when it stops.
Later, covered in thick and warm quilts, we sleep deeply.
The Dining Hall of Five Contemplation
The next day is the Beginning of Spring, the first solar term in the Chinese calendar. We have breakfast at six o’clock in the morning at the dining hall which is called Xiangzhi Hall. Rows of long tables and benches lie in order. Each seat has a pair of bowls. People walk into the dining hall in a uniform line and sit down before their seat. After a grateful singing prayer for the food and Buddha, volunteers begin to hand out food for everyone. One bowl is for porridge, the other is for dishes. I take some congee with millet, peanuts, Chinese dates and so on, and some dishes like broccolis, mushrooms, soybeans, carrots and fungi.
There is an important etiquette for the meal: keep silent. Some specific postures have been designed for simple communication. A group of volunteers carrying different dishes will come by, one by one, to give out food. If you need the dish which is carried by a volunteer, you can push your bowl forward to ask for the food. If not, just take back your bowl. If you want a large serving of a particular dish, you can simply give a thumbs-up. So even though the hall holds almost four hundred people having meals together, little noise is made, except for the sound of chopsticks touching the bowl. Actually, the habit of keeping silent is not merely applied to mealtime etiquette but everywhere in the temple. A board on which is written “wordless” can be seen in many places, which goes along with the whole practice of Zen.
Another norm in the dining hall is to waste no food. Before the meal, we are informed to order only as much as you can eat, which is an unspoken principle in temple. Even the very tiny rice and oil left in the bowl after a meal should be drank with hot water. The reason for this rule is quite simple: Since all the food here is donated by the public, it would be a great shame if you wasted any amount of food given to you by the kind people.
To learn more about the dining hall, we are allowed to enter the kitchen. In the food preparation room, ten or more women are busy with chopping vegetables. According to Ming Qing Shi, the monk who is responsible for the dining hall, they are all volunteers from around the country who have come to help with the big events at the temple.
Volunteers working in the kitchen to prepare vegetarian meals for Buddhists.
Ming Qing Shi leads us to the stove and says, “This is the Arhat Dish,” pointing at a big steel pot. “We cook various vegetables together.” I ask: “How does it feel to eat the same dishes every day?” He replies: “It is a very usual one, so there is no preference in the dish. It is important for monks to reduce the sense of differentiation in everything, including foods.” Referring to Buddhism, eating should be moderate, never getting too full, because too much food would hinder one from mediation and the modulation of breath. So another rule, for the monks, is not to eat after noon. However, the householders can make their own choice. As a result, dinner is called “remedies” in Buddhism. It is taken as an additional replenishing of food.
In spite of the simple and limited food, the monks in temple are all in good condition and flourishing energies. I wonder whether it is the vegetables that do this. Ming Qing Shi agrees firmly. He says: “We only eat the simplest natural food without too much flavor. So vegetables like green onions, gingers and garlics with strong smell are not on our recipe. The stimulation of our sensation of taste and smell is detrimental to the practice of Zen, which might disturb the peace of mind.”
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