I flew 10000 kilometers from home and 13 hours to Austin, Texas, USA, and I was slowly released from the expectation and joy of seeing my son and daughter-in-law. After getting a general understanding of the surrounding environment, the novelty soon passed, and I was tired of the monotonous life in America. I proposed to visit American temples, and my son helped me search the Xiangyun Temple in Foguang Mountain on the Internet ~
The next day, I drove for a quarter of an hour and came to Xiangyun Temple. I saw a big Maitreya Buddha in front of the mountain gate, smiling brightly at people. The gate of the temple is open, and there is no big red wooden door common in domestic temples. Similarly, purple pillars stand in front of the temple, showing the unique solemnity of the temple.
After entering the door, it is the Mahatma Hall. Needless to say, this is the main hall, the main hall dedicated to Sakyamuni Buddha and the only hall in the temple.
Walking into the Hall of Mahatma, I saw three golden Buddha statues facing me, magnificent. The walls on both sides are inlaid with countless gorgeous bodhisattvas, and a circle of white ceiling lamps is inlaid in the multi-layer gypsum board hanging from the ceiling, which makes the whole hall more magnificent. When I asked about the Buddha statue before, I was greeted by a layman. She told me that the Amitabha Dharma was being held and asked me if I wanted to attend. I said yes, so I sent my son back first.
Two monks and nuns are leading more than 20 believers to recite the Amitabha Sutra. Because the main hall is relatively spacious, the wizards hold microphones and lead the public to recite in the crisp sound of wooden fish.
After singing, you can walk around the Buddhist scriptures. The holy name of Amitabha is completely different from the chanting I have heard. I listened carefully, but there seems to be no fixed tone. The voices of two magicians come and go, mingled with the crowd, like waves in the tide of the sea. Very harmonious and sweet, people can't help but listen carefully and integrate their voices into the tide. Then there was a brother. After making a incense, the mage specially taught this method of chanting with only one voice.
After walking around the Buddhist scriptures for a while, I couldn't sit still. In fast chanting, adjust and relax, sit up straight and look back. Observe your thoughts with your heart. Your mind and all your body and mind are bathed in the pure and compassionate voice of the holy name. The sound came to a screeching halt and the wooden fish rested. The hall is quiet, the world is quiet, and everything around you that you can feel is still. At this time, work, life and family.
There is only one incense time for meditation, which should be about 30 minutes, but it feels very short. Whenever there is a break, the mage and the master of awareness will give us lectures. This bespectacled, short-stature, husband-like monk speaks gently and humorously, which often makes people bathe in French in laughter. Because there are several foreigners attending the Dharma, sometimes the mage even makes introductions in English, which makes me even more envious.
Although the vegetarian meal at noon is light, it is rich and delicious, and it is cooked by a monk. Later, after dinner, the master had no time to cook. I can't help feeling ashamed. No wonder the master said he was too busy to have time! The master here is really a master in the temple. He does everything himself.
The two-day dharma meeting passed quickly in a clean state. Later, I went to volunteer for a day and met several senior sisters who often volunteer. (The woman here is called a senior, and the man is called a senior. ) There was once a senior named Biyun who worked here for 10 years. During the Dharma, they spent a week arranging flowerpots and tables in front of the Buddha statue. Although not many people attended the meeting, they were meticulous.
This joyful magnetic field is transmitted from the Buddhist temple to Master, and then from Master to volunteers, which makes everyone who comes to the Dojo feel extremely happy and clean. Just as Master Xing Yun, the founder of Foguang Mountain, advocated human Buddhism, let piety, compassion and equality be integrated into life, and let self-confidence, joy, hope and convenience with others become the creed of every Buddhist disciple, thus establishing a universal and harmonious pure land on earth.
On Saturday after that, I took part in the Chinese one-day retreat and felt the music of Buddhism. Early in the morning, a dozen of us, led by Master, came to the meditation hall of Xiangyun Temple. After putting on our robes, we sat on the cushions that had been arranged neatly. Listen to the teacher talk about some rules of sitting incense and meditation, the posture of sitting incense, the method of counting breath during meditation, and how to take care of it when counting breath
During meditation, as Master taught me, I count my breath to 1 and 10, and concentrate on my breath. After a while, I felt difficult to breathe, followed by chest tightness and shortness of breath. I know I can't breathe freely, so I still look at my God from my relatively skilled point of view.
About 30 minutes of meditation time passed quickly, and the meditation hall was very quiet. My brother's stomach echoed beside the silent meditation hall. Next, we walk incense, focusing on our own pace and the pace of our brothers around us. After two rounds, we drove to a nearby park for outdoor meditation.
When we arrived at the park, everyone got a box lunch. The food is clean and delicious. Everyone ate quietly and felt the delicious food. After dinner, the master led everyone to the stream to listen to the sound of running water. When I heard the gurgling sound of water falling on the stone, the white waves splashed on the stone tirelessly went down the river, just like time, which slipped away unconsciously, never going back and never starting again; The splashing waves are also like the thoughts and desires in our hearts; Then there was a clear birdsong in my ear, and I looked up. Wow! White cotton wool is floating in the blue sky, and the white clouds in front of the left are like waves. Waves are like burning thoughts, wave after wave, endless and endless, covering the true wisdom that is not dyed like a mirror.
After returning to the temple, in the room, each of us received a small bowl with a transparent glass mouth, as well as potted plants, shells and stones. The stunt master said that this class was a creative handmade potted plant, which was arranged by ourselves according to our own wishes. After a while, we all finished eating. Master Jueji asked us to stand up and look at other people's works, and learn to appreciate and praise others. Finally, we put all the bonsai on the table and take back other people's works. We can arrange it according to our own wishes, or we can leave it as it is. After I got it, I immediately went to get some plants and filled the bonsai, but someone didn't change it. Yes, since it's someone else's work, why not keep it for others? Under the guidance of the master, I feel a little eager for perfection.
After seeing the bonsai, I came to Dishuiting Teahouse. The teahouse is tastefully decorated with an elegant tea set on the table. A tall and beautiful teacher elder sister is sitting at the tea table. It turns out that this class is for blind experience of tea Zen. My sister introduced us some knowledge about teapot and Pu 'er tea. Speaking of Pu 'er tea, she knows whether the more expensive the better, if she likes to drink it. Seeing my sister's tall and straight figure, elegant and slender fingers and a cup of tea with her hands folded is not only elegant, but, as she said, a way to calm her heart.
Drinking tea, listening to the master tell the story of Zen master Zhao Zhou's "drinking tea": two monks from afar visited the Zen master, and Zen master Zhao Zhou asked if any of them had been there. A: I've never been here. Say "go for tea" to him, ask another person and answer: I have been here. The Zen master also said, "Go and have tea." The monk in the nearby prison was surprised and asked the Zen master why he went to drink tea if he had been there. The Zen master told him to "drink tea" too.
After telling this story, the stunt master gave us a question, asking why we all "eat tea". If you can't answer, drink tea. Everyone knows that this kind of tea is not really tea, so they taste tea with this meaningful "tea" and realize the Tao.
I recorded some feelings and experiences in Xiangyun Temple as a diary. This is only a part of the curriculum of Xiangyun Temple, and it is also the respect of Foguang Mountain for human Buddhism and the wisdom and wonderful use of Buddhism in life. What you see and hear can only become your own wisdom through practice and experience. May you also become an experiencer of "drinking tea"