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| zen monk for a week.. |
| 07.31.04 (8:22 am) [edit] |
i've just spent a week at mu sang sa, a zen meditation center in the mountains of korea. www.musangsa.org
here's some initial thoughts...
my days started at 3:00 am with the sounding of the motcha, the wooden bell of buddhist temples. that was our alarm clock..the slow, beautifully eerie sound of the motcha....at 3:25 we gathered in the dharma hall for 108 bows.
just before 4:00, i'd walk up the small hill to the buddha hall, half the taime walking backwards to i could see the stars of the wee-hour sky..then at 4:00 we would chant~mostly in korean, one, the heart sutra~in korean and then in english. the sound was beautiful and i really looked forward to chanting every day.
soon after that, at 5:00, we would again gather in the dharma hall for an hour of sitting meditation. this was my favorite time to sit. it was still and silent when we began, and slowly the insects would start to stir...species by species...and begin their unending chorus of melodic sounds. my cushion was right by a window, so most of my time i sat gazing out at the mysterious world of insect sounds...creatures hidden in the abundance of vegetation..
at 6:00 we met in the dining hall for breakfast, which, together with lunch, is rich in ritual and quite special. that's an email unto itself.
at 6:30 i began my morning work, which was usually to clean the bathroom and bedroom i shared with four other women. it was a nice time to just be..to just wash the floor..just sweep the stairs..and not worry aobut hurrying, not worry about anything else..it's all your doing...be in the moment...
at 7:30 i went down for a little mornning snack of cookies, nuts, whatever they offered..then i returned to my third floor space..we were the only room on the third floor, which was nice for solitude. i would go out to my favorite spot~a perch on the balcony that looked out at the mountains just across the small valley. sometimes i'd write in my journal, usually i'd just sit.
at 8:30 we met again in the dharma hall for sitting mediation. this lasted until 11:00. the sessions were scheduled in increments, so we would sit for maybe 25, 40, or 60 minutes, and then have 10 minutes to walk in mediation, use the bathroom, drink tea in the tea room, etc. i usually went to the tea room and looked out the window while drinking water or tea.
at 11:00, there was a small ceremonial rice offering to the buddha, and then we went to the dining hall for formal lunch. one nice thing aobut meal time was the complete silence. we were taught even to make no sound when touching your bowls or chopsticks, even when pouring your water, and it was all done in unison, guided by the rapping of a split bamboo stick by the head monk.
after lunch, i took a shower. then i went to the empty room at the end of the hall or out on my personal balcony and did an hour of yoga. then i just relaxed in my favorite spot and looked at the mountains. god i miss the mountains.
we met again in the dharma hall at 1:30 and sat in meditation until 4:30. this was usually the most difficult sit for me, mentally and physically. at first it was my lovley cold and cough, accompanied by pain in my back and loss of blood circulation in my feet. later it was restlessness and pain in my knees. but, it got easier every day.
at 4:50 we met for a casual but still silent dinner. sometimes i sat by the big guy, and sometimes i would sit alone. the big guy was a russian giant with whom i didn't exchange words until yesterday, but often we would smile and namaste to each each other. i liked him. gentle giant.
after dinner i cleaned dishes with the wonder twins. a girl and boy newly-shaved set of aspiring moks who were each very funny. we never spoke, but goofed little jokes while cleaning the dishes. then i sat in my favorite spot for a few minutes.
jsut before 6:00pm, i would walk up to the buddha hall and stand in my favorite vantage point. the sun was off the mountains by then, and the dark grey roofs of the dormitory and dharma hall contrasted micely against the mountains. espeically when the russian was standing in his favorite vantage point just at the corner of the buddha hall, in front of the rooftops. i wanted a picture of that scene, but when i brought my camera up there he was in his other spot, which is three feet away and sitting on the step with his string of wooden beads.
again, chanting. loved it.
from 7:00-9:00 we sat again in meditation. sometimes i liked this time, sometimes i suffered from tiredness, and sometimes i wanted to explode with boredom. well, that wasn't exclusive to that time of meditation, actually, but it occurs to me that it happened then.
then..write in my journal and sleep.
that's the life of karin the buddhist monk.
there are, of course, many funny stories, downsides, frustrations, and what have you, but that's the highlights. figured i'd start there.
yours in the dharma..
karin
www.musangsa.org
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