I have become an active participant in a study group that studies Buddhism in english at a translation center that belongs to the Longquan Si Buddhist temple on Pheonix Mountain in Beijing. The temple is a very interesting buddhist temple because it has translated a lot of its texts into multiple languages around the world, and has an active website:
http://www.longquanzs.org/eng/index.php
By attending this study group I have met a lot of new friends and made some valuable new connections in Beijing. We right buddhist scriptures and mantras and discuss them. We also read Venerable Master Xuecheng's book, Understanding Life, which I will bring back to the states with me to share with others. It is a very well written book and has many valuable thoughts in it.
Today was the Dharma Assembly so there were a lot of events going on. It was my best day in Beijing so far. A chance to get out of the city and into the country side where there are mountains and clear skies is always a good day for me. The mountains are absolutely beautiful at the temple, and from the temple you can see the whole city.
The view
The first event of the day was called the releasing of the animals ritual. During this ritual we chanted several mantras and then the monks released a bunch of little birds. I actually don't know the whole meaning for this ritual but it was very beautiful, and I am guessing it has to do with liberty for all living beings. I found out the hard way that this temple separates men and women. I wanted to get closer to the ritual and to the monks so I started walking naturally, to get closer to the event. As I kept walking I noticed my friend calling my name and standing back, she told me that I couldn't go there because it was where the men were, but as I looked around me all I saw was a crowd of men smiling at me because I was that ignorant foreigner who didn't know any better.
I took a video of the releasing of the birds:
This is a video of the monks leaving the ritual
After lighting candles we had lunch. The lunch is a free vegetarian meal that you have to finish completely so as to not waste food and to eat only enough food. This is a common buddhist belief that was developed when Siddartha first began his meditation and learned that balance is the answer for anything. When he began meditation he starved himself but then realized that it is not about starving, it is about eating just enough for oneself and not overeating or eating too little.
The food however that I requested had some strange items in it and I did not want to eat them, but I stuffed them down my throat because I didn't want to leave any food left over because of what happened last time when the girl got me a spoon so that I could finish what was left in my bowl.
I also crossed my legs when I first sat down and a woman to my left tapped me and told me to uncross my legs, I guess that this position is rude, and from there on out I had to force my legs not to cross over each other because I am so used to this position in the United States. It is my go to sitting position.
Most people at the temple were staring at me because they must not be used to seeing a foreigner in the temple. Many people also came up to me and started talking to me and inquiring about why I was there.
People were generally really friendly and really kind. I like the people at the temple way more than the people I have encountered in Beijing. Since Beijing is a busy city it reminds me a lot of New York where people don't have the time to smile at others when walking down the street.
The next event we went to was a discussion on religion and the Buddhist religion compared to other religions. There was also a discussion on the book that one of the monks had written about Master Xuecheng. The discussion was extremely interesting. It was about five other religions: Judaism, Muslim, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. They showed five clips and compared all of the religions. Basically what they said was that Religion all has the same root: They are focused on love for thyself and others, non-violence practices, are practiced during times of hardship, etc. Religions are different because of history and traditions but the root of them is all the same.
The focus of the comparison was to say that we should treat all religions not as different, but as the same and all having the same root, which makes us all connected, and therefore war based on religion should not happen. This is what I like about Buddhism, it is driven towards uniting the human race and equanimity for all human beings.
The last talk was on compassion. The moral of this talk was that happiness should be attained through helping others, but you have to find it in your own heart before you can give it to others. This is something I strongly believe in. My friend from my buddhist study group translated the whole thing for me as we were sitting there listening to it, it was the nicest thing I have experienced. All of the buddhist people I have met here so far have been exceptional human beings. I am so glad to be doing my independent study on Buddhism.
Now that my journey as allowed me to explore and experience buddhism in China, I will be conducting surveys and interviews now on the ways that buddhism affects the mind and physical being. This is something I have been wanting to research about for a long time and now it is in my own hands!
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