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June 28, 2015

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The Sound of silence

THE Jade Buddha Temple is the first in Shanghai to welcome outsiders to participate in Zen meditation sessions.

The Anyuan Road temple, also known as Yufo Temple, is now opening its doors at 5pm every day to locals and foreigners alike. There is no fee, but reservations are advised.

I joined a group of 60 people, mostly young office workers in their 30s, who were the first to take part in the new program, which began on June 20.

Zen has been increasing in popularity among young Chinese in recent years.

In China, it harks back to the 6th century when an Indian monk named Bodhidharma, the 28th successor of Buddha, traveled to China to teach and spread Zen meditation. However, the practice did not become truly popular until a monk named Hui Neng created six schools of Zen during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

Zen is rooted in the idea of spiritual awakening, though the experience is easier to describe by what it is not. It is not a dogma, theory, idea or religious doctrine. It is rather like a path to self-discovery, affecting all the actions of daily life — eating, sleeping, breathing, walking, working, talking and thinking.

The century-old Jade Buddha Temple is one of the most popular Zen temples in Shanghai.

It has retained many old traditions of Zen practice. Monks get up around 5am every day and recite sutras in the morning. They also recite sutras in the afternoon and evening. At night, they sit in the Zen room doing meditation.

“Zen’s core concept is to guide people to the deepest and purest thoughts in their mind and, thus, to gain power from those thoughts,” said senior Zen master Shi Wenyuan.

Achieving enlightenment through Zen can take years of practice, he said. The main purpose of the new visitors’ program is to help people see how meditation can deflect worldly distractions and help achieve tranquility.

On the first evening of the meditation sessions, senior monk Shi Huijing greeted visitors and gave us a tour of the temple. The crowds of typical daytime worshippers were gone. Solitude reigned. Red lamps hung around the grounds, and monks bustled about quietly, preparing for their evening meditation.

“It’s not about religion but rather to see traditional culture and wisdom,” said Huijing who also is also a masters’ tutor at Jiao Tong University.

Huijing introduced us to the history of each Buddha in the temple.

“I recommend you pay tribute to the Maitreya because he always smiles on visitors, no matter whether they are good or bad,” Huijing said.

The statue of Maitreya, or the Buddha of the Future, sits at the main entrance of the temple. It is what many would view as a quintessential Buddha, with the swelled belly and a smiling face.

“We should study his tolerance and rid ourselves of impulse and bad temper,” Huijing said. “We may feel life is unfair because we don’t have enough money, but then we can think of people with illnesses or prisoners locked up, and we should feel lucky that we have health and freedom.”

At about 6pm, Huijing took us to the Grand Hall to pay tribute to the three major Buddhas: the Sakyamuni Buddha, the creator of Buddhism; Bhaiajyaguru, the Buddha of medicine; and Amitabha, the Buddha of the heavens.

About 10 monks from the temple’s “orchestra” then entered the hall with song-like chants wishing us welcome. Members of this group studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Shanghai Theater Academy. Their voices were pure and their songs calming.

The Zen practice began at 6:20pm. We were taken to the Zen room. Wenyuan entered solemnly.

“Since you are here, please obey the ancient rules of the Zen room,” he said.

The basic rules include not wearing skirts or high-heeled shoes, and keeping mobile phones switched off.

The Jade Buddha Temple practices Caodong Zen, one of the two most popular schools of Zen. Its patriarch, Liangjie, used to hit practitioners with a wooden stick as he shouted at them. It was suppose to hasten their progress toward enlightenment.

The temple has retained the tradition. Wenyuan held a wooden stick as he told us what to do.

“Relax,” he assured us. “I won’t hit you in the head. It’s only a tradition.”

Before the actual meditation began, we were asked to walk in a circle around an ancient stone Buddha sculpture for 30 minutes. Wenyuan said that practice is to increase blood circulation to prepare us for an hour of sitting.

“Focus on a single thought or a certain question like ‘who am I’ as you walk,” he said. “Focus deeply on that thought.”

Some in our group found the endless circling a bit tedious and tiring, but few dared to leave or stop. Wenyuan walked with us, stick on his shoulder.

During the walk, I focused on the thought: “Where do troubles come from and how can they be dispelled?”

As we sat silently for the next hour, I thought about how everyone is born with happiness and wisdom, but such valuable qualities get obscured by obsession with money, power, favor and status. People think they can gain everything through worldly pursuits, but according to Zen, they actually are nothing more than a beggar or a newborn baby.

Time seemed to stand still during meditation, but once it was over, it seemed to have passed quickly.

Wenyuan said meditation can be practiced anytime, anywhere. Even sitting on a bus, one can close the eyes, take a deep breath and focus on one pure thought.

“The night classes aim to create a peaceful place, especially for white-collar workers who are so busy during the day that they need to find their inner peace and feel freedom in their hearts,” said Shi Huijue, the chief operator of the temple.

The temple is planning to initiate week long and 10-day Zen sessions, allowing practitioners to live in the temple for the duration.




 

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