"In life we learn that saltiness has its own taste, that bitterness has its own taste..." Ven. Hsin Pao

Woohooo! The internet finally worked. Because the monastery is hosting a youth camp, our retreat, and other retreats (I am not sure how many but lately the place has been packed) the internet has been painfully slow lately. Luckily, the Buddha of infinite internet has blessed me to be able to make this post. The past few days (how many days has it been since we spoke? I've lost count) have been more of the same. Wake up at 5:30, meditate, breakfast, chores, classes, lunch, walking meditation, more meditation/classes, more chores, dinner, Dharma talks, then evening chanting before gratefully laying down in bed. Although for us its been much of the same, there have been big occurrences happening here at Fo Guang Shan. Three or four days ago (literally out of nowhere) the quiet monastery turned into a bit of a parade welcoming in Venerable Master Hsin Yun (founder of Fo Guang Shan and one of the leading faces for Humanistic/Chinese Buddhism) as well as a government official from China. They came here to apparently have "peace talks" or more specifically for the Venerable Master to spread some Buddhist wisdom for the official to take back to China. This is a very powerful thing as China has drifted very far from Buddhist ideas and has had a rocky relationship with Taiwan. This was really cool for us because we were blessed to have the Venerable Master speak to us. This was a very enlightening experience and the Venerable Master endowed much wisdom on us. For one, he sounded and spoke like Yoda (I was hoping he'd be more like Gandalf, lol) and had a gentleness to him not often found. He is 87 years old and as such has become frail in the body but very strong in the mind. I got to ask him a question (blush) and though he didn't give me an answer to the question I asked he gave me an answer that actually pertained to my situation much more. It reminded me of stories of the Buddha, who could read his disciples minds and taught specifically to them. Most of what he spoke about was very simple yet profound ideas. Much of what he said also consisted of stories and suttras from Buddhist canon. One of the more memorable moments is when he told a story of a Chan master and his disciple trying to debase themselves more then the other to win a bet. In the story the master begins and says, "I am a donkey," the disciple responds, "I am a donkey's ass." Laughter ensued from me and my peers. The master thought how can I make myself lower then a donkey's ass so he says, "I am the poop in the donkey's ass." Next the disciple says, "I am the maggot in the poop in the donkey's ass." "What are you doing?" asked the Master. The disciple responded, "just chilling out." The moral of the story is if with a Chan mind you can just "chill out" in a pile of poop you can be content anywhere. Venerable Master Hsin Yun also told us enlightenment has levels or stages and hinted that these levels can consist of just finding your calling and being happy with you actions. Very powerful stuff.

Some things I have noticed at the monastery as being very different of very enlightening have included the intention and mindfulness that goes into every action here, the monastic way of eating, and the monastic work ethic, with much overlap between the three. Although I don't think I can ever fully explain the mindfulness we are expected to have (let alone the mindfulness the monastics and others here have) I will try my best and hopefully inspire some to adopt some of these practices. One of the most simple ways we are expected to have mindfulness is by lining up. We are split into three groups and those groups are split between male and female. In our groups we are expected to line up (usually 10-15 minutes before events) in straight lines both vertically and horizontally, or in other words straight with the person ahead and behind us and to both sides. Though this seems mundane and easy (which it is) it is a constant reminder to be focused on every action of the body which bubbles over to being focused on every action of the mind. We are then required to walk, keeping these lines in perfect harmony (which seldom happens) while being silent and mindful of the noises we make with each step. This is just one of the many ways we are constantly reminded to watch ourselves. This definitely pertains heavily to the monastic way of eating. Besides the chopsticks, vegetarian meals and the MASS quantities of processed soy (which I will happily never eat again once back in the States) the eating is done in full silence. More importantly, the meal is thought of as a form of meditation which to me has been one of the most powerful concepts. Now I don't think we all need to think of food only as a way to sustain ourselves to further our spiritual practice but I do think that we can learn something from this. We are told to not get attached to any one taste, whether good or bad but to only experience that taste in all its (for lack of a better word) tastefulness, which includes texture and the other senses as well. We are also expected to go over the 5 contemplation's while eating. These are 1) Weigh up the effort involved 2) Are you deserving of the food 3) Guard your mind against faults, green in particular 4) Good medicine is the best cure 5) You need food to further your spiritual practice. The first two are definitely something I would encourage all of you to think about next time you eat. For us, it is powerful because most (possibly all) of the food is donated to the monastery by farmers (looking to gain positive karma) and is cooked and served for us. They also give us the food because they have faith we are good people (and the world needs more good people) so it is a very strong reminder for myself to be that good person and not let those farmers, chefs and servers down. We are asked to think of all the effort from the planting of the seed, to the transportation, to the cooking and serving. And though most of you work for your money, go to the store and by the food, and cook and serve it yourself, there are still farmers who gave their life to feed you, even stars that burn and blow up to give us the necessary light and chemicals for life in the first place, so really question if you are worthy of these gifts and if you find yourself to not be, don't feel bad just find a way to change those flaws and live with yourself contentedly. We were also spoken to by the head chef here at Fo Guang Shan who illuminated us with how much work actually goes on in the kitchen here. He told us that one plate of mushrooms (which would be just one vegetable among many for one meal) could be 20-30 kilograms (around 50 pounds for us Americans). He really stressed the importance of intention and happiness in the kitchen so that the food would hold the resonance of that happiness. He talked about how cooking was a very powerful spiritual practice in that if you could cut a plate of 500 mushrooms, and have the same mindset when you started as when you finished, that was a taste of the Chan mind. It makes me think of my own cooking and the thought I often have of "ughh I don't want to cook dinner." This is ridiculous, one because I am in the minority of lucky people that have the ability of not only sustaining myself but doing it with highly delicious highly nutritious food and two because this thought takes away from my happiness in enjoying that meal. This brings me to my next point which is monastic work ethic. Basically, when we do chores the monastics often tell us to be happy so that when people see our work they will be happy. This may seem trivial or untrue to some but let me elucidate with a story from my life. Often I do dishes and am unhappy while doing them. This may seem normal but when I pick up those clean plates to eat off of, I am picking up something that has negative emotions even if it is just subconscious. So go play, have fun and love everything you do because everything you do is YOU. Today is my day off and I must give the computer back to Sam who needs to check his email now. On our much needed day off we will explore the compound (I will take many pictures) and play some basketball. Much love to you all and thanks for coming along for the journey! Amituofo!