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Meditation camp clears heads
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MEDITATION is thought to be the “chicken soup” for mind and soul. And it’s getting increasingly popular among young Chinese white-collar professionals who often suffer great pressure from work and urban life.
Taking several days away from the hustle and bustle of the city and hiding in a small, quiet temple is catching on.
On Lushan Mountain in Jiangxi Province, a 5-day meditation camp attracted dozens of people who wanted to “purify” their body and soul.
More than 400 steps up the mountain, the Nuonata Temple is so secluded that few tourists visit it. For the past week, 50 people from around the country were “camped” here, many of them white-collar professionals.
Among them was Ms Tao, a clerk at a foreign bank from Hunan Province who declined to give her full name.
“Upon arrival, I took off my own clothes and put on a meditation outfit provided by the temple,” she says, adding that all “campers” were required to call each other “brother.”
“Cellphones were allowed, but we cannot go down the mountain,” she says.
Tao saw an ad for the camp on the Internet. Stressful with daily work, she knew she wanted to go.
“It is free and I want to relax myself, experiencing a different life and to calm myself down,” she says.
Roger Zhang from Dalian, Liaoning Province, who works in the field of art investing, says he always has a strong interest in meditation and Buddhism. After the whole week’s simple life, he says he now has a deeper understanding of Buddhism.
Accompanied by the morning bell, life in the temple begins every day at 5:30am. Campers had a one-hour morning class when they chanted “Vajracchedika-sutra” led by the Buddhist monk. After breakfast, they sat in meditation.
“Sitting in meditation is the most difficult,” Tao says. “On the first day, it was so hard for my body to adjust to it. I made adjustments under the monk’s instructions again and again, but my legs got so sore only after a few minutes.”
After that difficult first-time sitting in meditation, Tao says she gradually managed it.
Another routine, called walking meditation, had campers walking slowly among trees, listening to the singing of birds and feeling the wind. The idea was to feel the body slowing down.
“Lives in the temple are certainly very dull,” Tao says. “Every day we were up at sunrise and in bed at sunset. No entertainment at all.”
For many, it’s also hard to eat vegetarian food. However, “it created a feeling of isolation from the outside world,” says Tao.
Taking a break constantly from a familiar environment is good, says Shanghai sociologist Zhang Haidong. “In today’s fast-paced society, people need to slow down at times, to breathe and to think. And I’m happy to see many young people doing so.”
Tao says the five days “are really helpful. I saw sunrise and sunset every day (on the mountain), which is rare if I’m in the city. And in the spare time, I talked to Buddhist monks about life.
“Now I totally calm down and no longer feel restless, which perhaps is the true meaning of meditation,” she concludes.
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