A Trip to Hsi Lai Temple

Actually, when I heard the name, I thought this place was in China. But it is actually in the United States. You wouldn’t have thought there are temples in the US, right? Let’s all take a look at what this place has to offer.

After flying over 10,000 kilometers from China and a 13-hour journey to Austin, Texas, I gradually released the expectation and joy of seeing my son and daughter-in-law. I had a general understanding of the surrounding environment. The freshness soon passed. I felt bored with the monotonous and dull life in the United States. I suggested visiting a temple in America. My son helped me search for Hsi Lai Temple online.

The next day, we drove for 15 minutes and arrived at Hsi Lai Temple. In front of the mountain gate, there was a large statue of Maitreya Buddha, laughing heartily at people. The temple gate was open, without the common red wooden gate of temples in China. Similarly, large purple pillars stood at the gate, showing the solemnity and grandeur unique to the temple.

After entering, there is the Mahavira Hall. Needless to say, this is the main hall, where the Sakyamuni Buddha is enshrined, and the only hall in the temple.

Entering the Mahavira Hall, I saw three golden Buddha statues facing me, majestic and solemn. On the walls on both sides were inlaid with countless dazzling statues of Bodhisattvas. There were multi-layer plasterboards on the ceiling, inlaid with a circle of white ceiling lights, illuminating the splendor of the entire hall. I habitually asked the Buddha statue a question, and a lay person approached me. She told me that the Amitabha Dharma Assembly was underway and asked me if I would participate. I said yes, and sent my son back first.

Two nuns were leading more than 20 believers in chanting the “Buddha Speaks the Amitabha Sutra.” Because the hall was quite spacious, the masters held microphones, leading everyone to chant in the crisp sound of wooden fish…

After chanting the sutras, it was time to circumambulate the Buddha. The Amitabha Buddha’s name chant was completely different from the chanting I had heard. I listened carefully, it seemed like there was no fixed tone, the voices of the two masters, one high and one low, alternated, mixed in with the mixed voices of the crowd, like the waves rising in the ocean tide, harmonious and pleasing to the ear, it was impossible not to listen carefully, to blend your own voice into the tide-like sound. Later, a senior brother told me that this was the “sea tide sound”. After finishing a stick of incense, the masters also specifically taught this chanting method which only had one tone.

After circumambulating the Buddha for a while, it was time for seated meditation. In the increasingly urgent chanting, I adjusted my body to relax, sat upright, retracted my eyes, and used my mind to observe my own thoughts. My mind and my entire body were bathed in the pure and compassionate sound of the sacred name. The sound stopped abruptly, the wooden fish also rested, the hall was silent, the world also fell silent, everything I could sense around me stopped. At that moment, work, life, family no longer existed, what existed and what I was aware of was only the arising and ceasing of my own thoughts, even arising and ceasing did not exist, only the perception and awareness of the surroundings.

The seated meditation was only for the time of one stick of incense, which should be about 30 minutes, but it felt like a moment. Every time we rested, the presiding master, Master Jiji, would give us a Dharma talk. This was a nun who wore glasses, wasn’t tall, and had the appearance of a husband, but she spoke softly and humorously, with a gentle voice, often bathing everyone in Dharma words amidst laughter. Since there were a few foreigners attending the dharma assembly, sometimes the master would also give Dharma talks in English, which made me even more envious.

The vegetarian lunch was simple but plentiful and delicious, and was also made by a nun. Later, after finishing the meal, the master finally had time to eat. I couldn’t help but feel ashamed. No wonder the master said she was too busy! The masters here are truly the owners of the temple, they do everything themselves.

The two-day dharma assembly passed quickly in a state of purity. Later, I also volunteered for a day, and met several sisters who often volunteered (here, women are called sisters, and men are called brothers). There was a sister named Biyun who had been here for 10 years. During the dharma assembly, the flower pots in front of the Buddha statues and the arrangement of the offering tables were all done by them over a week. Although the number of participants in the dharma assembly was not large, they still arranged everything meticulously and carefully, so that those who came to participate could feel joy from the solemnity of the Buddha hall.

This joyful magnetic field spread from the Buddha hall to the masters, and from the masters to the volunteers, making everyone who came to the temple feel immense joy and purity. Just as Master Hsing Yun, founder of Fo Guang Shan, advocated human Buddhism, let dedication, compassion, and equality be integrated into life, let faith, joy, hope, and convenience for others become the creed of every Buddhist disciple, to establish a pure land of humanity for all.

Later, on Saturday, participating in the Chinese One-Day Zen gave me a deeper understanding of Dharma joy. Early in the morning, we, a dozen or so people, followed the master to the Zen hall of Hsi Lai Temple, put on our robes, and sat down on the neatly arranged cushions. We listened to the master explain the rules of seated meditation, walking meditation, the posture to be adopted during seated meditation, and the method of counting breaths to be used during seated meditation, how to pay attention to counting breaths.

During seated meditation, I followed the master’s instructions, counting one breath as one count, counting to ten, focusing my mind on my breath. After a while, I felt difficulty breathing, followed by suffocation and shortness of breath. I knew I couldn’t control my breathing freely, so I continued to use the method of observing my original body which I was more familiar with.

About 30 minutes of seated meditation passed quickly. The Zen hall was very quiet. The sound of the brother’s intestines rumbling next to me echoed through the Zen hall. Next was walking meditation, focusing on my own steps and the steps of the brothers around me. After two rounds, we drove to a nearby park for outdoor Zen.

When we arrived at the park, everyone received a lunch box. The food was clean and delicious. Everyone ate quietly, feeling the deliciousness of the food even more. After eating, the master led everyone to the stream to listen to the sound of running water. Hearing the sound of gurgling water falling on the stones, splashing white waves, tirelessly flowing downstream, just like time, unknowingly, swish, swish, slipping away, never flowing back, never coming back again; the splashing waves were also like the various thoughts and desires in our minds; at this time, I heard the chirping of birds, I couldn’t help but look up, wow! The sky was blue with white cotton floating in it, the white clouds on the left front were like layers of waves, the waves were also like the burning away of delusions, one wave after another, endless, never stopping, covering the true wisdom of the mind that is like a clear mirror, unstained and unattached, preventing it from manifesting.

Back at the temple, in the room, each of us received a small round glass bowl, and potted plants, shells, and stones. Master Jiji said this session was creative handmade potted plants, we could do it ourselves, arrange it according to our own wishes. After a while, we were all done, Master Jiji asked us to stand up and look at each other’s work, to learn to appreciate and praise others. Finally, all the potted plants were placed on the table, we took away someone else’s work. After taking it back, we could arrange it according to our own wishes, or we could leave it as it is. After I took it, I immediately went to get some more plants and filled the potted plant, while some people didn’t go back to change it. Yes, since it’s someone else’s work, why not keep it for them? Under the master’s guidance, I realized that I had some desire for perfection.

After finishing the potted plants, we came to the Drip Water Court Tea Room. The tea room was elegantly decorated, with a full set of elegant tea utensils on the table. A tall and beautiful sister was already sitting upright at the tea table. It turned out that this session was about experiencing the unity of tea and Zen. The sister introduced us to the knowledge of the purple clay teapot and the Pu’er tea in her hand. Speaking of Pu’er tea, she believes that it’s not necessarily the more expensive, the better. It’s good as long as you like it. Seeing the sister’s straight sitting posture, her elegant slender fingers, her hands overlapping at her lips and gently taking a sip of tea, it was not just elegant, as she said, it was a way to calm the mind.

Drinking tea, listening to the master talk about the story of Master Zhaozhou’s “Drink tea”: Two monks came from afar to see the master. Master Zhaozhou asked one of them if he had ever been here before. He replied: I have never been here. He said to him, “Drink tea”. He asked the other one, he answered: I have been here before. The master also said “Drink tea”. The supervising monk on the side was puzzled, asking the master why he should also “drink tea” if he had been here before? The master told him to “Drink tea” as well.

After telling this story, Master Jiji gave us a question, asking why it was all “Drink tea”. If we couldn’t answer, we would also “Drink tea”. Everyone understood that this “Drink tea” was not really drinking tea, so we “Drink tea” with this profound meaning, drinking tea, contemplating…

I have recorded some of my feelings and experiences at Hsi Lai Temple like keeping a running account. This is only part of the courses at Hsi Lai Temple, it is also the wisdom and subtle use of Fo Guang Shan in promoting human Buddhism, with the Dharma being implemented and practiced in life. What you see and learn can only become your own wisdom through practice and experience. May you also become that experiencer, go “Drink tea”.