Day 16 was mostly spent at Dharma Drum Mountain, one of the largest Buddhist Monasteries in the world. We spent our day at the attached University doing a variety of activities that included many different types of mediation, two different tea events, lecture events, and a discussion with a Monk and two Nuns. The first part of the day consisted of a long session of meditation. We started with seated meditation like what we had previously practiced with Professor Young in our lecture sessions. I noticed that it gets easier to relax, sit still, and focus on breathing the more we practice meditation, however I still feel as though my mind gets really preoccupied with thoughts. One of the individuals at Dharma Drum gave helpful advice on how to clear your mind. She stated that one needs to acknowledge and accept the thoughts and then let them go, focus on the environment around you and your breathing instead of what your mind wants to focus on. This is something that I plan to try to do next time I do meditation. After seated meditation, we did different walking, standing, and chanting mediations. My favorite one was the standing one as I feel like I was able to focus more on what I was hearing in the environment around us. When I began to focus on my senses I started to hear the rain further in the distance and noticed birds chirping (I did not hear any birds before) which was a cool experience and shows how mediation can allow you to focus on things that you miss in the world around you.
For lunch we had food from a vegetarian buffet at Dharma Drum Mountain and got a much needed cup of coffee afterwards. We then were taken to a large meditation room where we received a lecture on Buddhism, had a Q/A session with a Monk and two Nuns, and then had a seated tea session. One thing I found interesting was that the monks stated that they did not have a choice in what they did, such as going to another country to give a lecture or daily responsibilities. I found this super interesting because I think I assumed that if an individual volunteered to become a Monk they would want a say in what their “job” was, however, I also noticed that there was a lot of devotion and dedication in the monks to their lifestyle which was reflected in them being willing to do whatever asked.
My favorite activity of the day was the seated tea session because we got a chance to sample some real and fresh tea as well as talk to some of the students at the monastery. One of the women that we had the opportunity to talk to had a super inspirational story about why she chose to leave America, quit her job, and work at the monastery. She talked about how the passing of her mother during covid really put into perspective what she valued in life and what she felt was most important to her. This is what caused her to quit her job because she realized that she valued living a life of simplicity and contentless over making a lot of money. I think that knowing what you value most in life is an admirable thing! We also connected over her experience on the Camino de Santiago which is a pilgrimage-like hiking journey throughout Spain and Portugal as it is at the top of my bucket list right now.
Although I found the over all vibe of the campus a little unsettling (because of the cement buildings and quiet atmosphere), I think it was such an interesting and unique experience to be able to see monastic life up close and hear the stories of people who live such different lives than we do.
The rest of the evening was spent with dinner in Ximending, a little shopping for souvenirs, finishing up presentations, and hanging out with friends!!