Teaching and Learning in Beijing : Breathing Deeply

On Friday, straight from school we hopped on the subway for about 1 hour and made our way to the meeting place for the retreat group that we would be spending the weekend with. We came across the details about this retreat on The Beijinger - a site with lots of information with what's happening around Beijing mostly for foreigners. The retreat is called the Six Step Buddhist Retreat. We met up with the rest of the group, 12 total, and got into a van and drove for about an hour up into the mountains. At this point it was dark so we couldn't see much but we did see STARS for the first time here in Beijing! Usually it's much too polluted or there are too many lights to see any. We arrived at the retreat center called Lotus Palace to find a handful of volunteers who had cooked us a fresh vegetarian dinner (eating vegetarian is the first of the Six Steps) of tofu, veggies, rice, more veggies and it was delicious. We filled our bowls and found a seat on a cushion on the floor and started learning about some of our new group members. People were from all over - 3 from California, one from Holland who grew up in DC, a few from different parts of China, one from South Africa and one from Texas. It was cool hearing the different accents and hearing when and why everyone ended up in Beijing. After a long introduction session, we scooted off to bed to get a 5:15am wakeup call. We slept in bunk beds - men and women separately - and felt like we were at sleep away camp. It was an exciting and nostalgic feeling we both found familiar.

In the morning, we did our first set of prostrations - another one of the Six Steps. Here's a youtube clip showing the prostrations. Prostrations are basically from starting in a standing position, down into a lying face down on the floor position, and back up into standing. There are 108 prostrations in one set. It takes about 30 minutes to do. Needless to say, we were feeling it after that full set. Then we did a 30 minute seated meditation - which is much harder than it sounds! Trying to completely clear your mind is very challenging and we both found ourselves thinking about many different things. We then had breakfast and a break before going into our next group session. We did a lot of group work, talked about the laws of Buddhism and how they apply to our lives. We both really appreciated the positivity of the Buddhist practice. After lunch, we had a break and then another couple hour session before dinner. The volunteers were making homemade rice balls so we got to help! We sat family-style outside in the middle of the retreat center. It was a beautiful night and we were so content. That night after dinner, we chanted the Sutra (Buddhist text) which is derived from the same root as the medical term "suture" meaning "to hold together." The Sutra was originally written on palm leaves that were sewn together into a book. The reading/chanting (another of the Six Steps) took a total of two hours - it was tiring but interesting and we were ready to fall right asleep after.

The next morning was the same as Saturday morning until after our morning session. We left the retreat center to head to a nearby temple - Longquan Temple. We first ate lunch (very early - at 10:45!) in the temple's dining hall. It was quite an experience. First, women and men eat in separate rooms. We were not allowed to talk at all during the meal. We learned signals we needed to use if we wanted more food, or if we only wanted a little or none. The most important thing was that we couldn't leave any food in our bowls at the end. Nothing could be wasted - an important part of the Buddhist way. Women came around offering food and we accepted or declined them with the signals and listened to the chanting over the loudspeaker. There were so many women in the room, each sitting on stools and no one speaking. The women walked around many times offering food such as dumplings, fruit, vegetables, rice, and many other things. The food was good, but we felt a lot of pressure since we couldn't talk or leave any food. It was an interesting experience that we will remember. After lunch, we got a tour of the temple and then went on a hike up the mountain and left bird seed out to feed the birds since that is one of the 6 Buddhist Steps - feeding animals. We were thrilled to be breathing such clean and fresh air and seeing such blue skies. We looked down at the view of the city of Beijing and could see the smog hovering over. We learned that since the mountains surround the city, BJ is basically the bottom of a "bowl" and depending on the wind patterns, the smog gets stuck in the city for days at a time. We walked back to the retreat center to have another last session and then an ending ceremony. We sang "You Are My Sunshine" (such full-circle: I sing this song to my students!) to thank the volunteers. We all stood in a circle, maybe 30 people half volunteers and half retreat members. They then sang a Buddhist song for us. It was a moving experience - being in a room of such interesting people who are so passionate about Buddhism and wanting to share it with us. One of the volunteers was so moved she was crying throughout the song. Our group leader asked if anyone else wanted to sing for the group - and guess who did? Charlotte and I stepped up and sang a verse of Lean On Me (throwback from our Pollard Middle School Talent Show days!!) We encouraged others to sing along and it was so much fun and emotional! A great way to end such a fascinating weekend. After exchanging contact information, we boarded the van again and went back down the mountain into the city. We were relieved to be back home to shower and get into bed in our room with AC - but definitely felt so refreshed from this weekend. We learned so much, met some great people and got a chance to really breathe deeply - both in meditation and in nature.

Setting up for dinner in the courtyard of the "Lotus Palace."

"Helping" the volunteers make delicious rice balls!

Our Buddhist family

The volunteers woke up at 3am every morning to do these prostrations, and did them throughout the day as well. Their intense devotion and discipline was incredibly impressive and inspiring.