42
HOLMES WELCH
of the ordaining monastery or some other monastery, and they were supposed to spend the next five years in meditation and study. This was the first stage of their career as monks.
Life in the Meditation Hall was strict. One slept only five hours a night and meditated about ten hours a day. Rising was at 3.00 a.m. followed by an hour of morning prayers, then an hour's rest; breakfast was eaten before dawn; after it came four and a half hours of meditation. This meant sitting in the lotus position for forty minutes, then having a drink of tea, then twenty minutes circumambulating the altar, then going back to sit, then some more tea, more circumambulation, and so on. Circumambulation prevented the joints from getting stiff, but one had to keep on with mental exercises while doing it. It was not just a matter of walking about. Lunch came before noon and was followed by an hour's rest, two hours' meditation, an hour of afternoon prayers, supper at 5.30, and three and a half hours of meditation in the evening. At ten o'clock the monks went to bed. If one of them dozed during meditation the next morning, the monk on patrol, or hsün-hsiang w†, would tap him on the back. If he talked during meals, quarreled, or broke any of the other rules, he was beaten severely.
The daily schedule varied from monastery to monastery. Rising in the winter was later and retiring earlier (except during the so-called Meditation Weeks in autumn, when for up to forty-nine days one slept only two hours a night). But the schedule I have given is typical.
Sometimes I have asked monks whether they did not get bored meditating ten hours every day. They deny it vigorously. They say there was a programme, a method. For instance, one might be trying to find an answer to a standard question like "What was my original face before I was born?" The Instructor would come over and say: "What are you looking at?" If one replied, "At the buddhas and bodhisattvas," he would say "Where are the buddhas and bodhisattvas?" One could not answer and was beaten. Then the Instructor would ask: "Who is being beaten?"
I am afraid that the subject of methods of meditation is too large to embark on here. It is true, however, that many monks found themselves unable to master it, particularly Ch'an (Zen)
42
HOLMES WELCH
of the ordaining monastery or some other monastery, and they were supposed to spend the next five years in meditation and study. This was the first stage of their career as monks.
Life in the Meditation Hall was strict. One slept only five hours a night and meditated about ten hours a day. Rising was at 3.00 a.m. followed by an hour of morning prayers, then an hour's rest; breakfast was eaten before dawn; after it came four and a half hours of meditation. This meant sitting in the lotus position for forty minutes, then having a drink of tea, then twenty minutes circumambulating the altar, then going back to sit, then some more tea, more circumambulation, and so on. Circumambulation prevented the joints from getting stiff, but one had to keep on with mental exercises while doing it. It was not just a matter of walking about. Lunch came before noon and was followed by an hour's rest, two hours' meditation, an hour of afternoon prayers, supper at 5.30, and three and a half hours of meditation in the evening. At ten o'clock the monks went to bed. If one of them dozed during meditation the next morning, the monk on patrol, or hsün-hsiang w†, would tap him on the back. If he talked during meals, quarreled, or broke any of the other rules, he was beaten severely.
The daily schedule varied from monastery to monastery. Rising in the winter was later and retiring earlier (except during the so-called Meditation Weeks in autumn, when for up to forty- nine days one slept only two hours a night). But the schedule I have given is typical.
Sometimes I have asked monks whether they did not get bored meditating ten hours every day. They deny it vigorously. They say there was a programme, a method. For instance, one might be trying to find an answer to a standard question like "What was my original face before I was born? ” The Instructor would come over and say: "What are you looking at? " 'If one replied, "At the buddhas and bodhisattvas," he would say Where are the buddhas and bodhisattvas?" One could not answer and was beaten. Then the Instructor would ask: "Who is being beaten? "
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I am afraid that the subject of methods of meditation is too large to embark on here. It is true, however, that many monks found themselves unable to master it, particularly Ch'an (Zen)
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