With sincere thanks and wishes , three-day Chan of Chan Tea class came to successful end on Oct. 14th, 2016.
Three days of full study schedule, busy but joyful. Students had a rich and rewarding journey.
Forget the movements, let body and mind flow with music.
Immersing ourselves in the music, move along with it. Forget the movements, just let our body and mind flow with music, everything feels so natural. Guided by instructor to practice Chan Tea, students experienced the smooth of flowy movements and enjoyed the wonderfulness of Chan.
Put the Chan table on the stage , turn auditorium into mediation hall
After a full day of practice, students of Three-day Chan performed Chan Tea and mudras dance in Zhengjue Grand Auditorium for lay buddhists, volunteers and Buddhist businessmen class students. The graceful Chan music and poems, the uniformed movements and peaceful and quiet Chan meditation… all these let audience set in wonderland.
Chan master explain and transimit essence of Chan
Switch my point of view from performer to audience, and one step further, to director. As an observer, at the first initiation of a thought, I need to be very clear, what the thought is. This is the focus on current moment. The art of awareness.
Under the instruction of master, students practiced three steps of awareness training: aware of body movement, aware of thought, and aware of emotions derivative from thoughts.
Apply awareness technique in any kind of Chan meditation, focus on current moments, watch every thought, and practice.
Read mind through savoring tea, a thousand people have a thousand tastes
The tea for tasting in this three-day Chan is white tea from ancient tree. After instructor explained the place of origin, characteristics and method of brewing, students made the tea without talking. The tastes of tea made by myself and classmates vary a lot. It also reflect our minds. Through the taste of the tea, many students discovered the issues in cultivation. The feedbacks given by instructor benefited students a lot.
A tour of monastery, an education journey
Instructor gave a tour of the exhibition of reconstruction of Zhengjue monastery to students. Through photos, objects and videos, students came to know the fourteen years journey of reconstruction: transformed from a barren mountain, to an initial shape, and finally to magnificent Buddhist buildings. Everyone learned a lot from this tour and realized how we should cultivate ourselves.
Learn from different perspectives and gain the mastery
Appreciating painting and calligraphy is similar to savoring tea. Trip to Zhengjue painting and calligraphy institute is also included in the tour. These art works came from respectful artists. Looking at those works, students could feel the power penetrating the paper, enjoy the peace of Chan, or touched by compassion… All art forms are similar, the artistic environment of the institute let students stop and think.
Tea sharing gathering, without expectation of reward
The tea sharing gathering is for participation of everyone, equal and without expectation of reward. Everyone make the tea for people on her/his left. Everyone tastes the tea made by the people one her/his right. Through this gathering, students learned to serve others and expect no reward.
The three-day Chan class perfectly merged the theory with practice, and made the intense agenda but in an orderly manner. Students gained a lot and wished to meet again with grateful hearts.
(摄影/吉秋 雨晴)
Photography/ Jiqiu, Yuqing