So, I decide to give it a try. I found a place in Little Five Points, Atlanta that offered an hour (maybe two) of group meditation. I, being the adventurous/spontaneous lady that I am, drove down there one Saturday to check out the scene. I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into, just went. These memories are hazy in my mind, but I remember the walking meditation, the sitting, the chants, the swingy lamp things, maybe some smoke and the bowl chimes. All kinds of crazy shit that I was not even prepared for. I don't know what I expected but I'll tell you the walking meditation really freaked me out. I don't even know how to make you imagine my perspective on that day. I remember thinking, "This is weird. DO NOT WANT! Screw y'all and your walking, chanting, chimey meditativeness! I'm off to get drunk!"
Obviously, at that point in my life, I wasn't ready for such an intense introduction to Buddhism and meditation. I had too many late night parties filled with bad decisions to experience yet. Being a nun was out of the question. Still is, frankly. Me as a nun? Pssh-shaw. Ridiculous.
Don't knock being a nun, both Patrick and I are technically monks! Besides, if you are a Japanese Zen Buddhist you are allowed all kinds of goodies like sex and marriage and booze and meat...just get your ass on a pillow every day and stare at the wall. Keeping your back straight and posture balanced is good enough; all the other chanting and smoke and shit is pointless without that.
ReplyDeleteThe chanting and smoke, etc., can certainly drive someone away from what can be a useful practice. The first time I went to a Buddhist meditation center, it was the day that some bigwig Tibetan was visiting, and everyone around me was doing prostrations, which totally freaked me out. If I had gone on a more "normal" day, it would have been simple meditation instruction delivered by an amiable college professor, followed by bagels & coffee. Like Ren said, doing the sitting is the most important thing.
ReplyDeleteHaha! Not knockin' it! Promise. Just laughing at the idea of me being a nun. It's funny.
ReplyDeleteI was also half asleep when I wrote that paragraph last night. I almost fell asleep sitting at my computer. Now, that's tired! I slept fabulously last night. :)
Super-Buff Zen-Super-Hero Nun! YEAHHH!!!
ReplyDeleteI had the dream of traveling to China and living at one of the monasteries for a year with one of my friends. We may still do it at some point in our futures. It would be great to devote a year to kung fu... getting away from the modern world. Finding peace out in the mountains to train. Sometimes I wish life just WAS. You choose a life style and you follow through with it. Of course we live in a world where things can't just BE, they must be made. We must find the time to change ourselves and the course of life that we take up. We can live our dreams, but you have to be willing to put in the time and effort to get there first. That is why I'm taking this program with all of you :)
ReplyDeleteI think I've been to that very same center in ATL. The best way to start practicing buddhism is to sit down and meditate. Which you've done 3 days in a row now! You're 99% of the way there!
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