Some time ago there was a word that suddenly caught on trend, Gap Day.
It seems that the workers have self-PUA to the point that they have to give themselves a sufficient reason to rest before they can be put up with peace of mind
© New Weekly
It's so hard, it's really hard!
After spending the frenzied rush at the end of the month, I also decided to give myself a "Gap Day". The main theme is a relaxed and wasteful, resolutely not doing "business".
After thinking about it, I found that going to the temple in a daze is a good choice.
There are too many people worshipping Buddha in the monasteries in Hangzhou, which is naturally inappropriate. Looking ahead, I think of the "long-coveted" Asoka Temple. This temple, which preserves the relics of the Buddha and the Ashoka Pagoda, is an absolute heavyweight.
However, once I inquired, I couldn't go to the temple to stay in vain, and I had to participate in half-day volunteers.
Not much, mainly to help cook. Thinking about it, light physical work is also a good thing for me who sits every day and has back pain, okay!
Just go. When I got to the place where I got in touch with the Master, I was fasting. Immediately, I felt "my Buddha's compassion".
The free buffet lunch provided by the temple is just "charcoal in the snow" for me after a short half-day walk.
The lunch was definitely hearty, and I didn't expect to eat the seasonal broad beans, which is really one of my favorites every year.
Although it is a vegetarian dish, the taste is not false at all. Especially the tomato mix with sesame oil is something I didn't think of, but it's amazing.
Of course, at this moment, I don't yet know what I'm going to do next. It's all about this meal.
The temple volunteers and light physical work really decompressed
After lunch, I contacted Master, and Master asked a volunteer to take me to register and arrange accommodation.
The friends who went to register together asked what the volunteers here mainly do. The person in charge said that Asoka Temple provides free lunch at noon every day, and hopes that everyone will eat more vegetarian food and reduce killing. However, the amount of food is very large, so volunteers are needed to help.
After listening to it, I also instantly "realized" that the free lunch I ate was someone "moving forward with a load".
Next, let's go to the place where we live, an eight-person room with a bunk bed. There is air conditioning inside, toilets, and the shower is outside, so you need to walk for a while. Overall it's still very clean and tidy.
After I stayed in, I saw the schedule in the room, and to be honest, I was used to staying up late, and I was so scared that I was "shaking".
⏰Wake up at 4:00 a.m.*
Strictly speaking, you don't have to start at 4 o'clock to volunteer.
But I longed for the "morning bell and dusk drum" of the temple, so I struggled to get up while rubbing my sleepy eyes.
As soon as I walked out of the door, I was amazed by the starry sky, Orion and the Big Dipper were clearly distinguishable, and they were the starry sky that I hadn't seen for a long time. (I can't shoot it, let's find a schematic diagram↓ The stars are not so dense~)
I thought I got up early, but in fact, there was already an aunt cleaning in the temple, and my heart was full of admiration.
I continued walking, and before I entered the main hall, I heard the sound of the bell ringing.
By the way, I would like to write here that the morning bell and the evening drum actually refer to the first bell and then the drum in the morning, and the first drum and then the bell in the evening. It doesn't mean to knock one in the morning and in the evening.
⏰4:30-6:00 早课*
When the bells and drums are over, it's time for the morning class.
The masters will recite the sutras in turn, and if you want to recite them along, you can search for "morning and evening recitation". I tried to recite it for a while, and when I encountered the "Lengyan Mantra", the complicated mantra really made my tongue knot.
I admire the master's level of reciting the whole text very much, it is really ripe, and the memorization is like a stream.
Even if I was a little familiar with the Heart Sutra and recited it to the rhythm of the Master, I could barely catch it in one breath. The masters really have kung fu in their bodies.
In addition to chanting, they will also walk around the Buddha statue with the masters, and the whole process makes people feel solemn and quiet. And even though I got up early, I didn't feel very sleepy.
⏰6:00-7:13 早饭
After the morning class, it's time to go back to dinner.
Breakfast is relatively simple, white porridge, steamed buns, and some second-processed leftovers, although it is not rich, but it is no problem to eat full.
⏰6:45-7:13 早操
There was also morning exercise at the end of the morning class, which I didn't expect.
The name of the morning exercise is very straightforward, "fitness and mental exercises", horse steps, standing piles, pushing and pulling, almost all actions are completed in the posture shown below.
It seemed simple, but in less than twenty minutes, I felt a slight sweat on my head, even though I still felt a chill. After a set of practice, I feel refreshed.
⏰7:15-7:30 晨会
After the exercises, it's time for the morning meeting.
All the volunteers got together, and I thought they were going to assign some tasks for the day or something. Unexpectedly, after the master came in, he simply said, "Everyone has to sort out the housekeeping."
Then reciting the Heart Sutra together is over, and it is the shortest meeting I have ever had!
Of course, after listening to Master's teachings, I immediately went back to fold the quilt that I had left in the morning and hurriedly went out!
Amitabha!
⏰7:30-9:30 Kitchen help/cleaning
The next step is to do the main part of volunteering, going to the kitchen to help out.
I have experience cooking for my mother at home, but I don't have much experience in helping in the cafeteria.
The first reaction is definitely a large amount, and the units of measurement of vegetables waiting to be processed are all "bags" of snakeskin bags, as little as one bag, and as many as two or three bags. Just peeling potatoes requires four or five volunteers to get together and do their work.
The vegetable sink next to it is also oversized, and the whole frame of radish, pumpkin, and cabbage is waiting to be cleaned.
My main "battlefield" was here, and I washed two baskets of pumpkin, one basket of radish, two baskets of cabbage, one basket of taro, and two baskets of potatoes in one go...... It may be that the amount of vegetables I've washed in the past adds up.
The last part of the volunteer help is chopping vegetables, which are all operated by more skilled volunteers, and the hob is cut into pieces, slices, and shreds...... The knife is up, and I'm quite worried about whether their wrists will be okay after cutting
After washing and cutting the vegetables, I handed them over to the chef, and I could only hear the sound of the spatula and the woks colliding inside, and I saw the delicious food again!
⏰10:15-10:45 午饭
There was a break after the cooking, and I chatted with the volunteers in the dormitory, and we couldn't help but sigh.
It's only less than ten o'clock, how do you feel like I've done so much!
And when it comes to helping the cook, we all feel that this kind of light physical work is actually very relaxing, after all, we don't have to think about anything, just concentrate on washing vegetables, and the brain is a rare rest.
Lunch arrived, and I thought it would be early to have lunch after ten o'clock.
But I got up early and had a busy morning, so I was already looking forward to lunch. After filling a full plate of rice, I have the joy of seeing that the dishes I handled in the morning have become food.
⏰10:50-13:00 Dining hall service
Before 11 o'clock, there was already a long queue at the door of the people who came for fasting.
We also prepared according to the division of labor, serving plates, cooking rice, serving soup, wiping tables, sweeping floors, and putting away dishes...... Each person claims a piece of content, in an orderly manner.
I'm in charge of sweeping the floor, and I have to watch for someone to accidentally drop the food on the floor, so I need to clean it up quickly, otherwise it will be bad if I step on it.
At first, I was very interested in researching that where the vegetables were cooked, the filamentous and scattered dishes were easy to fall, and the round peanuts were easy to roll everywhere near the dinner table, in addition to rice grains.
1 hour later……
I didn't expect to sweep the floor to make me tired, and I didn't have the heart to think about it, so I focused on walking around, and quickly cleaned up the dishes that had fallen, and occasionally took the time to find a place to sit on the side for a while.
Seeing the volunteers in various positions, they are also starting to get tired, but fortunately, there are fewer people.
Finally waited until the "people went to the empty building" and prepared to do the final cleaning.
Because everyone was constantly cleaning up the whole process, it was just mopping the floor at the end, and it was over quickly.
There is also an "easter egg" link, where the volunteer will find two people to go with her to count the funds in the merit box.
Three people are required to count the amount of money each, and finally sign each person's name on the record sheet. The funds are not much, but they are very serious and serious.
Finally, there is a "dedication" link with casual participation, which is more like a process of praying for the public, full of rituals. Then the day's volunteer work is over, and the rest of the time is free to arrange.
⏰14:00-16:00 晚课*
In the afternoon, the evening class at the temple was not required, so I went out of curiosity.
Because I wasn't familiar with Buddhist scriptures and rituals, I only felt that it was "similar" to the morning, and I couldn't understand what I was reading, so I "slipped away" after a short while.
⏰16:00-16:45 晚饭
I don't know why, but when I'm at the temple, the meal is always the most anticipated.
Noodles, rice, side dishes, simple vegetarian dishes, but very satisfying after eating. The bean curd provided in the cafeteria is also super delicious.
BTW, when I went straight to dinner, suddenly realized that although we were here to volunteer, we were still being taken care of. Breakfast and dinner are all "rice to open your mouth", and you don't need to prepare it yourself.
There is still evening exercise after dinner.
This time, I am familiar with the road, and the legs of the stake are not as shaky as in the morning, which is reliable.
⏰Close at 19:00
⏰21:00 Lamp
Don't say anything, let's just say, the access control didn't happen so early in high school
But he also urged me to go to bed before ten o'clock, and sure enough, I had to be "forced" to go to bed early and get up early.
The scenery of the temple is so beautiful that it is speechless
When you are at the temple, you naturally want to visit the temple scenery.
In addition to Asoka Temple, it is also very close to Tendo Temple, so you can visit the two temples together.
It was still autumn when I went, and it was beautiful to see the snow in the winter.
Asoka Temple
Ashoka Temple is a rare temple named after "Ashoka" in China, Ashoka is a very important holy king in the Buddhist scriptures, he spread the Dharma, and the spread of the place has built the landmark "Ashoka Stone Pillar".
There are now four new Ashoka stone pillars at the entrance of the Ashoka Temple
The treasure of the temple is the Ashoka Pagoda, which is said to be a relic of Shakyamuni Buddha.
(Trivia: The Ashoka Pagoda, also known as the "Baozheng Seal Sutra Pagoda", is actually derived from the style of the Wu Yue Kingdom.) ）
The relics hall where the relics pagoda is placed have two plaques of "the palace of wonderful victory" inscribed by Song Xiaozong and "the tower of light on the top of the Buddha" inscribed by Song Gaozong, which is a bit of a beginning.
Of course, what makes the relics hall full of "charm" are the believers who come here to worship.
When I went, there was a master who was praying barefoot in front of the pagoda, and every time he bowed very slowly and steadily. I watched quietly for a long time, full of calming power.
In addition to the relics hall, the entire temple is also surrounded by greenery. There were many pigeons in front of the palace of the Heavenly King, and they were not afraid of people, so they walked around at the feet of people. Occasionally, in shock, all the hula flew up and landed on the eaves, and the people around them all raised their cameras and clicked.
What won my heart in the temple is the two ancient camphor trees in front of the Daxiong Treasure Hall, the main trunk surrounded by two or three people, and the dense shade of the trees, which is the existence that you can't help but feel happy when you see it.
In autumn, the maple leaves in the front yard of the temple are also in full bloom, and there are many tourists who come to enjoy autumn on Saturdays.
And the scene I saw before leaving the temple made people feel that this ancient temple really has a "soul"!
Tendoji Temple
Tiantong Temple is less than half an hour's drive from Asoka Temple, but it is already surrounded by mountains.
The whole atmosphere is more like the taste of the ancient temple in the mountains, and when I went it was still early in the morning, it was "ten thousand sounds in this silence, but the rest of the bell chime" is right.
After taking the car to the foot of the mountain, you need to hike a section of the ancient road to reach the temple, which is lined with pine trees, and occasionally there are maple trees and metasequoias, which is a pleasant walk in the early morning.
However, if you want to be lazy, there are also battery cars at the foot of the mountain that can sit directly at the entrance of the temple (15 yuan/person round trip).
There was a pond of water at the entrance of the temple, and when I arrived, there was a master cleaning up the fallen leaves of the pond.
This scene seems to be a peach blossom source of "regardless of the Wei and Jin dynasties, I don't know whether there is a Han dynasty".
Walking around the temple all the way, it is very interesting to change the scenery step by step, plus the metasequoia and maple leaves that have recently turned red, and the colorful distant mountains, the whole person is healed by this scenery.
The monuments in the temple are worth visiting, including the word "Respect for Buddha" inscribed by Emperor Shunzhi in the Imperial Tablet Pavilion, as well as the thousand monk pots cast in the Ming Dynasty.
There are also many inscriptions on the temple's plaques, so if you are interested, you can keep an eye out for them.
But for me, walking around the temple in a daze is very satisfying.
If you want to experience it, my personal recommendation is to arrange two days.
I went early in the morning on the first day, and after lunch at noon, I could help sweep the floor or something in the restaurant. Then check in for your accommodation and visit Asoka Temple in the afternoon.
The next morning, I participated in volunteer activities, and after that, I took a taxi or bus to Tiantong Temple. Dinner is available in the temple from 16:30 to 17:30, 10 yuan per person.
In this way, it is more reasonable to arrange that both temples can be visited, and the time is not rushed.
The traffic information is the last ↓ for everyone
/ Asoka Temple /
- Address:
- No. 1999, Wuxiang East Road, Minglun Village, Baozhuang, Wuxiang Town, Yinzhou District, Ningbo City
- Transportation:
- From Ningbo downtown, you can take the subway to the "Baobao" station, and it takes more than 10 minutes to walk.
/ Tendoji Temple /
- Address:
- Taibai Mountain, Dongwu Town, Yinzhou District, Ningbo City
- Transportation:
- After arriving at Asoka Temple by subway, you need to transfer to a bus or take a taxi to get there, and the taxi fee is about 26 yuan.