佛教 Buddhism

This last weekend I went to Wutai Shan( 五台山) for a little relaxation, learning about Buddhism and mountain climbing.

On the way there we stopped off in a town called Datong (大同) to visit some grottoes. There were lots of Buddhist sculptures and some were even more more impressive than those we visited on the silk road trip. However, 大同 is a big coal city both for production and for use. The sky was black with coal smoke and the sculptures had a significant coating of black soot. Most sculptures were black or dull in color instead of their intended brilliant variety of color.

大同 was depressing.

五台山 was fun. We got to talk with a monk for several hours, learn how to meditate in the proper Zen fashion, or at least learn the very basics of meditation. The monk was insisted that meditation was dangerous and we should find a master to teach us if we wanted to go further. We visited lots of Buddhist temples some were Zen Buddhist and some were Pure Land Buddhist.

The planned mountain climb turned out to a be pleasant walk down a dirt road to a temple situated on the top of bare peak exposed to a bitterly cold and strong wind.

The noodles we got to eat and see prepared were awesome. As was the wassail I prepared the night of the trip departure.