Deer Park Monastery. Part 2.

Today we went again to Deer Park monastery: a Buddhist community and retreat that welcomes guests every Thurday and Sunday. We went earlier so we could participate in so-called walking meditation.

Well... walking meditation as the name implies is when you walk and meditate at the same time. The walk is very slow so I caught myself gazing at the plants which I would probably do anyway. A nun who gave a little introductory talk before the walk said that we participants should feel like one body, eh... not gonna happen with total strangers on the first day.

The walking was interrupted for no particular reason like every 5 or 10 minutes. I guess those are "the moments of mindfulness". So I'd say it was all right, nothing really special. I am the kind of person who does not fall into ecstatic rapture just because a bunch of Buddhists do something that is dictated by common sense. Here, I said it.

After the talk was the usual "dharma discussion" who was led by the same guy who were there last time. The usual alcoholic anonymous type of talk. Nothing really funny. And then the meal... Sometimes I wonder if people visited them less frequently if it were not for the meals.

Silent meal reminded me of the people eating in the homeless shelter: the same kind of concentrated look about them and silence. The food was not particularly good to my taste but then I am an excellent vegetarian cook even if I say so myself.

One mystery became clear. The was a dish there (nasty!) that tasted just like meat. Well, it turned out to be fake meat or not meat at all but some kind of tofu derivative. That is the closest meat tasting tofu I've ever tasted. Though I must admit I do not like tofu and soy product in general but it might fool people who like meat. I certainly could hardly tell a difference and my taste is pretty sensitive.

This time the dinner was held in a dining hall with people sitting on chairs (much better than in siddhasana like before) and for some reason they kind of rushed through it this time. No complain from me though. No sir!

After dinner we walked the same path this time laughing and talking and taking pictures of the plants. And that was it!

Deer Park Monastery

We went to the Deer Park Monastery. That was my first “real” live encounter with Buddhism religion. Now the monks there belong to what can be described as Vietnamese Zen Buddhism. In actuality it looked and felt more like a small expatriate community spiced with religion.

The good thing is that they welcome visitors on Thursdays and Sundays. So we went on Thursday. Early in the morning they gave a dharma talk and then went for a stroll (walking meditation). Unfortunately (or fortunately) we missed that. We did, however joined in “dharma discussion” which is very close to a therapy sessions like alcoholics anonymous. It went okay for a while until some guys started loosening up and talking too much. The worst was yet to come.

We had some tea on arrival. Then we joined that discussion. One of the main ideas of Buddhism is to be present in the moment and they have reminders like bell ringing every half an hour or so. You are supposed to stop whatever you are doing and think of yourself at the present moment. By the way the idea is sound but there is still too much theatre involved so sometimes it feels really funny.

Anyway, the main “attraction” of the day was a “free” meal. Why in parentheses? Because I found out that there are no really free meals. You always pay, especially in religious institutions. Not necessarily with money. In this case it was a very long waiting. You serve yourself from a buffet-style table. But then instead of sitting at the table in the same dining hall we walked to their meditation hall and had to sit crossed-legs on the mat while waiting for everyone else. Than you wait through all the ceremonial speeches. Finally you eat. As you can guess by now even if you are finished you have to wait while everyone else is finished. More talk, asking the newbies how they happened to be in the place. It is finally over. And get this: they recycle chopsticks. I know it’s not really relevant to the story but I wanted to let you know anyway. And the moral of the story? It does not pay to be the first.

The best part for me was just walking on the grounds and looking at the plants. The surroundings are beautiful and they have magnificent view on the valley.

So if you are in the area and are curisous about different tradition, stop by. It’s not as bad as I described. You’ll get to see real monks and their lifestyle.