last night we had our monk friend over for tea. he told us some tibetan buddhist philosophy. he also told us about the course in tibet and nepal where one meditates for 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days. he said you are not allowed to lie down during the entire time, the monks sleep sitting. they are not allowed to leave the building and can only have one robe.
at the end of the course they preform a sort of stunt. all the locals gather to watch the monks come out. it is the middle over winter and the ground is covered in snow and ice. there are 5 buckets of water, one at the gate, and one on each of the four corners of the temple. the monks take off their robe and dunk it into the water and then put it back on. then they walk to the next bucket through the freezing cold. as they walk slowly their robe steams and by the time the reach the corner their robe is dry. then they dunk the robe in again and walk to the next corner and so on until they circle the monastery.
he added that not all the monks stay warm doing this, some get very cold. he said laughing that maybe the meditation retreat did not work for them!
at the end of the course they preform a sort of stunt. all the locals gather to watch the monks come out. it is the middle over winter and the ground is covered in snow and ice. there are 5 buckets of water, one at the gate, and one on each of the four corners of the temple. the monks take off their robe and dunk it into the water and then put it back on. then they walk to the next bucket through the freezing cold. as they walk slowly their robe steams and by the time the reach the corner their robe is dry. then they dunk the robe in again and walk to the next corner and so on until they circle the monastery.
he added that not all the monks stay warm doing this, some get very cold. he said laughing that maybe the meditation retreat did not work for them!
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