Allyce_CP10 (Cultural Immersion)

                First off, I had trouble figuring out what it was that I exactly wanted to do for the cultural immersion project. I toyed with the idea of a Mosque, a synagogue or even a church! All of those places do not pop up on my daily radar but they all seemed really fun and interesting...wasn't the point of this exercise to get us outside of our comfort zone and do something we had never done before, something that would even make us feel nervous? Well I had already been to a Mosque before when I lived in Egypt so I scratched that idea, I was way too excited about a synagogue and so I was at a loss until I started talking with some friends and they suggested a Hindu or Buddhist activity. I typed "Tallahassee Buddhists"  into Google and found the Cypress Tree Zen group (http://www.webdharma.com/ctzg/) in Railroad Square. They had two classes and one of them fit my schedule perfectly, Tuesday at 7:00 PM. The description was somewhat terrifying, it was as follows:

             Traditional Kwan Um practice starting with about twenty minutes of chanting, followed by twenty-five minutes of zazen (meditation), ten minutes of walking meditation, and another twenty-five minutes zazen. After zazen we have a Dharma talk by one of our Dharma Teachers or practitioners.

                There was going to be chanting? I was already starting to feel way out of my comfort level  but my interest had been piqued. I dressed in sweats (as directed on the website) and arrived 20 minutes early at the little red shack on McDonnell Drive.  That was my first awkward moment, apparently punctuality is not particularly valued in this Buddhist community...I was really early. I looked around the room and saw only two people who seemed distracted so I quietly walked up to them and spoke in a very quiet voice (unusual for anyone who knows me!) and told them that this was my first time coming to Kwan Um practice.  They perked up a bit and introduced me to the few people trickling in, Frank, Bill, June, etc. It was kind of comical to hear such traditional American names in this very Zen setting. Bill even commented on it saying that he was pretty sure he was the only Bill to practice Buddhism!

                As more people arrived Bill gave me a detailed rundown of what to expect and how to behave. I mentioned that I needed to take pictures of the event to document my participation and he said that would be fine but maybe after meditation was done (I completely understood...It would probably be pretty distracting to see a camera flash when you are trying to zone out from the world).  He told me I could opt to sit in a chair but I really wanted to try and make the experience as authentic as possible so I chose the little floor pillows instead. Not what I was expecting. I think before when I thought of Monks meditating I pictured them sitting on down filled pillows relaxing as they focused on clearing their minds but those things were uncomfortable, they felt like planks of wood! I eventually learned they were like this on purpose to make your meditation exercises all that more strenuous, it's easy to zone out if you are comfy but it takes much more concentration if your bum is killing you!

Don't be fooled...

Ceramic pot used to keep the beat

                Before we began, Bill passed out hymn books to us so that we could all follow along. The first chant we did was an English translation of the song "The Heart Sutra." To keep time the Dharma leader banged on a giant ceramic pot and a special stick which made a loud clapping sound. It was unlike my previous experiences in religious sites, the chant was monotone and very serious, there was definitely no old lady breaking out her opera vocals (I don't know about you guys but I remember as a child that there was always that one person showing off...) We eventually chanted another hymn which was in a completely foreign language to me but I do know that it was called the "Great Dharani."

   

This is the same Heart Sutra chant we did at the beginning, minus my off key voice!

             

            Then the hard part happened...meditation. Bill had warned me before that meditation was difficult, particularly for a beginner. He said the easiest way was to begin by focusing on taking in air and feeling the rise and fall of your belly. After each inhale and exhale count 1, 2, 3... Although he warned me it was much more difficult than it looked I kind of shrugged it off, how hard could it be to breath and count to 10? It's hard. I then tried to repeat a mantra (Bill said it could be anything ranging from a profound thought to the word Coca-Cola) but that didn't seem to work either. Apparently I need more practice at meditation and it became even more apparent after the second meditation session! We did at least get a break in between though where we walked around in a circle taking 108 steps to represent prostrating our bodies before Buddha's alter, a very welcome respite.

                One of my favorite moments was the Dharma Talk where a Dharma leader (it changes each week) gives a short lecture on a topic of his/her choice. Our leader this time was an FSU English professor who has been practicing Buddhism for several years. He discussed the art history associated with representation of Buddha since 5th century BC. I learned that originally there were no icons of Buddha but Greek influence spread with Alexander the conqueror making iconography much more prevalent. Originally Apollo fit descriptions of Buddha and so his image was worshiped. At some point (I do at least remember it was AD) a detailed description of how Buddha should be portrayed was written. Some were quite interesting...Buddha should have "...thighs like that of a royal stag, eyelashes like a royal bull, a strongly arched foot and a well retracted male organ..." things like that definitely stick with you!

Trying to get "Zen" on the pillows

                Overall the experience taught me a lot. Buddhists are not just chill leftovers from the 60's (I'm referring to the overwhelming amount of white middle class Americans who participate in this practice) but actually very disciplined and well-educated individuals who simply set aside a little extra time in their day to become in touch with themselves and the world around them. Their beliefs reflect who they are and are a wonderful part of what makes this crazy world go round. I can honestly say that I came out of this experience with a new perspective and am planning on returning to another Kwan Um meeting. Yes I found it difficult and very foreign but it challenged me...I think they may be on to something!