Auto Stop around China - Part 4 - Night in Buddhist temple

03.07.2010

So as arrived in city of Langmusi with police bus, I decide to go to Buddhist temple that is located on a top of the hill. This city Langmusi is changing fast into Chinese city with its ugly architecture... but all around it are amazingly beautiful hills, green grass and temples...

So arrived at the gate of Temple as usual in China also here is the ticket office. Ticket office is not a problem anymore for me...using my skills i get in for free. And I follow the path towards the Temple. it is 6pm so the time when monks go to temple to have an evening prayer. I see how they slowly move from their small houses to the temple... After some time also two main monks come to check how others are praying... Some younger are not good monks yet, they play and laugh and we sometimes look on each other and show tongue :D :D just for fun. But it is really cute and great moments :) Sometimes blinking eyes and waving hands each to other. After some time I am leaving them and going to check what is around, it is also getting dark, so I need to find a place for my tent. I have around 60 min to do it.

My mind and soul somehow got connected, from entering this temple territory, to the small temple high on the hill, away from all other temples. So I decide to follow inner voice and get to this temple, that is high on the mountain and without any road seen how to get there. Something was speaking in me all the time, you need to get there, you need to go to that temple. And I listened to my voice, like I usually do, when something speak in me, jump from that 20m cliff into the water, climb that high dangerous mountain and so on...I am crazy I listen to it :D :D So I start to climb up...On the way I meet some pilgrims, and then finally I find a small path, that is not even a path, but just some kind of small line between wood that the person who wouldn't search for way up wouldn't find it. After few minutes I reach the top...And it is amazingly beautiful here, You can see all the city in front of your eyes from here, and the temple here is somehow holy, it is very old and amazingly beautiful...and the best is that I feel the smell of food, of Chinese dumplings called (baozi), that are bigger then usual dumplings, I can them meat pie. So this smell movies me closer to the open window of the temple where I can see 2 old monks and 3 young boys eating... I decide to start a conversation and ask them could I place a tent next to their temple...We start a conversation, and after some time they invite me in for a dinner...that is what I was dreaming about,. .Now I am inside small kitchen of temple. We sit all together on the floor eating dumplings with spicy sauce...And drinking real Tibetan milk tea. That was my dream to taste this tea for first time exactly from real Tibetan monks, and dream came true. Out of the window it is getting darker, and from small light of lamp on the ceiling and steam from hot, tasty tea makes amazing pictures in the air... Through the window flies in butterflies , and behind the window I see amazing view, of hills, golden roofs of temples and amazingly beautiful sky, just before the sunset. around there is almost no sound, just sometimes barks the temple dog, or prayers of monks around me, or our conversation, or silent movement of old temple dog that is already 18 years old, like 120 for a person. That's how the evening goes by and night comes.

Small boys go to sleep, and one of the monks follow them. We are left alone with old dog and old monk. He starts his evening praying...I listen and enjoy the darkness and stars in the sky... Here is some moment of holiness, of something that dazzle you and make you so calm inside... I am also praying. Two religions met here...Russian orthodox and Buddhism. Today Buddhist helped orthodox to find a place where to sleep and gave him food. At this moment was no anger....only love, and wish to help...Because that is what is common to all religions. and that is what also some of our evening conversation were about...All of religions tell us to be good... To love...And it shows up so greatly in such moments.

We say goodnight and monk goes to sleep in other room. I am left in the kitchen with an old dog. The light goes off and we are in a dark. The old dog first is shy and sleep alone in the corner, but after some times he comes to me, and sleeps in my legs. And together we fall asleep.