2015/11/25 
No Comments Fo Guan Shan
My first plan was to go to Kaoshiong however I was already getting tired and so I decided just to visit a monastery Fo Guan Shan in northern part of Kaoshiong county.
I did not know what to expect I’ve only read that it is huge buddhist place and the largest monastery in Taiwan. Just to mention how did I get there from Maolin. Yes there are some buses going there but I tried to hitchhike again which is also a great way to get around the Maolin valley.
Fo Guan Shan – is a new religious movement based in Taiwan. SO it is not only a monastery but an extraordinary Buddha memorial centre. Fo Guan Shan has many branches all around the world practicing so called humanist buddhism. It means that they try to get closer to people, make even more popular things to entertain people and get them like buddhism just because it can be normal part of their lives and not just going to temple and praying. It is also a charity organisation. They have an orphan house, schools, university, building a library for Dharma words. You can go there to volunteer for few months and help in the temples, monastery and memorial doing many different jobs.
I spent one night there for 300 NTD in a clean dorm and met a girl from France, Marjorie, which is now a volunteer there. She showed me around and explained more about the work in the monastery. She also took me in the morning for the prayers to the main shrine. That was again a nice experience. I could not understand the words but the prayers are kind of calming your mind.
After that I joined the breakfast with the nuns and monks. There are certain things you can and cannot do during the meal. It is forbidden to talk only in the beginning and in the end you say some prayer. You are served some vegetable, tofu, rice and soy bean milk. If you want to add something you have to place the bowl to certain place that the “waiters” will understand which dish you want to add. All people are served and finish eating in about 20 minutes (and there was about 150 people).
The monastery and memorial are really sooo big and there are so many people. It makes you think about the buddhism and their ways. But as I said this is a a different new way of buddhism, more concentrated on people so you have to take it that way. People want some entertainment, they want fun… Just visit and have a look….