On 30th May 2007, I decided to followed my Uncle 子干 and his friends to Bright Hill Temple for a religious walk without knowing what it is all about. I though it was just a walk in the park. I was only told not to take any meat during the day and I could only walk with my socks (no shoes allowed). When we arrived at the temple, it was the eve of Vesak Day and thousands of Buddhism devotees had gathered at Bright Hill Temple for their 三步一拜 (3 steps 1 bow) ritual.
We formed a five person row behind a queue of hundreds of people and started the walk at approximately 7.45pm. There are speakers along the way broadcasting a Buddhist Chant in a form of a musical verse. We are supposed to follow the chant, walk three steps and when a chime goes off, we are supposed to stop, knee down where we stop, bow down to the floor then stand up and continue the same procedure all the way.
Initially, it was rather fun seeing thousands of people all performing the same act according to the chanting of the music. There is a cool breeze blowing in my face when we are on an evaluated part of the temple during the start off point. Eventually, as we decent down the slop, the road gets very rough and I could feel the breeze any longer, I was perspiring like crazy!
When I saw my uncle and many of the devotees came in jeans I was thinking to myself, it is going to be very warm for them when they started walking. I felt lucky because I was wearing my tailored pant made of thin material. Now that I started walking and following through the ritual I realised I was the stupid one! As we kneed on the rough road, people in jeans will feel less hurt because of the thick material. We have the option of not kneeling down, just stand still and bow is also good enough for the sick of physically less strong people. Since I wanted to come on my on will, I was determined to complete the whole ritual without stopping.
The whole procession took two hours plus to complete. I was really soak to the skin at the ending point, my knees hurts and my hands and elbows sore from the kneeing and bowing on the road. There are a lot of uphill and occasional downhill but I was very happy to have complete the whole procession without missing a single step or a bow along the way. At the ending point a monk chanted a prayer for us and throws some holy water on us. I felt blessed!
Initially, it was rather fun seeing thousands of people all performing the same act according to the chanting of the music. There is a cool breeze blowing in my face when we are on an evaluated part of the temple during the start off point. Eventually, as we decent down the slop, the road gets very rough and I could feel the breeze any longer, I was perspiring like crazy!
When I saw my uncle and many of the devotees came in jeans I was thinking to myself, it is going to be very warm for them when they started walking. I felt lucky because I was wearing my tailored pant made of thin material. Now that I started walking and following through the ritual I realised I was the stupid one! As we kneed on the rough road, people in jeans will feel less hurt because of the thick material. We have the option of not kneeling down, just stand still and bow is also good enough for the sick of physically less strong people. Since I wanted to come on my on will, I was determined to complete the whole ritual without stopping.
The whole procession took two hours plus to complete. I was really soak to the skin at the ending point, my knees hurts and my hands and elbows sore from the kneeing and bowing on the road. There are a lot of uphill and occasional downhill but I was very happy to have complete the whole procession without missing a single step or a bow along the way. At the ending point a monk chanted a prayer for us and throws some holy water on us. I felt blessed!
2 comments:
I realised I was the stupid one!
Chris，你并不傻，因为你从始至终，坚持〖三步一拜〗，佛祖会感受到你的真诚！
Thank you for your encouragement!
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