I learned that my train drops me off in Emei station at 4:10am. The good thing about sleeper berth in China is that the ticket collector will come and wake you up. As soon as she woke me up, I jumped up and got ready to exit. It was really early in the morning and I could have used more rest.
The stars were still out when I landed at the station and only a few people were exiting the train. I learned the public bus did not operate till 7amm in the morning. As I headed for the exit, I could see the cab drivers all hanging over the railing waiting to pull in a rider. I was approached by a driver who promised to drive me to Bao Guo Si for 5 yuan. On the road he kept telling me to check into his company hotel and take his company tour bus up Emei for 120 yuan and that lunch would be included but not the entrance fee, etc... I said," no, take me to my monastery." I guess he was unhappy with that and he dropped me off at an intersection insisting that cars are not allowed to go to the monastery, which was a bunch of crap. I seem to have lots of affinity with getting dropped off middle of no where or some where that is not my destination like we agreed on. And since I haven't been at these places before I would discover the difference until later.
I was out on the middle of some intersection at 4:20am. There were no cars and no one on the road. It was pitch dark with one street light. I had no idea where I was. Everyone was still asleep this early in the morning. The road was very quiet. I stood in the middle of this intersection pondering what I should do. Then I heard bells being rung and it was the sound of monastery bells. I followed the sound of the bell and walked in the dark until I finally found the monastery. But the doors were locked with operating hours posted to it. I had three hours to wait before the doors would open.
I decided to sit outside and meditate. While I sat in meditation, I can feel all the bustling of tourists from the day before. Many people left themselves here. The morning ceremony really cleansed the air. It's like rain, washing and grounding everything down. The air cleared and it was lovely to sit in mediation. I found myself falling asleep in the cold off and on. I learned that I can sleep while meditating out in the cold.
As the light was being turned on in the sky, I watched neighboring residents pass by before they headed to work and made bows to the front doors. They all seem to refuse to talk to me. Or maybe they thought I was a ghost and got scared. I was wearing my white polyester jacket and had the hood on. It took me awhile to realize this in the dark.
I chased a man down and asked him questions. He continued to walk and he bowed to the tree next to the door. I asked him why does he bow to the tree. He said he didn't want to tell me. I asked him why. He replied, "In life there are too many whys, that's why." I stopped chasing him, not because I was satisfied with his smart reply, it was because I can't stand people who try to make thing secularly exclusively mysterious and unnecessarily complicated. He then circumambulated the front square three times and made full Tibetan prostrations three times and then left.
I decided to would get up to stretch before doing a set of Tai Chi Chuan. I saw simultaneously, a front door guard approaching the gates along with a lady stepping out of a taxi who is in Sichuan for a conference. I was able to get in with them. The guard's name is "Shr" like rock who gave both the lady and I a tour of the monastery. He set me up with storing my bags for the day and gave me a heads up on where to go on Mt. Emei including where to eat. I think I was treated with extra care because I tagged myself to the business woman who was finely dressed and looked to Shr with authority on Buddhism.
In Shr's little introduction on Buddhism, he talked about sincerity that it's not the size of the incense stick that matter but the heart. Didn't this just sound good and proper! Well, we went by the Gilding Image Hall where everyone has the opportunity to express their sincerity by making a donation for gold leaf to post on the image to increase good blessings and end bad karma. I was then instructed to bow on the middle cushion first then move to the left then to the right to bow three times this way. No, I didn't do as he instructed. I made my three bows all on one cushion that was to the right and avoid the center in general. No, I did not buy gold leaf to paste on the images for life times of endless blessings and lessening of my bad karma. I think if the images were in need of repair then I would, but these images were very bright and gold already. I am one incompliant person, stubborn and hard to teach.
