after the shock to the system that was the red light district, we went totally the other way these last few days. we spent three days in the Asoke Buddhism compound. Asoke is this sort of controversial form of buddhism where they all live together, do all their work together and share all of their wealth. they practice at least the 5 precepts and they only eat at 9am and 5 pm, and then only vegetarian meals. they start with Dharma discussions with the monks at 4am, then follow a strict schedule until 9pm which is official bedtime. no one wears shoes. while we were there we had to observe all of their rules and live as they did. generally i didn't get it and i came away feeling like they were more of a cult than a religion. another strike against that setting in general, aside from the waking up at 3am thing and the no meat thing, was that the entire place was covered in gravel. that hurts. a lot. especially when my spoiled little feet haven't been outdoors without shoes since i was 10.
to be continued when i have some more time.
3 comments:
I hear those monks have taken a strict vow of celibacy, like their fathers, and their fathers before them.
so.. no more meat in our room??
are you kidding me? i'm going to have a steak a day when i get back. even places that are not vegetarian have a very shaky definition of meat.
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