A Summer At Chuang Yen Monastery
During the first summer of out of high school, my mother signed up our family for a summer program at an upstate Buddhist monastery. I was reluctant to join a summer program, since I was satisfied with just staying at home. My mother already signed up, so we packed our bags and took the metro north to Chuang Yen Monastery. Both my parents were Buddhist so they were more inclined for this kind of religious retreat. I was more skeptical about religion and thought that this religious retreat was a method to preach Buddhism into my mind. However, I had an experience that was surprisingly good. In fact, this summer program was the most successful program I had ever seen. The program mixed together a variety of different races and age groups, unifying the efforts of all of them. Even I, a dedicated introvert, manage to have an entertaining time with my group at the monastery.
In an attempt to portray the amazing coordination of the staff and its brilliant planning, I used photos and video in a powerpoint. I used the powerpoint to show my experiences. The presentation is read like a story. At the end of my story, I learned that social experiences weren’t always full of awkward moments where somebody has to be left out. The presence of young monks also allowed for easy relations by same generation connections. A small age gap helps to form closer connections between youth members and the monks. This experience made meaning of religion suddenly became very vague. It no longer meant a person of seniority trying to preach his ideals to children.
The program though fun was short lived, only five days. One area for further study to truly see the culture of Buddhism, would be to study the religion as an apprentice monk. Monks study Buddhism for their occupation, therefore they are more knowledgeable about the customs and traditions of the monastery. However, that is not something I would be willing to try for 1000 years.
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