What is a meditation tour? What exactly should you do on your meditation journey? Guangdong Yunfu gave a sample

With the development of social economy, people’s quality of life is getting higher and higher. Tourism has gradually become an indispensable and important element in life, and there are more and more subdivisions of tourism. Backpacking tourism , group tours, self-driving tours, flower viewing tours, industrial tours, art tours... etc. emerge in endlessly. Among these tourism categories, meditation tours are relatively niche, but they are also highly praised by some high-income and high-stress people. .

What is meditation tour? The word meditation originated from India. In Indian, it means spiritual cultivation. In other words, it means to purify the soul. The benefits of meditation to people are mainly reflected in Internally, if you can meditate regularly, you can relieve the pressure at work, reduce the worries and troubles in life, and make people fundamentally free and enlightened. A few days ago, Yu Fan and a few friends made an appointment to travel to Yunfu, Guangdong. It was a rare Zen trip, because the Zen Spring Hot Spring Resort Hotel where we stayed was the only Zen culture-themed hot spring resort in Guangdong. The hotel has many Zen meditation projects suitable for tourists to experience. There are a few that I particularly recommend and would like to share with you.

The first project I want to recommend to everyone is to copy the scriptures. Before copying the scriptures, you need to wash your hands and incense, and then find a place to sit down, so that you can slowly copy the scriptures and have a basic writing brush. It’s best to use a brush if you don’t know the basics of brush writing. You can use a hard pen if you don’t have a basic knowledge of brush writing. When copying scriptures, you don’t have to worry about the font, the matching, or the need to think too much. You can even forget the meaning of the words. It’s best to completely calm down and relax your mind. of meditation.

The second recommendation is to experience the hotel’s Guotangzhai. Guotang actually means eating. For us tourists, it is not simply eating, but introspection and self-reflection through "Guotang". study. Just like copying scriptures, there is also a relatively solemn ceremony before the ceremony, and there will be specialized staff to explain to everyone the precautions for the ceremony.

The staff told us that we should turn our mobile phones to silent before the meal and keep quiet throughout the whole process. Then they would show us how to hold chopsticks and bowls, and how to indicate how much we wanted when the staff added food to everyone. Don’t worry about how to express it, when adding soup and porridge, how to indicate if it is thin, how to indicate if it is thick, and how to place the bowls and chopsticks after finishing the meal.

Before eating, everyone should put their hands together and chant sutras along with the staff, and then eat slowly. During the process, you need to chew quietly, avoid laughing and making noise, and avoid wasting leftovers. This is in huge contrast to our extravagance and waste in big hotels, and it also improves our state of mind.

According to the staff, this is a traditional musical instrument that integrates philosophy, religion, culture and art. Its music is transparent, ethereal, delicate and melodious, and has both Xin and Guqin. The gracefulness and elegance of classical instruments such as zither and guzheng are combined with the powerful penetration of some modern pop elements.

There are ten keys of different sizes on the color hollow drum (the specific names are not asked in detail, let’s call them keys here), and there are only five notes on the key. They represent the five tones of ancient Chinese tradition: Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, and Yu. There is a modern printed music book next to it. The tones marked on it are modern simplified musical notation, namely 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. , there is no 4 or 7, only five tones. Perhaps the tone-deaf people usually refer to when they are modest about it refers to these five tones.

Under the guidance of the staff, we spent almost half an hour to understand and become familiar with each other before we could skillfully play the song "Yun Shui Zen Heart". I have posted the specific situation online. I posted a video, if you are interested, you can check it out. According to the staff, this kind of color empty drum can also be combined with tea ceremony culture, incense culture, qin culture, Tai Chi, yoga, Hanfu, poetry, dance, Zen practice, and meditation. This kind of music comes from the depths of the soul. Summoning, through the appearance of hearing, touches memories that are about to be forgotten, making people open-minded, comfortable, light and peaceful. It is also good for everyone to experience it if you have the opportunity, or to buy one to take home.

Since it is meditation, sitting meditation is a must and an indispensable item of meditation. It can bring physical and mental relaxation and allow participants to feel their own power outside the hustle and bustle. Zen Spring Hotel has a special meditation hall. There are two ways to meditate here. One is to meditate on your own. No appointment is required. You can just take off your shoes, adjust your body and mind and meditate by yourself. The other is to meditate under the guidance of an instructor. , which requires making an appointment with a tutor at the front desk.

If possible, it is best to make an appointment in advance and then practice zazen under the guidance of the staff. After all, zazen also requires some introductory skills. Before sitting in meditation, the staff will tell you how to cross your legs, how to adjust your breathing, and some specific methods and precautions for sitting in meditation. After sitting in meditation, there will be time for questions. For questions that you do not understand, the staff will use his Zen words to answer.

This is a meditation project using tea as a medium, a lifestyle of self-cultivation. It should be said that this is also a kind of Zen tea culture, and its spirit is "uprightness, purity, harmony and elegance". What does it mean? Zheng means speaking the right way, purity means purifying the mind, harmony means respecting the six elements, and elegance means being free from vulgarity.

Listening to tea talk, we experienced six kinds of tea including Longjing, white peony, black tea, and Pu'er. While brewing, the staff showed us the tea art and introduced how to make tea. In order to listen to the tea speak, she said that when drinking tea, you need to be mindful, calm and concentrated to taste the color, aroma and taste of the tea. The so-called tea Zen tastes the same, that is, drinking tea and practicing Zen are the same taste.

In addition to the projects mentioned above, Zen Spring also has many other meditation projects. For example, the Heart-Transmitting Lantern is one of them. This is a ritual of passing on lanterns and making wishes, and requires an appointment in advance. Then put on special Zen clothes, hold the heart lamp in hand, and walk happily in Zen steps. Following the master in front, he knocked on the wooden fish, and then we walked step by step from under the Bodhi tree with a very rhythmic and ritual sense until our hearts completely calmed down. Finally, we came to the pool in front of the Sixth Patriarch Hall and made our vows. If you put the lamp into the pool to make your wish, it is said that it will be answered.

Here you can also practice Tai Chi, practice yoga, bathe in Zen springs, cultivate your Zen mind, taste delicacies, listen to Sanskrit music, enjoy Zen scenery, realize Zen meaning, and gain Zen mind. Zen meditation is different from other travels. The focus is no longer on the natural scenery of famous mountains and rivers, but on observing freedom, cultivating the heart, and returning to a simple and unsophisticated lifestyle from the turmoil of the world. There is no luxury, no splendor, and some It is just a realm and attitude of life that is naturally quiet, peaceful and far-reaching, simple and harmonious.

If one day you feel tired and tired, then I suggest you do the same as me. You might as well put down your busy work for a while, come to Zen Spring to experience a few days of meditation, and feel it with your heart. The inner state of a world with a flower and a bodhi with a leaf, put aside the troubles of the world, and thus find inner peace and true self.