There is a group of kids in Taiwan who rise very early every morning. Rain or shine, hot or cold, they get up at 4am every day. Who are they? They're Buddhist novice monks learning Buddhist philosophy at a monastery in southern Taipei.
The little monks, aged between eight and 15, are family members of Master Chihhao at the Tzu Kuang Temple in Mucha.
While most other children are still dreaming, the 11 novice monks rise, conduct a routine ceremony of "ringing the bell" at 4:30am and take a morning class featuring meditation and recitation of passages from Buddhist scriptures.
At 7am, they go to nearby schools like other ordinary youngsters, but unlike other kids, they must do their daily cleaning chores at the monastery before departing.
They do their homework after school and before dinner. Between 7pm and 10pm, they gather in the monastery hall to recite passages, meditate and listen to the Master's teaching.
The little monks do not go to McDonald's restaurants, do not have video games to play nor do they watch movies. They have no summer vacation or spring breaks, and no break on the weekends that most kids look forward to so much.
They are not allowed to return to their "worldly" homes -- ever -- not even for Chinese New Year.
According to Master Chihhao, who says he treats the novices as his "babies," most of the little monks come from broken homes or were children born out of wedlock. Some were already problem kids before coming to Tze Kuang Temple.
Chihhao said the little monks will be allowed to leave the monastery when they reach 20, when they will have to make their own choices on whether to be a monk or begin a new life outside the religious order.
Quote/Unquote
"I was in Cuba (recently) and watching the news on CNN International. Suddenly, the announcer cut in and said they were breaking away for a `Live Event.' I braced myself. An earthquake? A nuclear leak? No. It was a speech by President Jiang Zemin of China at a Fortune magazine business conference in Shanghai (sponsored by CNN's owner, Time Warner). I listened to the speech and it was utter pablum. That was confirmed when an hour later CNN led its next news broadcast with a report on the Jiang speech, saying that he said nothing new. In other words, this `Live Event' was just a stunt by CNN to hype its own conference. Not good."
-- Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist
Please send your story to
offthebeat@taipeitimes.com
RSS