Hangzhou

Meet up. Depart. Early morning, meet up with/be picked up by your guide in Hangzhou. Get acquainted. Depart for the forest temple.

Arrive. Lunch. Futuo temple tour. Arrive Futuo Temple. Slip into Buddhist robes and find your sleeping quarters. Take a moment organize your space and settle in before lunch. Your first temple meal. Eat with vegetarian monks in the temple halls. Meet the master monk in the afternoon, then walk with him on an in-depth tour of the temple grounds. Learn temple etiquette and some of the things that make this temple special - as well as some things about Chinese Buddhist practice. Return to the temple hall for an evening meal.

Dinner. Zen meditation. Dinner ends. Zen cultivation begins. Sit for quiet meditation under the master’s guidance. Afterwards, moving to transcribe the archaic characters of ancient Buddhist sutras using the calligraphy brush. Experiment with these Eastern-evolved methods of soul searching. Find some inner peace.

Morning class. Breakfast. In step with the monks, rise at 5:30. Attend your morning lesson. Chant sutras and surrender to the hum of Buddhist song and settle your soul. Breakfast: eat a temple hall breakfast. Finish eating then rest outside.

Temple tower climb. Bamboo forest walk. Absorb the atmosphere outside on the temple grounds, climb the temple tower, then wander into the never-ending bamboo forests that the temple. Walk the quiet paths under soft, green-tinted light. With no loud colors, sights or sounds to stir your mind, relax.

Temple hall lunch. Tour end. Return to Hangzhou. Return to the compound for one final lunch with the monks before ending the experience. Return to Hangzhou.