Listening at Sumtseling

When my mind is unsettled, I drive to Ganden Sumtseling Monastery.

Sumtseling stands north of Shangri-La town. Founded in 1679, it is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan, built up the hillside, its golden roofs bright in the sun.

I do not understand the scriptures, and I do not come to ask for anything. I just find somewhere to sit outside the main hall and listen to the monks chanting inside: low voices, over and over, like the wind in the valley. After a while my mind grows quiet.

By the time I leave it is often afternoon. Walking down the steps, old people turning prayer wheels pass me, never in a hurry.

I could not say what I understood. Only that a person needs somewhere to sit quietly for a while.