When Venerable Wei Wu requested all staff in Than Hsiang to attend the Seven-Day Amitabha Recitation Retreat for a day, I immediately put my name down. I did not have any experience in taking the Amitabha Recitation Retreat before, so I was quite keen to participate to gain the experience as well as do some spiritual development.

I chose Friday, 25 November 2005, for my day of Retreat. I decided to spend Thursday night at Than Hsiang so that I could wake up early on Friday and participate in the proceedings. Venerable Zhen Xin was kind enough to arrange for me to share a room with the cook, Ah Fook.

I woke up at 4.45am, had a bath and was ready for morning service at 5.30am. The service at the Multi Purpose Hall consisted mainly of chanting the Amitabha Sutra. Straight after prayers, everyone mindfully filed out for breakfast at the adjacent partition to the Multi Purpose Hall. I didn't join in the breakfast as I wanted to snap some photographs for Ezine. This was allowed as I had not taken the Eight Precepts as yet. Following breakfast was a half hour rest period.

At 8.00am, a delegation of a monk, a nun, a male laity, and a female laity went to invite the Senior Monk, Ven. Tian Wen, to the Hall to give the Eight Precepts to everyone there. After taking some shots of this simple ceremony, I quickly donned the hai ching and joined in taking the Eight Precepts. This was followed with recitation of the Amitabha Sutra, walking meditation in step with chanting “Namo Amituofo” repeatedly, and sitting meditation. There was a twenty minute break followed by another session of chanting, walking and sitting meditation.

Lunch was a solemn affair. We put the food that we wanted in front of us and whatever food we didn't want, we put farthest away. A group of volunteers would go round offering additional food. If we wanted any, we put our bowl or plate in the centre and food would be spooned onto the bowl/plate. The food that was not wanted was removed and the empty plate returned. We had to be mindful in taking our food and not let greed arise while eating. I ate slightly less than normal and though I didn't eat anything else for the rest of the day, I didn't feel hungry at all. It's surprising that a day of Recitation could so fill me spiritually that there was no room for any thoughts of craving for food.

We rested for an hour after lunch and then did two sessions of Recitation, ending with Evening Service. We had another hour's rest and gathered at the Multi Purpose Hall again to listen to Venerable Wei Wu's dharma talk.

In his dharma talk, Venerable Wei Wu said that to continuously undergo the cycle of samsara is suffering. There is uncertainty, lack of satisfaction and cycle of rebirths brings nothing of value materially or spiritually. Even the demigods and gods suffer because they are still bound in samsara. We therefore seek spirituality in hearing the name of Amitabha Buddha and pray to be born in Pure Land where we may continue to develop spiritually to gain Buddhahood.

When Venerable Wei Wu had left after giving his dharma talk, we had a final walking meditation. The walking meditation picked up pace and the elderly had to sit it out. The pace was so fast, I was a bit out of breath myself, but I managed to complete without any untoward incident. We then dispersed and I went straight to bed as it was past 10.00pm and I was fairly pooped for the day. The next day, I followed the Morning Service session and breakfast, which was just as mindfully taken as lunch the previous day. After breakfast, I packed my bag and went back to work.

I found myself at a disadvantage when it came to the chanting parts of the Retreat as the sutra was in Mandarin and I knew not a word of Mandarin. Luckily for me, there were books with Romanized Mandarin words, so I was able to follow the chanting. I was lucky too that those around me were most caring and they showed me which page the chanting would start with and the page where to continue after I got lost. Without these people, who were really practicing their compassion, I would not have been able to participate fully in all the chanting sessions. I am deeply grateful to them. They did not practice any discrimination between a seasoned practitioner and a complete, illiterate novice. I had learnt a good dharma lesson from them.

I found the walking meditation to be useful in bringing my concentration to a focus and when I sat down to meditate in the silence that followed, I felt a sense of calm enveloping me and I was at peace with the world. My only regret was that the period for the sitting meditation was all too short. Overall, I enjoyed participating in the Amitabha Recitation Retreat even though it was for a day only. While one day was too short a time to obtain any spiritual development, I cherished those moments of peace and calm I experienced during my sitting meditation.

I now look forward to observing the Eight Precepts and following in the chanting of the Amitabha Sutra, walking and sitting meditation.

Amituofo.