9. Young Buddhist Nuns

“You were a nun?” I ask with surprise.  “Yes.  I went to a nunnery when I was 10 years old.  My grandmother sent me to learn the discipline of a nun to help me with the public world.”  I’m sitting in a car, and the woman in the front seat who’s dressed in business attire just handed me her business card.  It reads, “Customer Service Coordinator”.  It’s hard for me to imagine her with a shaven head and dressed in a pink robe like the nuns here.  This modern woman doesn’t match the image I normally associate with nuns.  “I’m curious, but I don’t mean to pry.  If it’s not appropriate for me to ask, please tell me, but how did you go from being a nun to working in business?”  “It is tradition in our family to be a nun,” she says.  “My grandmother was a nun and so was my mother and my sister.  Society is becoming more modern, and we wanted to strengthen our Buddhist faith, learn discipline and promote Buddhism, so we went to the convent — just not full time.  It’s quite common here in religious families.”  “How long were you there?”  “I went for a month, like summer camp between my school years.  Our summer vacation here lasts three months, and I used one of them to go to a nunnery.  I did this for more than one summer.”  “Again, please pardon my ignorance, but what did you do in that month?”  “Well, I woke up at 4 a.m. and meditated for one hour.  That was followed by one hour of walking and concentrating on the walk — left step, right step, left step…”  “On every step?”  “Yes.  It takes discipline to focus that way.”  “Yes, it does.  I’ve seen the young nuns doing this, lined up in a row.  Then what did you do after your walk?”  “I would have breakfast.”  “From food you gathered on your walk, like monks?”  “The nuns get food donations only twice a week, not daily like monks.  Since women know how to cook, most of their food is not prepared for them.  They cook daily.  The monks, on the other hand, get ready-made food on a daily basis because they usually don’t cook.  Each morning, they walk to get their rice and meat donations that were cooked for them earlier in the morning by residents in the community.  It is good karma for those who offer them nourishment.”  “Yes, I understand.  What happens after your meal?”  “I would have one hour to relax before another hour of meditation.  Then another hour of walking to focus, and then more meditation.  Then I had lunch and more dedication to meditating and walking.  This pattern was repeated all seven days of the week with some classes in the schedule as well.”  “Wow.  That’s very impressive and very disciplined, especially for a young person.”  “It was.”  “And there wasn’t an evening meal, correct?”  “That’s right.  Only two meals a day.  It is better for the mind.”  “And you did this for one month?”  “Yes, except for the summer I extended my stay for another month to strengthen my discipline of meditation.”  “You did the same thing for yet another month?”  “No, not exactly.  During the second month everything is still done in one hour segments for the first week.  For the second week, the amount of time dedicated to meditation is increased to two hours with a one-hour walk in between.  This pattern is repeated five times.  Then in the third and fourth weeks, meditation lasts three hours with one to two hours of walking in between.  This pattern is repeated three times.”  “That’s really intense.  It must have been difficult.”  “It was.  The first week of the second month I was fighting with my thoughts and getting very upset.  I wanted to quit, but then my grandmother visited me.  She comforted me and encouraged me to stay.  She said it would be good for my mind, and she was right.  It got better in the second week, and I took control of my thoughts.”  “How did you do that?”  “I focused on my breath — the wind coming in and coming out.  My mind calmed, and in the third and fourth weeks it got stronger and even clearer.  This helped me when I went back to my public life and school.”  “How so?”  “It was good for studying and memorization.  My mind was clean, so it was easy to focus.  It allowed me to improve my grades and helped me to get into a good university.”  “And what did you study?”  “I have a three-year degree in German.”  Her response surprises me because she now works for a transportation company.  As we navigate the heavy traffic on the way to the airport, I wonder how often she uses the skills she spent so many years developing.