Lunch with Buddha

Today, I had lunch in the Tea Room of my local Buddha Temple.This was a new experience for me ~ and I loved it.

I was invited by a friend who 'discovered' this Tea Room several years ago. As we sat at our table, sun warming us through the window, I listened in admiration as she said, "I just walked in - I figured I'd spent long enough wondering what it looked like inside."

It had never occurred to me that I could just walk into a Buddha Temple. I mean, wow - to have the courage to just follow an impulse because you desire to know more about something without it ever occurring to you that you don't belong - I can't even imagine what that would feel like! But thank goodness she did.

This temple has majestically graced my 
neighbourhood since 1997. It almost seems out of place, so quiet and beautiful, surrounded by manufacturing plants and office units.

My former Dentist ran his practice in a unit immediately behind this temple. My two children attended a Nursery/Pre-School immediately to its left. More than once I'd looked at it and wondered 'who goes there?', 'what's it like inside?', 'would I feel peace immediately upon entering?'

I was really looking forward to this adventure - I mean, for most ~ lunch in a Tea Room wouldn't rank in the Adventure category ... but Buddhism has intrigued me for years ~ I follow the Dalai Lama on twitter for goodness sake! (And get this - the Dalai Lama also FOLLOWS ME!!)

Imagine enlightening the Self to a place where there is no anger and you truly embody the sentiment that "You can only lose what you cling to." Is it any wonder that I climbed the steps with mounting anticipation and a knowing that I was about to experience something for which I was going to leave feeling really, really grateful?

The Temple was breath-taking. The kindness and respect was palpable - the fact that their doors are always open, the greeting is so warm and genuine, the hospitality so immediate and pure ... I could have just wrapped myself in the powerful wonder and sat there all day.

The Temple itself is beyond words. You must take your shoes off to enter this sacred space. There are mats piled up against the outer walls for people to sit on, anywhere they like, to sit and admire, meditate, pray, whatever. While we were in there, two others were there too.

One was having a very private moment near the front - he stood before the 5 large, gold, Buddha statues, leaned his elbows on the alter and just seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

The other was sitting on a stack of square mats, eyes closed, hands on his thighs - meditating, or simply - being still.

We did not stay in the Temple itself for very long. In fact, it's the very last thing we did before leaving ~ how grateful I am to have been there though. To have sat there, feeling the lovely weight of peace and stillness in the complete absence of Time. I think that might be the best way to describe it -- there was no sense of Time. Nowhere else I felt I needed to be. It was rare - and wonderful.

Before going to the Tea Room, you must first purchase lunch tickets - that's what they call them ... what they look like is 2" x 3" pieces of laminated art.  Lunch is one price - regardless of what you order from the menu. $7 per person. And the menu is Vegetarian.

My friend treated - this day just kept getting better and better.

We were the first customers to arrive - and the welcome was so special and humbling. We chose a table by the window. And we were served by the lovliest man.

We selected a pot of tea from an extensive list of teas I had never heard of. Tangerine. More on this in a bit ~ but if you ever get the chance to experience Tangerine Tea ... do it.

We then placed our meal orders - Noodles and Vegetable Soup ... and believe me, it's not as boring as it sounds. As our waiter was leaving the table, with great embarrassment he told us that because we'd ordered 3 items, we actually needed 3 tickets. To be treated with such respect was refreshing. I immediately jumped up and told him I'd purchase an additional 'lunch ticket' ~ and his appreciation and further discomfort for putting us in this position was incredibly special.

Our 'soup' was the most delicious I've ever had. Fresh noodles, THINLY sliced carrots, bok choy, sesame paste and the most delicious broth I've EVER had in my life .. Heaven in a bowl, no joke.

Chopsticks were delivered with the meal - and my friend launched right in. "Don't worry, you can eat messy here -- the point is to enjoy the food. Bite off the noodles at the point where you've got enough in your mouth."

Again, I admired her. Having only spent two weeks in the Authenticity Workshop with Brene Brown so far -- I simply could not fathom EVER freeing myself to this experience in that way -- and so I ate the noodles and vegetables as best I could with a fork (no knife was present) ... and then ladled up the broth with a really beautiful soup spoon.

And the Tangerine Tea ... I've read poems that speak to Nectar of the Gods ~ and always tried to imagine how exactly that would taste. Today, I found out. I don't think I can state it any better than that.

My friend and I both studied the tea ingredients in the brewing area of the teapot -- and while we recognized the tangerine rinds -- we're not exactly sure what else was in there ... but gosh ~ Heaven in a Teacup.

After lunch, we went upstairs and browsed through their Library. Yes, they lend their books out to the general public and trust that the books will be returned. One wall is dedicated to books printed in English. Fascinating reading is offered in this room.

We then walked through a hallway that serves as a Museum with beautiful idols and paintings and write-ups in a language other than English ... but how grateful I was to even be trusted to browse there, without supervision -- in trust.

And while leaving, I was gifted with two cds -- one on the Core Ideas of Buddhism, the other with topics like The Beauty of Being Natural, Understanding Time, and The Value of Travel.

Two weeks ago, I may not have made time in my day for something like this ... I would have felt guilty because it wasn't 'work', it was not an opportunity to generate income for the family -- in short, it did not fit in the scheme of what I 'should' be doing.

So it is with infinite gratitude and appreciation that I sit here right now, with a candle burning at my right and a glass of red wine sitting at my left ~ having lived an experience I will always remember ... and will very likely - repeat.