The Abbot Yongxin’s Daily Life

A lot of people want to know whether I have the same routine as the other monks.

I renounced secular life and entered the monastic order at Shaolin in 1981. For the past thirty years, I have maintained a discipline life and follow the same routine as the other monks, eating and practicing with them. Each day, if I need to attend the meditation at the Meditation Hall, I will get up at 5 am and then join the monks for breakfast. As to the standard for the monks’ meal, we had a daily allowance of five yuan per day three or four years ago; now our daily allowance is seven yuan. We have three meals a day, all vegetarian. Following a northern China custom, we usually have porridge and noodle for dinner, and noodles for lunch.

Meditation daily is a habit I adhere to. I meditate for two hours each day, once during the day and once at night; I either take an afternoon nap or meditate during my noon break. I feel more comfortable sitting in a cross-legged meditation posture than laying on my side to sleep. To me, meditation is comforting and a daily habit that I have cultivated over many years; I do not feel natural if I do not sit in meditation. I meditate daily; as soon as I sit cross-legged, all my thoughts dissolve into a state of emptiness, so it is very easy to calm down. (From Shaolin Temple in My Heart)