自在寺 · At Ease Temple
The morning and evening services: join the recitation at At Ease Temple
These explanations are in our own words, to help first-time visitors. Services differ from temple to temple; for deeper study, please learn from a teacher.
Every Chinese Buddhist temple holds a service of recitation each morning and each evening. Monastics and lay people gather in the main hall and, led by the temple's instruments, recite sutras and dharanis together. These two services are the backbone of the temple's day.
Morning bell, evening drum
Before the morning service the bell is struck, and before the evening service the drum is beaten, to call everyone in; in Chinese this is 晨鐘暮鼓, "morning bell, evening drum". Each sounds 108 times. By tradition, the number stands for the 108 kinds of affliction that trouble the mind.
The services at At Ease Temple
- Times: the morning service begins at 06:30 and the evening service at 18:30, Hong Kong time, every day; each lasts about eight minutes.
- For the thirty minutes before, a countdown shows at the top of the screen; tap it to walk to the Main Hall.
- For the five minutes before, the Bell Tower rings (morning) or the Drum Tower beats (evening), 108 times.
- Cushions are laid out on the terrace before the Main Hall. Walk up and press "Join the service" to sit down and recite the Heart Sutra three times with the temple's monastics, with three chimes at the start and at the end.
- You may join part-way or leave at any time. The temple keeps no record of who takes part.
The notice board inside the gate explains the bell and the drum and gives the times; if you are outside Hong Kong, it also shows them in your local time.
The first, the fifteenth and the Guanyin days
On the first and fifteenth of every lunar month and on the three Guanyin days, lotus lamps are lit around the statue of Guanyin.
Add the next year of first, fifteenth and Guanyin days to your calendar