Yonghegong Lama Temple

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall” -Confucius

Yonghegong Lama Temple is one of Beijing’s most glorious treasures. This temple is home to the largest statue to ever be carved out of one tree. The entire temple was built around this tree. I did not realize to what extent this statue was until I peaked in through the door and saw the giant foot of Buddha. Slowly, I entered this portion of the temple and as I looked up it seemed to never end. Behind the painted Buddha you could see the lines of the tree–the story it tells. This statue goes back to the Qing Dynasty. A living breathing form of history stands tall before me. Lama Temple is an active worship site. There you will find people in deep prayer and meditation, leaving gifts and inscents for Buddha himself. This temple seems to never end–room after room, it goes on. The air is different here. The smell of peace and serenity fills the air. Just on the other side of these walls is the chaos of city life in China. But here, behind these walls I find peace. I can’t hear a single car or a single horn. I can hear my thoughts, my prayers, myself. I begin to think about what truly brought me to China. A question I forget to ask myself constantly. Only when I meet someone new and they ask me “so what brings you to China?” do I actually have to ask myself this. Now, away from the sounds of the city can I truly think. What brought me to China? There may never be one answer to this question. China is a place that is not so easy for just anyone to go to. It takes blood, sweat, and tears to get here. I like to see how far I can push myself. I like to see how adaptable I really am. China has tested me in many ways I never thought I would ever have to be tested, and in this I have found myself. I used to sit at home and do absolutely nothing, except work as a waitress and feel sorry for myself. I felt like a failure. While all my other friends were having adventures and traveling, you could find me every Sunday morning at the same Diner serving the same pancakes to the same customers–over and over again. One day I finally realized you don’t get places by standing in the same spot. Sounds pretty simple, right? Just take a small step forward and see where that takes you. Then take the next step, and so on. So that’s what I did. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until I was on my flight to China when I realized, I’m finally doing it and it’s finally my turn to have my adventure. I had a long layover in Toronto, Canada, and a very sweet lady who worked at a restaurant there was serving me breakfast; so we got to talking. In her I see myself. After all, I was a waitress just a week before. She asked where I was headed, and I said China to teach english. She looked at me, and I recognized that same longing I had in my eyes as she said, “I’ve always wanted to do that and get out of waitressing, but I wouldn’t even know where to start”. I looked at her and said, “I felt the same way, but just take it step by step. Start with a simple google search and see where it takes you”. She kept saying how jealous she was of me. I told her, I was jealous of others doing this too until one day I decided I don’t want to be jealous of other peoples lives anymore–I want to experience life the way I want to. I want to be able to be jealous of my own life. I suppose this still doesn’t directly answer the question of why I came to China, or maybe it does. Who knows. I’m still figuring it out. If anything I hope someone reads this and is inspired. Anyone who was in the same mentality I used to be in, thinking I was a failure. Confucius once said, “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall”.

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