‧Written by Sheng-yen Lu‧
A US Daden Culture Publication
Xianghua Lei Tsang Temple (Taichung) organized an evening party. The first program of the evening was a “belly dance.” Whoa, belly dancers!
I pictured women wearing gorgeous chiffon dresses, their navels exposed, undulating their hips and abdomens to the sound of the music.
The party started –
Seven female belly dancers appeared. They were not our students but brought in from the outside. Some were plump and some were slender, and they wore colorful and dazzling costumes.
But the dance was a little different from what I had imagined:
The ladies all wore an extra piece of black tulle, covering their bellies!
I asked:
“Why add the black tulle?”
Someone next to me answered:
“Because Grand Master Lu is a monk.”
I said:
“I am also a man.”
That person uttered “ha ha” and then hemmed and hawed!
I chatted with myself:
“Should monks watch belly dancing? Look at nude paintings? Furthermore, should monks watch a striptease? Can monks…?”
“What is good?”
“What is bad?”
I said:
“Most people can watch belly dancing, but, monks cannot.”
“It is very difficult to draw boundaries between good and bad.”
When others watch such a dance, it is considered a good thing.
But if monks watch, it is considered a bad thing.
Therefore, the women had to wear black tulle over their bellies, turning a belly dance into a non-belly dance!
There is a joke:
A lumberjack went into the mountains to find firewood.
Deep in the mountains he met a monk meditating.
The lumberjack asked:
“Do you still have improper thoughts?”
The monk replied:
“Three times a month.”
The lumberjack said:
“What a profound achievement. You are indeed a skillful meditator who commands our admiration!”
The monk then said:
“Three times a month, but each time for ten days.”
Ha ha ha!
I asked myself:
“Would you become aroused watching belly dancing?”
I replied:
“No!” (What is so nice about the belly?)
“Would you become aroused watching a striptease?”
I replied:
“No.” (There is no passion or feeling involved.)
“Would you become aroused looking at a nude sketch?”
I replied:
“No.” (They are just paper figures.)
“What about other people?”
“I don’t know about others!”
“Why are you not aroused?”
I replied:
“My practice has enabled me to control my desires and allowed me to transcend them freely.”
I also said:
“I know I am empty, you are empty, and they are empty.”
I can watch “belly dancing”!
