Working for monks(2)

Zhu Bingfan (left) worked as a monastic clerk at the Shaolin Temple for more than three years. Photo: Courtesy of Zhu Bingfan

Gradually however, Zhu adjusted to the rhythm of life, and came to cherish it. He soon learnt how to communicate with the monks, and would seek them out regularly in the hopes of learning from their perspectives about the world, and receiving enlightenment. In the evenings, he would read books or play table tennis.

The meager wages never bothered him.

"It's true that the pay isn't much, just enough to support your day to day expenses," said Zhu.

"There's no immediate profit. But it had a great influence on the rest of my life, and I will likely continue to do so."

When he started working at the Shaolin Temple, Zhu agreed with many of the precepts of Buddhism, but did not practice it in his daily life. Now, he is taking a year-off from paid employment to reflect on his time at the temple, and decide what to do next.

Zhu said he is now thinking of starting his own business to promote traditional Chinese culture.

Although he no longer works at the temple, he has made the rituals and habits of Buddhism part of his everyday life.

"I believe in Buddhism because it is extensive and profound," said Zhu. "It's a source of great knowledge and wisdom."

Things of greater value than money

Many of the highly-qualified laypersons who seek employment at monasteries and temples are not motivated by money.

"There are two kinds of highly-educated people who choose to work in temples or monasteries," said Wei Dedong, the vice dean of the School of Philosophy at Renmin University of China.

"The first type are those who are followers of the religion, and see their work as a form of charity," said Wei. "[The second type] think of it as being no different from working in a normal company, except that they have to follow a vegetarian diet, and are bound to stricter rules of conduct."

Yang suggested that most applicants fell into the first category.

"The majority of people who apply consider themselves to be followers of Buddhism, and see it as a way to nourish themselves spiritually," he said.

A senior monk at a Taoist temple in Beijing who wished to remain anonymous, agreed that remuneration was rarely a consideration for laypersons who chose to work in monasteries.

"The wages they are paid come from donations to the monastery," said the monk. "We are using this money to better serve the needs of the monastery and its believers."

Perhaps one of the reasons that many laypersons do not mind the modest wages of working at a monastery is because they see it as only a temporary stage in their lives. But there are also those like 39-year-old Qi Junzhao, for whom it has become a life-long vocation.

Qi currently works as the deputy administrative director at a Buddhist academy in Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang Province, a sacred site for Buddhists, and has worked in monasteries and temples both small and large over the past 12 years.

For Qi, the reward of working in a monastery or temple is something far greater than material wealth.

"Working at a normal job in society, one's labor is compensated by money," said Qi.

"But working at a temple, one is compensated by things that are of a greater value."

Qi graduated from a university in Qingdao, Shandong Province in 1997 with a degree in Fine Arts. After working as an oil painter for five years, he was given the opportunity to work as an art editor at the Putuoshan Buddhist Association in Zhejiang.

Qi, who had been a lay Buddhist for some years already, decided to take the job.

He found that the simple lifestyle of working in a monastery suited him, and has worked in sites of religious sanctuary ever since.

Each morning, he starts his day with Buddhist chants, and in the evenings, he enjoys going for jogs around the mountain.

Nevertheless, Qi warned that such a life was not for everyone. He suggested that laypersons who thought they might be interested in working in a monastery or temple give it a trial first, as a volunteer for a short period.

"Only when you've really experienced what life is like living in a temple, can you know whether this is how you want to live," said Qi.