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By Leo R. Maliksi /Taiwan news, Staff Writer
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After more than 10 months of countless hikers intruding on the peaceful slumber of Yushan, the Yushan National Park Administration late last year decided to give this much-used and much-visited mountain a rest. So they closed Yushan for two months starting January 15. During that period, hiking to the peak was not permitted. Instead, the Park Administration held a series of activities at the low-level areas. The Respect the Mountain activity was held from January 11-15. Other activities included Cleaning the Mountain and Give Peace to the Mountain.
On March 25, Yushan was reopened with the 2006 Sacred Yushan Mountain Guardianship, a grand and joyous ceremony organized by the Yushan National Park Headquarters and with the blessings of Buddhist masters and volunteers from the Dharma Drum Mountain. Indigenous performing groups joined in the celebration.
They included the Tamaluan Culture and Art Troupe, Ten Drum Arts Percussion, and San Geou Tai Band.
After a period of re-generation and re-vegetation, Yushan is now ready for visits by mountain hikers.
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The Sacred Yushan Mountain Guardianship
fosters reverence for the mountain and
nature./Rong-Shan Liu, Tourism Bureau |
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ˇ§The purpose of Sacred Yushan Mountain Guardianship - reverence and peace for the mountain - is the protection of nature,ˇ¨ said Lee Shen-I, Secretary-General of the DDM Foundation for Humanistic and Social Scholarship. ˇ§These same ideals motivate the activities of our foundation.ˇ¨
Through singing, chanting and reading of Buddhist scriptures during the blessing ceremony, prayers were made that disasters and calamities be kept away and that Yushan with its activities and participants be favored with protection and peace always.
The participants were also encouraged to meditate while walking by, for example, concentrating on each step as if it were the first---or maybe the last they would ever take. Such contemplative activity would make hiking an even more enjoyable activity.
Master Guo Hsin said that modern people live in a stressful environment. This makes it difficult for everyone to experience the simple joy of being alive.
Through meditation, people learn to relax, concentrate and feel at peace. Being aware of bodily movements and sensations is the key to unifying oneˇ¦s body and mind. It is only when you are relaxed that you can feel free.
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