# Five Contemplations Hall

The Five Contemplations Hall is the monastery’s dining hall, or refectory. Yet it is not an ordinary restaurant. It is a practice space where the monastic community takes formal meals. The “five contemplations” remind those who eat to reflect on where the food comes from, whether their virtue is worthy of receiving it, to leave greed, anger, and delusion behind, to regard food as medicine, and to accept this food for the sake of accomplishing the path.

## The True Symbolic Meaning of the “Five Contemplations”
Buddhism requires monastics or lay practitioners to raise five kinds of contemplative reflection in the mind when lifting the bowl. These five reflections directly counter five common problems in how modern people eat:

**First: Counting the amount of labor, measuring where it came from**
Counteracts: arrogance and taking things for granted. Modern people often think that because they paid for a meal, it is only natural. The Buddhadharma teaches us: when we lift this bowl of rice, first calculate how many people’s efforts are contained in it. Farmers transplanting rice seedlings, workers transporting goods, cooks preparing food—within a single grain of rice is hidden the kindness of the whole society. We should give rise to deep gratitude and deep shame, and not think that having money makes us superior.

**Second: Considering one’s own virtue, whether complete or lacking, to deserve the offering**
Counteracts: greed and complacent entitlement. “Consider” means to reflect. Sitting here, ask yourself: are my virtue and tomorrow’s conduct, and the work I did today, worthy of this bowl of rice? Am I serving society, or merely drifting through life? If one’s virtue is insufficient, eating this bowl of rice creates a debt in cause and effect.

**Third: Guarding the mind against faults, with greed and the like as the main concern**
Counteracts: discrimination and greed, anger, and delusion. This is the fault modern people commit most easily. When something tastes good, they grab it greedily; when something does not taste good, they frown and blame the cook. The Five Contemplations Hall teaches us that eating is “guarding the mind against faults.” Food is simply for nourishing the body. We should eat with an equal mind and cut off attachment to flavors on the tongue.

**Fourth: Regarding it as good medicine, taken to cure bodily wasting**
Counteracts: luxury and attachment. How does the Buddhadharma view food? As medicine for illness. Our body is constantly consumed, becomes hungry, and withers; this is “illness.” Eating is taking medicine on time to maintain this physical machine. Since it is medicine, being full is enough. Why cling to whether it is rare bird’s nest or plain tea and simple rice?

**Fifth: For the sake of accomplishing the path, I now receive this food**
Counteracts: losing purpose and living in confusion. This is the ultimate purpose of eating. Why do I live? To use the provisional body to cultivate the true, to accomplish learning, virtue, and the path, and to serve suffering beings better. For this noble goal, I accept this meal.

## “Teaching Tools” and Rules in the Five Contemplations Hall
Buddhist rules are not meant to bind people, but to help one “train the mind through circumstances.” In the Five Contemplations Hall, everything is practice:

**Formal dining, maintaining the pure mind: **Eating in a monastery is called “formal dining.” During the meal, the whole assembly keeps silence; no one speaks, and there should be no chewing noise or clattering of bowls and utensils. Modern people like to speak loudly and look at their phones while eating; the mind is scattered and polluted. Silence during formal dining is to settle the mind on the bowl of food before you. Eating itself becomes Chan concentration.

**Meal service, cultivating equality and generosity: **In the Five Contemplations Hall, there are people specifically responsible for adding rice and dishes; they are called meal servers. When they serve more food, they do not speak. If you want a certain amount, you indicate it through the movement of chopsticks and bowl. The master said this is “wordless tacit understanding,” teaching everyone to maintain a high degree of attention, discipline, and equal treatment of others in daily life.

## The Deeper Meaning of Enshrining Maitreya Bodhisattva: Great Joy for All
In many monasteries, a statue of Budai, or Maitreya Bodhisattva, is often enshrined at the center of the Five Contemplations Hall. Enshrining Maitreya Bodhisattva in the refectory:
**Teaches you not to be picky: **If today’s meal does not suit your taste, look at Maitreya Bodhisattva’s big belly. Be more tolerant and eat it joyfully.
**Teaches you contentment and constant joy: **Eating is one of life’s great joys. One should be like Maitreya Bodhisattva, facing the present life with gratitude and joy.