power of prayer
May 10th, 2009
70 year-old Buddhist monk Hua Chi has been praying in the same spot at his temple in Tongren, China for over 20 years. His footprints, which are up to 1.2 inches deep in some areas, are the result of performing his prayers up to 3000 times a day. Now that he is 70, he says that he has greatly reduced his quantity of prayers to 1,000 times each day.
[via]
Hmmm… I think something may have gotten lost in translation here. There are only 1440 minutes in a day. Even if he never slept, ate, or went to the bathroom, he would still have to say a prayer every 28.8 seconds.
Well, maybe he just prays really fast.
Fortunately for me, I’m only a part-time Buddhist (Zen-flavored). I don’t ever want to do anything 3,000 times a day, except maybe inhale.
It’s a good point. Even better is the larger meta-point about internet info. It’s so easy to be impressed by wow, 3000 times a day, look at those footprints! Nice to take it a step further and say wait, how quickly would he have to be praying.
Notice that the text says “up to 3000” times a day, which is kind of like that meaningless sales speak where they say they’re offering “up to” 80% off, right? Or maybe it’s just a mis-quote.