Straw Pillows

Atop Wudan, the nights were always especially cold.We would sleep on concrete floors with straw pillows and blankets were forbidden.Many of the students would opt to do their chores in the middle of the night in an attempt to stay warm and then try to steal sleep during meditation in the warmer afternoons.Of course, Po was aware of this, and every so often would pluck a perpetrator from morning exercise and beat him severely.It’s a risk many children took, for it is very difficult to sleep when you are cold.But I wanted to feel. . .