Hasu Transitoire (The Transient Lotus)

Sept. 5 No meditation today, but I did get an extra hour of sleep, which helped since I was slightly hungover. I put the previous night’s drunkenness to bed and prepared for another long day. We rode the number 12 bus into the countryside to Jōruriji, the Pure Land temple of lapis lazuli. While I did not see any actual lapis lazuli (besides the slivers adorning my necklace made by the beautiful Star of Mae), its compact three story pagoda (the main image of which, a Yakushi Buddha, had been attacked by some sort of Japanese raccoon and was away being repaired), lovely pond in the shape of a Sanskrit “a,” and nine Amida statues set inside a small rectangular building (the statues could just barely fit in the small space) were more than fulfilling. And the flowers, my god! Kikyu and hagi (bushclover) lined the walkways, as did bursting pink blooms and lotus flowers. Big caterpillars shuffled along green leaves, and yellow butterflies flapped about (I tried unsuccessfully to track one ...

Goodbye Kyoto adventure part one, hello Nara. Let me preface this by saying that I am absolutely enchanted by Nara, with its intoxicating ancient ambience, deer-filled parks, incredible art and architecture, and Kinasa, which I do believe is my favorite restaurant in all of Japan. We dropped our bags at the Nara International Seminar House and headed immediately to Kasuga shrine. We weaved down a forest path past huge sacred trees and deer alongside rows of moss-covered stone lanterns.  When I think of Kasuga shrine, the first thing that comes to mind is the brilliant vermilion-orange color of the buildings and fences. Simply incredible with the contrast of the green park-like surroundings. Strolling the grounds of Kasuga shrine, set up against the foothills of Mt. Mikasa, I felt history literally come alive. Moments like that reaffirm my passion for what I do. Completely.   A delicious azuki (sweet red bean) shaved ice bowl allowed for time to reflect on the day. I w...

(RE the title of this bog: I wish this was a Neil Young Song but unfortunately I just imposed my own words on an as-of-yet-known NY melody. Gomen ne!!) ***I just took a seat on the JR (Japan Railway) train to Nara and thought it might be nice to jot a few notes before some of my memories slip away effortlessly like the sound of the shrill meditation bell that vibrates my ear drum each morning. In lieu of a blow-by-blow (hey, I’m pretty exhausted!) report of my activities I think a highlight reel will do. I forgot to even mention how great Myōshinji is. Once the temple of important landholders (daimyō) in medieval Japan, the facility is decked out with clever security measures, including a hiding spot for ninjas, and secret weapon stashes. Sept. 1 • Shokokuji: a beautifully appointed (ahem, money!) Zen temple complex of crisp white Edo buildings. Toured a Zen painting exhibition that was quite masterfully organized and arranged. Saw the famous ten oxherding pictures (!!!) and marveled ...

Hall slippers, bathroom slippers, pink slippers, blue slippers, brown slippers. Chinese slippers, Japanese slippers, don’t slip. BYOS (bring your own socks), sanitize your feet, don’t bare your feet unless you have to, little feet, big feet, on your feet...all day. Phew! The first of the month calls for ceremony at Zen temples, I learned today. I awoke at 6:00am and walked to the Buddha hall, astride with priests in robes of assorted colors who snickered at my Western, camera-holding, sleepy-eyed self. From the mesh siding of the south gate, we gathered and watched all the important priests of Myōshinji’s assorted temples gather and pay homage to the main Śakyamuni image and two flanking ones. The morning sunlight broke through tall windows, reflecting on the gold leaf lotus designs on a sparsely adorned altar featuring a large incense bowl and one tall and slender candle. Soft shuffling of oversized Chinese-style shoes, a grand bell hanging from thick white ropes. Three low bells, ...

31 August This day marks my first valiant (err…not so much) attempt at Zazen with Taka-san bright and early. Being a regular yoga practitioner and sometimes meditator, I thought it would come somewhat naturally. Needless to say, I was disappointed with myself. Fifteen minutes felt like thirty, and when the closing bell rang and the wood clacked twice I had made little progress in calming my mind. Next time I will try harder to let things drop away, I told myself. Our first breakfast at Daishin’in awaited us when we returned, and it was nothing short of spectacular. Lacquer trays filled with little dishes of tofu, miso soup, pickles, rice, tea, etc. Simple but great (WAY better than western breakfast, trust me). This was a nice change from not eating breakfast, a nasty habit I’d picked up since arriving in Japan. Our next task was preparing the bicycles at Shunkoin so that as a group we could ride to Kitano shrine to ask the kami for a safe journey. Preparing eighteen bicycles = easi...

Bamboo and maple alive with song Sun rising tiled peaks Paper screens sift afternoon sunlight A moment swept away (LD 8/30/09) It seems that all of my time in Japan thus far has been in preparation of today. I packed my five bags (one will recall I began with two) and worked fastidiously on the seminar schedule until late afternoon. My body was only running on one weak cup of green tea, but any hunger had faded hours ago in the face of such frantic finishing work.  There was just enough time to hop on bicycles and peddle through narrow Kyoto streets to Kurikame, a lovely Japanese café that stayed open past the typical 2:00 lunch closing. Taishō era low tables and chairs surrounded a raised tatami section where three young women sipped tea and ate cake. We were immediately brought English menus, since no one expects white people to speak a lick of Japanese, but the woman was delighted to hear me order in Japanese. We both chose zaru-soba (cold soba noodles with tsuyu [sauce...

Japan is an archipelago that lies thousands of miles away from the States, with vast ocean blue separating their shores. This is a glaringly obvious difference. What interests me more are the subtle nuances of culture that really make one take pause and reflect. For example, I changed rooms today at the hotel and when I arrived in my new room later in the afternoon there was a note on top of which were a penny and a green cap. Turns out I had forgotten the top of hair shine spray and one penny – ONE PENNY – somewhere in my old room. The maid had collected them, inquired whether I had checked out or changed rooms, and had them sent to my new room. If anyone has had this experience in America I would be astonished. It has been a little over a week into this Japanese adventure and my experiences have already been incredibly rich. Even my slight hangover from sake fun the night before could not detract from my happiness when I awoke on Saturday morning. Dark clouds hung low in the Kyoto ...