Ch. 9 Visiting the Zen temple...

Hey Everyone,

I just had another pivital experience in of my time here in Japan. I was not expecting on a Wednesday of all days to take part in mind altering experience. It was the middle of the school week after all. But I know a guy who is an ex-JET living here and has spent the last year or so practicing Zen Buddhism in Japan. My friend Zack is also interested like me so we both talked to this guy, Ben and next thing we knew a date was set for the following week. If anything i knew I was getting into a very different meditation from any i have ever done before. Yet this barely touches the tip of the ice burg; the session I sat in on(a weekly mediation open to the public) was unlike anything i would have thought and this being Japan was about as intense as driving 100 mph down a narrow mountain road.

I guess I will start with how things are going lately. So have my high week of sports festival the next week was awful. I guess I wasn't prepared for real classes to start up again. That and work sucks after you've been on vacation. Other then that I was bidding my time until my birthday frantically trying to figure out what to do. I decided to just have a picnic dinner on my b-day and then go out to an Israeli restaurant on the weekend.

The day started off great. I had 4 classes which is average for me and I was excited to get them over with. Almost to much in fact because I kept looking the clock in class wishing it to go faster. I made it through the day without becoming a anxious wreck but i became very nervous at the end of the day because I needed to leave early in order to catch the train to Tokyo. I sat at my desk for awhile until things quited down after cleaning time and i hastily made my escape realizing the whole time that I forgot to change my block to red (a kind of Japanese time card). Oh well I thought I wasn't actually leaving that early i thought. I took the faster way home but on the way decided to stop at my local bakery. It is the best bakery Ive found but Ive constantly pondered how they stay in business offering only 10-20 baked good. Well today I found the answer. The place was filled with breads of all kinds, sweets and pastries. I was shocked and quacking grabbed a demi-baguette and a slice of pumpkin bread with walnuts and raisins. At least now I knew I would have some good eats on the long train ride. I rushed home to quickly changed opting for a v-neck sweater over my v-neck undershirt and some jeans. Not quite the most appropriate wear for a Zen meditation session but I was comfortable, if anything I was too hot. I then looked at the clock and rapidly turned my baguette into a cheese and butter sandwich. I also filled my water bottle and grabbed a book. I was ready. Once again speeding down the main street on my little biking pedaling my feet as fast as I could go. I made it down the the station in time again, in fact I was early but i am traumatized and extremely fearful of missing trains since I did it so often when i first arrived. I boarded the train to find it filled with the suits and some high school students. It was hot and I opened the window up a bit and through on some shades. I knew this was going to be a nice commute for once.
I made it to Chiba to change trains and met up with Zack. We ended up talking the rest of way and the hour seemed to fly by. We made it to the tiny subway station early and split the sandwich and pumpkin loaf. I was feeling ready to take on anything, naively flying high after a great day but I really didn't know what I was getting my self into. We met Ben and had a rice ball on the way. Walking to the temple we talked about what we were going to be be experiencing and how long it would be. Ben was under the misperception that there was a beginner class every Wednesday at 6:30 but unfortunately when we got there we found that was not the case. In fact if you are a beginner you are supposed to call ahead and make a reservation. The monks were kind enough to bring us in the entry way and we just had to fill out our names on a form. Then we were awkwardly carted around for awhile seeing if we would get instruction or not. Then we were told to change. You had to take off all jewelery and basically anything that would make noise. then you were supposed to change into anything that made you most comfortable. Not thinking of bringing extra cloths I stuck with what i was wearing at the time. Which was not bad but being nervous I was sweating like pig. Next we entered a kind of antechamber. People were already sitting and meditating. We stay there for about 5 minutes awkwardly trying to sit. Then our monk came and brought us back to the waiting room with our little pillows. We were given a short instruction on how to enter the meditation room, walk in the hallways, puff your pillows, bow before sitting and sit down. It was about enough to make my head start spinning but then another patron came over and started giving us tips about meditating for the first time. He spoke pretty good English and was very kind but in a rather annoying way since i was already nervous and hardly needed more stuff to remember and worry about doing correctly. Then the moment came. We were called out of the room and entered the meditation room. It was a big room that had a huge window facing a courtyard on one side and a shrine with a Buddha and ornaments on the other. We were put into the far corner away from the window facing a yellow painted wall. I guess you are supposed to stare at something with least distractions. The air in the room was thick almost like stepping out of a air conditioned house into a humid night. People told me i might be cold but the temperature was perfect. I immediately performed the said entry rituals and began trying to get comfortable sitting on this little pillow. My other great worry was trying to get perfect posture. It is something I had as a kid and now have lost my ability to ever sit straight. It was a back aching challenge. Sit for two 40 minute sessions with perfect posture. In between there would be a 10 minute walking meditation. After all that the head monk would do a reading and we would do some zen chanting. The most interesting part was actually the singing bowls and the gourd drum. It was much less rhythmic and more caotic then I thought.
Though all of it was intense, what had me on edge the whole time during the sitting meditation was the head monks' stick. Yes there is a stick that is carried around for the purpose of 'correcting' people, if they have incorrect posture or are falling asleep. As you would be just into the rhythmic breathing you would hear a Whack and I not sure but I think people were getting between the shoulder blades. It was not the most pleasant sound and I thought a few times I was in for a right smack between the shoulder blades. It didnt end up happening but the head monk did come by me and 'straighten' my back with his stick. The whole this was just bizarre. It was a whole other world experience. Though this is not uncommon in Japan.
The most surprising part was how laid back everyone was when the session ended. Some guy asked me to go drink some beers with him and the monk were all out chatting and laughing. I could understand why my friend Ben likes to go there so often. It has something frequently lacking in Japan.. Community. Not just a sense of it, Im talking the real thing. People getting together who are liked minded and sharing their experience. Once again i am humbled by Japan, a country that never ceases to awe me...