I attended a zazen session here in Nagoya, Japan on Sunday. Very interesting experience. The temple (Shoboji) is a nunnery (omasan in Japanese, I think)in the hills about 10 minutes from downtown Nagoya. I also got to watch a Buddhist debate in the main part of the temple. Sadly, my Japanese is fairly poor and I couldn't follow the debate, but I was very surprised by how energetic it was. At times it almost seemed like the nuns were shouting at each other. Apparently, this was a test for some of the nuns to advance.
My only complaint was sitting seza (knees tucked under your body) on the cold hard tatami did a real number on my knees.
But it was very interesting to spend the day experiencing a little bit of temple life.
Soto Zen Meditation
Posted - Nov 05 2009 : 08:49:05 AM
