Raking the Mind
Sundays in Kyoto
For many years, long before I ever set foot in Japan for the very first time, I was mesmerized by Japanese Zen gardens. I had Japanese Maples and small rock gardens in my home as far back as I can remember. When I came to Kyoto, one of my bucket list items was to simply rake the gravel and leaves alongside Buddhist monks in a Japanese Zen garden. Most days, you will find the temples and gardens of Kyoto filled with visitors from all over the world and Japanese locals with cameras and phones in hand.
This week, through a series of synchronicities and people I was destined to meet, I spent the day largely alone in the small, peaceful temple of Seikenji, a tranquil place off the main tourist path, raking leaves and meditating in this beautiful space in nature. It was truly one of the most memorable experiences I have had during my time here in Kyoto. So many of the most beautiful places in Kyoto are now heavily visited by tourists. It was a privilege to enjoy the day in this quiet temple far off the tourist path.
Take a moment out of your day to enjoy the beautiful peace of Seikenji Temple:
When the woodblock sounded and work chores were complete I enjoyed tea by the fire outside with the head monk, Sokan. During our conversation over hojicha and dango, we discovered many things we shared interest in such as art, surfing, yoga, martial arts and of course meditation. Prior to becoming a Zen monk, Sokan had also traveled in India on his spiritual journey.
He suggested a book to me that was written by his teacher's Master. The day was followed by an invitation to dinner at the home of new friends. It was one of my only visits inside the home of a Japanese family since I have been in Japan. We had traditional Japanese Nabe which is a hot-pot often served during the winter months. It was a very good day.
The following night, Sokan invited me to join him for martial arts training with a Japanese master. He had begun to study as a way to help his meditation practices with emphasis on breathing and strengthening the spine. Everyone in the class wore black belts except for Sokan who has studied for just one full year.
The Sensei immediately pulled me aside and began teaching me some intense breathing exercises, guiding me to breathe in through the nose, down the chakras and everything “out the anus”... these were his words, not mine.
I abruptly expelled all my breath when he suddenly snuck up behind me, cupped his hands on my glutes and yelled for me as only a Japanese Master could to breathe everything out. He then hauled off hit me in the lower dantien roughly 3 inches below the navel, after which he yelled “Good!!!!…. Okaaaayyy!!!
I took it as a vote of acceptance that he began calling me “Rocky” from America and I received a round of applause at the end of the class.
On a more peaceful note, if you would like to read a contemplative article on the stillness of Japanese gardens, enjoy:
Invitations to Stillness: Japanese Gardens as Metaphorical Journeys
Zen and Ink Journals represents hundreds of hours of writing over the past decade, sometimes from a train in remote China or a coffee shop in Kyoto, a hammock in Costa Rica or a simple cabin on a mountain in Boquete, Panama.
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Zen and Ink was born over a decade ago out of my own personal journey to find peace and tranquility amidst the ever-increasing chaos of our modern world. In the last ten years, the pace of our modern world has only accelerated and we have moved further out of sync with nature and the rhythm of our souls. Zen and Ink offers a quiet space for anyone along their journey seeking more balance and Zen in their daily lives.
Zen and Ink provides an oasis for those who are drawn to a slower and simpler way of life; to provide a portal for awakening, tools and resources that many will find useful in their own quest to find the Zen which is already there and always within and around each of us.
