Dear Ones,
Before I get into today’s activities, I want to backtrack a little and offer something new from Eihei-ji. I didn’t know that Roshi Joan and Wendy (Dainen), were able to take pictures inside the monastery. Here are a few glimpses that I said you would not get.
Here are two images that show the kind of landscape you are walking through as you climb from the road up into the monastery.
Once we got to the top of the long road up the hill, through the cedars that are over 700 years old, we came through the gate.
I loved the English signs they put up to mark our dormitories.
Being weary, us guys crashed for 15 minutes before we met withe the monks who would give us a tour. We had not unpacked or spread out our sleeping mats. We also had to change into robes for evening zazen.
We gather in front of a large map of Eihei-ji ready for our tour.
This is the sign over the entrance to the training monk’s living area.
Ushering us to the zendo for our first sitting.
Roshi steps into the zendo in the early morning. It was the first time I had seen her in her robes.
Getting seated. Notice the kyosaku (stick) on the zafu next to Roshi Joan. They didn't use it during that season, but got it back in Kamakura.
Two more tans with some of us. I'm not in any of these.
We go to breakfast after zazen and the very long, formal morning service.
We got to keep our chopsticks with the Eihei-ji logo on them as a souvenir.
All of us eating breakfast. Notice the monk standing in front of the white shoji screen watching over us.
Kaz and Wendy supporting Roshi Joan and each other after the long service.
On our last morning we met the Roshi in charge of international relations and learned more about the training.
So that brings us back to Kanazawa and our departure to Kyoto. We will be in Kyoto until the end of the pilgrimage this coming weekend. Our bus ride today was the longest - about 3 hours - with some breaks for snacks and restrooms.
As we made our way along, Kaz gave us a brief orientation to haiku and some of its history. Then, for the first hour going up to our first break, he asked that we write haiku and be prepared to share two of them when we departed for our second hour. It was fun to write and even more enjoyable to share our little poems as we drove along. None of us are seasoned on this form, but there was a lot of joy. Here are three that I shared:
The bus is loaded
Kyoto waits
Turning the key
The last phrase is about starting the bus but more.
Walking in the rain
New friends so close
Completely soaked
It rained steadily and incessantly in Kanazawa. What does it mean to be "totally soaked" when walking with friends?
What Japan would he see
Through his eyes
Now only through mine.
This one was for Erin, of course.
As we drove along, we passed Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake (over 250 square miles) and one of the oldest on earth (around 4 million years old). This area has been important in many ways, partly because the routes from the coast to the capital run through this region and there are many shrines around the lake. I didn't get any good pictures as we were moving all the time and the morning sun was a bit bright. We did pass by one of the big red torii gates coming right out of the water. I tried, but couldn't get it as we swiftly passed by.
[PHOTO]
We ended up at Hiyoshi Taisha Shrine, an enormous complex of temples, shrines, and sacred grounds. I couldn't even count the number of shrines. The gardens were the most beautiful I have seen to this point, and that is saying something. My pictures won't really capture the scale and mature beauty of the walkways.
Beautiful details on the old shrines
There were clusters of shrines of all sizes throughout the forest of enormous cedars.
We completed the trip into Kyoto and are now at yet another nice hotel, resting, and ready for the final few days.
With love,
Flint