My interest in Zen Buddhism is certainly more than trivial and has lasted the better part of the past six years. So, one of the very few things that I absolutely wanted to accomplish while in Tokyo was to sit in zazen at a Buddhist temple, many of which are open to the public at least once a week. Monday night I decided to try to hear the sound of one hand clapping.
Janet and I completed the day's work a little early and headed to Chokukku-ji at about 6:15. As I befriended an english-speaking Japanese woman, Janet left to finish her errands for the evening. The woman, who's husband is American and went to Duke amazingly enough, guided me to a reception counter where I thanked her, paid a 100 yen alms and was prepared for some instruction.
After shedding some of my worldly attachments (watch, belt, wallet, socks) I was guided into a kind of waiting room with the other first timers, all Japanese. Yet again, an english-speaking woman initiated a conversation. She would prove to be quite the bodhisatva as the evening progressed, helping me out when the Japanese instruction seemed lost on me.
At 7:00, another monk retrieved us and took us to a first-time instruction in zazen, seated meditation. The instruction room was tatami style with a row of black zafu (cushions used for zazen) on the floor. The instruction lasted about 10 minutes and was once again beyond my comprehension of Japanese, but I felt I was quite succesful in grasping everything, including when to bow (gassho), how to sit (lotus style, hanka-fuza), and the proper breathing technique (kanki-issoku). After that, the monk left us on our own for about 40 minutes.
Chokoku-ji is over 400 years old and seems not to notice that a teeming city of 10 million people has grown up around it. There is a stone and wood wall guarding the monks from the material world and an enormous gate that the world crosses under to enter. The floors are stone, wood and straw mats and a slight hint of incense pervades the air. The monks shuffle along very quickly, bowing to visitors and each other, bowing upon entering and leaving, bowing at certain shrines. The monks have an incredibly peaceful countenance and are quite patient, even with the gaijin invading their solemnity.
After our time of quiet contemplation, we joined the other guests of the monastery, in a meditation hall. The room was split into long quarters, each with raised platforms, with rows of zafu. We were each positioned behind a zafu, given a booklet, and told that mid-way through the meditation, we would be chanting from the scripture. We then commenced with a few gassho, were seated on our zafu, and then turned to face the wall for zazen.
The actual process of zazen is really quite interesting; the point is to abandon the concern and attachment of daily life. Ideally, you are able to enter a state of awareness that transcends your thoughts. As your thoughts creep in, like pieces of paper blowing about in the wind, your task is not to concsiously ignore them (because that would require thought), but to simply not engage them, let them pass on until even the breeze that blows them is meaningless. Obviously, it's something that takes a little bit of practice.
Periodically, a smacking noise would interrupt the silence. I had read about this but obviously never encountered it--apparently, practicioners will request (via a slight nod) a smack from one of the monks, to help them focus. I found just the sound actually helped me to focus as well.
After the burning in my knees and lower legs subsided, as it invariably always does during a longer meditation, a kind of calmness swept through my body. Even though the full lotus is not at all comfortable, I actually felt much of the stress that I usually carry around with me simply melt away. Not long after that, a bell indicated that the chants were to begin.
Fortunately, my liturgy was in english, but wasn't a literal translation of the chants. Rather, it contained a full set of the equivalent Romanized pronunciations of what everyone else was chanting. The chant, a very deep set of seemingly random bellows, actually lasted quite some time, what seemed like 20 minutes, and then we finished our meditation, accompanied by a gong and a bell. We all slowly stood, allowed the feeling to return to the lower extremities, bowed a few more times, and left the hall quitely.
Amazingly enough, the world that I had left at the temple gate still existed when I returned to it. And for a few fleeting moments, on my bike back to Omatesando, the experience of reality seemed just a bit more fresh and new without the strain of thought weighing heavily.
That sounds amazing -- I find it hard to believe that absolute peace can exist within a city the size of Tokyo or NYC, but you have certainly given me hope!! Now I feel the need to tend my little Zen garden here at my desk. Not quite the same somehow....
Posted by: Jess on February 27, 2002 02:53 AMI just want to know if they offer something like that here in NY. I would love to have the aching in my legs (and back) melt away for a while.
The only thing is... I would have to go it alone, because I know that if I were there with you or Joe, that I would immediately begin acting out scenes from old kung fu movies, complete with the broken sound and loud clapping noises when I landed a punch. I know this about myself. Those that remember the Star Wars episode... in Granada, was it, would know that I am capable. I would attempt to put the actual place we went, but I fear that my sever butchering of the spelling would lead to my much-deserved ridicule. (Anyone that wishes to know about the Star Wars thing will have to ask one of us individually). Joe, you were there.
Posted by: Darin on February 27, 2002 03:57 AMWhat an experience! Definitely something for young knees or to be worked up to. I am having a hard time getting past the burning to transcend into the place where thoughts just glide through. It sounds glorious. I do hope you will share the how to's with me when you get home!!!
Posted by: Mom on February 27, 2002 10:41 AMI'll be in line beside your mom when you get home!
Posted by: Lani on February 28, 2002 05:14 AM