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Today, we all went on a trip organised by the Kumamoto International
Foundation to Kawashiri, a town near to Kumamoto city. First, we went to
Daiji Zen-ji, a Japanese Zen Buddhist temple (Otera), which was
fascinating. Before entering the temple, we had to cleanse our hands from
a basin outside the main building. Before entering the main building, we
were greeted by a kindly little old Buddhist monk in a black and grey
kimono, who explained some of the temple’s history and about the building
itself. The building is built in the shape of the human body, with the
main building representing the head, another building representing the
heart, and so on.
Outside the Daizenji temple
The monk led us into the entrance, which housed a large statue of the
Buddha flanked by two other deities, all beneath a ceiling painted with a
beautiful gold dragon design. The monk explained that while the Buddha
statue’s body has been re-built three or four times, it still retains its
original head from when it was first built.
Buddha statue in the Daizenji temple
After we removed our shoes, the monk led us through the Otera to another
inner shrine. We passed through a very modern part of the temple, with
laminated wooden floorboards and glass sliding doors leading out to a
beautiful Zen garden, complete with a pond filled with koi carp. We also
passed a more domestic area of the temple, presumably where the food is
cooked for the monks’ three daily meals (all vegetarian), and spotted part
of the garden that was filled with garden gnomes – clearly, this part
wasn’t sacred ground! We entered another beautiful shrine, decorated with
lacquer and gold, where the monk explained people come to say prayers in
thanks of family, friends, nature and the workers who provide food for
daily living.
From here, the monk led us to the meditation room, where we would briefly
practise Zazen – Buddhist mediation. The procedure for this was
very complex. First, you must cover your left thumb under your fingers,
and then cover your right hand with your left. Then, you enter the room
ensuring that the first leg that crosses the doorway is the leg nearest
the left side of the doorway (this is reversed when leaving the temple).
Inside the room, there are a large number of raised benches, each with a
high back, a wooden ledge, a tatami-covered seat and a cushion. The
benches surrounded a statue of the god of wisdom and insight. As we were
not high-status Buddhist monks, we had to take a seat on the benches
behind this statue, and make sure that we passed behind the statue, not in
front.
Before we sat up on the bench, we first had to turn and bow towards and
away from the seat, and then slide back on the cushion and get into the
“lotus” position (that weird way of crossing your legs which I really
cannot do to save my life). While we raised ourselves on the seat, we had
to ensure our feet did not touch the wooden ledge, as this is where the
monks eat their food. After getting into position, and placing the left
palm on the right palm in the “zazen” position (representing the heart),
we turned around to face the back of the seat. The monk rang a bell twice,
which signalled the start of the meditation.
During the meditation, the monk would walk around the room, and gently
prod us in the back if we slouched at all (you have to keep your back
straight while meditating). Even though our session was only 10 minutes, I
did feel uncomfortable keeping a straight back for that length of time.
Proper Zen monks do this for 40 minutes every day. While you are supposed
to empty your mind of thoughts during the session, I didn’t succeed – I
was concentrating too much on keeping my back straight!
Outside the meditation room, a large wooden sculpture hang from the
ceiling. The sculpture was of a carp, but with the head of a dragon. The
monk explained that when you first train to be a Zen monk, you are like
the carp; but as you get better, you become more like the sacred dragon.
After our Zen experience, we went somewhere quite different – the Zuiyou
sake factory. After seeing the process for making sake, we got to sample
some different brands for ourselves. We even got to try some akazake,
Kumamoto’s speciality. This red-coloured sake is normally used for
cooking, but it’s perfectly fine to drink; the Japanese traditionally
drink it at New Year. With its sweet taste, I actually prefer it to
regular sake.
After this, we went to a fairly disappointing craft centre, which was
mainly an outlet for traditional Japanese, which were all very nice but a
little pricey for us students. It was free though, like everything else
that day, so I shouldn’t complain!
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