Sleep, that is...cumulative. I feel blessed that I'm assembling coherant sentences. 2 days ago I traveled about 8 hours on local trains to Hiroshima, then took a 5 hour night bus back to wander the temples and streets of Kyoto, canceled my last wwoof host and had a lot of trouble booking a hostel, decided not to worry about it and went to Mt. Kurama (where reiki was developed), met a very kind Japanese woman at the onsen (mmmmmm, Japanese hot springs....) who drove me to her house in Yokohama...they predicted it would be a 6 hour drive, but we stopped off at Mt. Fuji to watch the sunrise (phenomenal, btw. Until dawn, she was shrouded by clouds, then as the morning sun warmed the atmosphere, the clouds parted and Fuji's immense shadowy profile emerged overhead. Gradually, the light poured through enough to illuminate the volcano's flanks and show the reddish green hues of her summer/autumn flanks. We snapped a few pictures, exclaimed 'sugoi' again and again under our breath, commented on the cold, and as soon as it came through, the clouds closed again and the miracle was hidden again), we arrived at her house at about 7am, 12 hours later...wow. Her mom is a reflexology healer! She fed us a yummie vegetarian breakfast of raddish and greens soup, tomato and salad, soft-boiled eggs, bread, and amazing Japanese peaches for dessert. I told them I was hoping to go to a kimono shop for a souvenier and she said her friend just closed a kimono shop and she gave me about $300-500 worth of silk! whoa, mama!! It's been an amazing few days. Today, I went to see the biggest Buddha in Japan and came up to Nikko, though it was dark here when I arrived. I'm off the beaten path up in some woods near a stream, for sure. And a 5 minute walk brought me to a delicious little onsen in the forest with $4 admission for as long as you want (one visit) to soak in a hot indoor pool or a hot outdoor pool nestled in a tiny Japanese garden alternating with cold showers. Yummie!! I soaked about 2 hours and walked home in a refreshing light drizzle with a goofy grin on my face. Tomorrow morning, it looks like I'll be the only one in the daily morning yoga class led by the Buddhist Monk Vegan Chef. I missed the $18 zen vegan dinner tonight, which was one of the main reasons I came, but oh well. I wasn't ready to leave Kamakura this morning in time to get here for it anyway. Tomorrow, I head for the World Heritage Park to see scale models of the world's great wonders. I also hope to get in a waterfall hike and maybe swim? Then back to Saitama to my first wwoof farm to sort through my stuff and say good bye to my friends there.
I should be home 8/30. See y'all soon!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Marinichi Blueberry Farm
Before:
After:
Clearing the sweet corn field. Enjoying the blue skies after a nice cloudy morning of weeding and an afternoon typhoon rain. Lightening, thunder, sheets of water pouring from the sky, calm at the eye of the storm (to emerge from the neighbor's green house where we took shelter and make the 2 minute walk home in relative dryness...), and another torrential wave crackling and booming overhead. Powerful, this mother nature.
After:
Clearing the sweet corn field. Enjoying the blue skies after a nice cloudy morning of weeding and an afternoon typhoon rain. Lightening, thunder, sheets of water pouring from the sky, calm at the eye of the storm (to emerge from the neighbor's green house where we took shelter and make the 2 minute walk home in relative dryness...), and another torrential wave crackling and booming overhead. Powerful, this mother nature.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
reiki
getting attuned to do reiki and learning reflexology foot massage were two of the coolest things I did in Thailand. Sooo helpful everywhere I go. I am currently visiting a friend of a friend in Japan and her husband's family had some injuries I was able to help with. He says now I have a second family. I told him it would be more like number 19 at this point, but thank you so much. I am honored to be counted in his family. What beautiful people. They run a little local grocery store/catering business with big smiles on their faces. I want to go home, study Japanese, and come back. There are so many cool stories here. Like the old nun at the temple. I want to learn Japanese just to talk with her....
ah well. Tomorrow, I'm off for a 5 hour train/train/train/subway/subway/bus/bus journey to the boonies of Aichi-ken to work on a blueberry farm for 3 or 4 days. Yippee!
ah well. Tomorrow, I'm off for a 5 hour train/train/train/subway/subway/bus/bus journey to the boonies of Aichi-ken to work on a blueberry farm for 3 or 4 days. Yippee!
Zen temple recomendations
www.smzc.net Sonoma Mountain Zen Center Gengo-ji: Piotr's teacher's temple in CA
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Bukkokuji Photos
The graveyard
My and the pink lotus in front of the hondo where we do morning and evening chanting, report to the teacher, and hold most ceremonies
Some neighbor's houses and their rice fields
Me and Middle Field, the main garden for Bukkokuji (we have 4 small fields, this is the biggest and the only one protected by an electric fence. The others are subject to random attack by wild pigs and monkeys as evidenced by the ripped up sweet potato stems and the half-eaten cucumbers...). I work here almost every day. Sortof assistant care taker. It's fun.
Another graveyard shot. During the hot season (ie the whole time I've been here), we go around every day and pour the water out of the flower arrangements at every grave, pour in fresh, and put the flowers back. It feels really good to help take care of these ancestors. Graveyards used to really freak me out, but I feel peace here now.
My and the pink lotus in front of the hondo where we do morning and evening chanting, report to the teacher, and hold most ceremonies
Some neighbor's houses and their rice fields
Me and Middle Field, the main garden for Bukkokuji (we have 4 small fields, this is the biggest and the only one protected by an electric fence. The others are subject to random attack by wild pigs and monkeys as evidenced by the ripped up sweet potato stems and the half-eaten cucumbers...). I work here almost every day. Sortof assistant care taker. It's fun.
Another graveyard shot. During the hot season (ie the whole time I've been here), we go around every day and pour the water out of the flower arrangements at every grave, pour in fresh, and put the flowers back. It feels really good to help take care of these ancestors. Graveyards used to really freak me out, but I feel peace here now.
Clearing the river of consciousness
An image came to me when I was first meditating in Thailand about 2 years ago (has it really been 2 years???): a really polluted river full of muddy water, garbage, junk food wrappers, and televisions playing TV shows and movies I'd wasted my time watching over the years. My distinct feeling was this river was my connection/contribution/reception of the flow of universal consciousness in the world. Kindof dissappointing, really. The good news is, it's mostly cleared up! My mind still wanders all over the place while I'm meditating in the Zendo, but when I see that river of consciousness flowing through, the water is clear and there's no more garbage in it. Yeah!
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