Zazen(座禅) meditation in Kenninji, Kyoto
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What is Zazen?
Zazen is one of the training methods of Buddhism to unify our mind and to face our posture with the correct posture.
It is not something we all do in Japan, as most of us have no religion.
Some temples hold Zazen meditation with Yoga to get attention from the tourists. It is a kind of entertainment for me. I wanted to experience something new and healing after feeling bored and tired with the current covid-19 situation.
How to take a seat for Zazen
We sit cross-legged position with the right feet on your left tight and vice versa on Zabuton cushion, just like the lotus pose (Padoma-asana) in Yoga.
The hands are joined together over the legs in the center of your body.
Straighten your back to allow yourself to breeze properly, as adjusting breathing helps to calm your mind.
We use Zabutons in Japan when we take a seat on the tatami, as it is too hard sitting there for a while. In modern houses, rooms with tatami are much less than the traditional ones.
Three-quarters rooms in my parent’s house are not tatami. Because of that, it was something special to sit on tatami with Zabuton for me.
What happened during Zazen meditation
During Zazen meditation, what we should do is basically keep being seated quietly. The duration was 20 minutes Zazen meditation after that 5 or 10 minutes break, and then another 20 minutes Zazen session.
A monk is walking around slowly holding a wooden flat long stick called “Kyosaku.” This stick is to hit/pat people who would like to be hit by the monk. This hitting got the meaning of encouraging, not as a punishment.
If you would like to have a hit, you need to put your palm together around your shoulder height when the monk is approaching. This is the sign you want to have a hit to the monk.
After that, bow as a greeting and bend over yourself to make it easy to be hit. Twice on each side of the shoulders/ back.
I was not brave enough to experience the encouraging hitting by the monk. It made big sounds and scared me, but it wouldn’t hurt if the monk hit the right way.
How I felt during and after Zazen
I felt I could clear my mind more or less. I mean, my mind got slightly quiet and calm. I could feel where the monk was walking and felt a bit nervous and at the same time sacred.
However, after the Zazen, there was a speech session by another experienced monk. That makes me feel my hunger for doughnuts and think lots of my bucket list in my life. I returned to my normal status full of appetite and desire immediately.
Zazen meditation did help me clear my mind for the moment and taught me it is always myself who should control my mind.
