KYONIN (and Jundo's) TRAVEL DIARY in JAPAN

[Amelia]

I hope everyone is safe during the storm. Gassho.

Sat today, lah

[Jundo]

THIS JUST IN: ALL TRAINS STOPPED TOMORROW ALONG MOST OF KYONIN's ROUTE!

I have told Kyonin to maybe speak to Eiheiji about being given an extra day of Shelter ... I am sure they will have pity ...

(Just in case, I hinted that Kyonin should ask the Eiheiji folks while making "lost puppy dog" eyes while standing next to a statue of Kannon.)



Humor is important in these situations.

Perhaps a good time for this ...

https://youtu.be/GJtq6OmD-_Y

[Jundo]

Kyonin just wrote ....

Yes yes, I'll be nice.

Zazen begins now!

[Washin]

Thank you for all the latest updates and pictures.
Hope all going to be well with Kyonin at Eiheiji

Gassho
Washin
sat this morning

[Meitou]

Two great videos, Gimme Shelter is one of my favourite Stones tracks, this version is awesome and I was unaware of the Playing for Change initiative, so thank you Jundo.
A lot of thought and discussion around knees and sitting, but what about that hardcore floor cleaning! Everytime I see a video of monks doing that samu, my teeth clench, I'd be better suited to sweeping snow from the entire site with a three twig broom than five minutes on the floor, these monks are amazing.
In the video, just before we enter the kitchen, there is a sign, can I assume that it says 'kitchen' or similar? I'd like to make one for my appt.
I'm following updates about the Typhoon, sitting for Kyonin but sure in my heart he will be given shelter, who wouldn't help such a gentle guy. Blessings for his journey in every way possible. Namo Amida Bu!

Gassho
Meitou
Satwithyoualltoday lah

[Jundo]

In the video, just before we enter the kitchen, there is a sign, can I assume that it says 'kitchen' or similar? I'd like to make one for my appt.

"The kuin (庫院 lit. warehouse hall) is the kitchen of a Zen monastery, typically located behind the butsuden (or, Buddha Hall). Historically the kuin was a kitchen which prepared meals only for the abbot and his guests, though in modern Japan it now functions as the kitchen and administrative office for the entire monastery."

The following says "Dai Kuin" (Great Kitchen), so it is the last two Kanji ...



Gassho, J

STLah

[Jundo]

THIS JUST IN from JAPAN RAILROAD:

Notice

It is estimated that operations will be suspended on local lines and Shinkansen [Bullet Train] around the metropolitan area from October 12th Saturday to 13th Sunday due to the approaching of the typhoon No.19. The operation for 12th is scheduled as follows. Also, train operations are expected to be suspended at least until around noon for 13th. Large scale damage is likely, and there is a possibility that line sections that suffer damage will be suspended for a long time.

We will get him home somehow.

[Jundo]

In the following, Kyonin and Eiheiji are on just above the Oct "O" where it says "09 UTC, 12 Oct" on the following map, above the yellow line but within the red serious wind line ... in the fat part of Fukui Prefecture, marked here ...



Tokyo and Tsukuba, where I am, are right along the dotted white line in the center ...



Fukushima Nuclear Facility is exactly 109 miles (175km) north of Tsukuba on the coast, about 2/3rd of the way to where it says "Sendai" on the map. So, we have been through emergencies around here before.



By the way, I hope folks might make an effort to come out for this Zazenkai today/tonight, to support Kyonin who is taking shelter at Eiheiji, and everyone in the face of nature today.

October 11th-12th Treeleaf Weekly Zazenkai - For Kyonin and All in the Typhoon Path

https://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showthread.php?17275-October-11th-12th-Treeleaf-Weekly-Zazenkai-For-Kyonin-and-All-in-the-Typhoon-Path

Gassho, J

STLah

[Daitetsu]

I will be sitting for Kyonin, Jundo and all people in the danger zone.

Please keep on sending us updates on your safety!

Take good care!

Gassho,

Daitetsu

#sat2day

[Nenka]

I'm out of town but I will do a little sit tonight for Kyonin and everyone in the path of this typhoon. Hoping I can sit with the recording Sunday.

Gassho

Nenka

ST

[Heisoku]

A wonderful journal of the trip. Thanks Kyōnin and Jundo. And just getting to Eheiji is hard enough let alone sitting for the day.
As for the weather, if Kyonin gets stuck Jundo, my son is working at Suzuka for the F1, so he can drop by there and will be taken care of.
It is amazing how much you have both done! I can only share in everyone’s joy at seeing Kyōnin and yourself wander in the history of Soto zen and Japanese life. Thanks
Gassho
Heisoku
Stlah



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jundo]

Eiheiji has graciously provided a room for Kyonin ... He writes:

Hi Jundo.

They just told me I can stay for just 1 night here. They will prepare a room and will set me apart so I don't interfere with the daily activities.

...

Hi Jundo.

OK so far it's okay. They put me in a room, told me I can walk some parts of the monastery but I should be mostly in the room.

I can also go outside, but asked me to wait until the rain calms down a little.

I have to leave tomorrow at 9 am.

I have quite a bit of time to sit today.

I told Kyonin that this is his abbreviated "Tangaryo" at Eiheiji. From our friend Koun Franz ...

After standing outside the gates and finally being granted provisional entry [to the monastery], I was placed with one other monk in tangaryō, a corner room with thin walls and window frames that didn’t quite fit the windows. We were told to sit in zazen all day, and so we did.

We knew this was to last a week, but we were constantly threatened with more. Inspecting monks would burst in at odd hours to see if we were really sitting or not. We were told that if we couldn’t use our bowls skillfully by the end of the week, we would be a burden on the group, and would have to stay one more week in seclusion for good measure. We were constantly encouraged to go home, told that we really were not monk material.

The first night, I went to sleep tired but full of resolve. The second day, it snowed hard, and the snow came into the room through those ill-fitting window frames and gathered on my lap. Thus began a week of being so cold that I couldn’t stop shaking, ever. At night, in bed, I shivered so hard that my jaw ached, and I often felt I couldn’t breathe. And of course, doing zazen literally all day every day, my legs felt as if they’d been hit with hammers. I would lie in bed, moving between two thoughts: first, that I had chosen this, and second, that I did not know why. I tried every kind of pep talk, every kind of mental game imaginable to somehow escape that physical reality, or to feel better, or to feel stronger. I felt I had been reduced to nothing, in a matter of days.

But around the fifth day, I gave up. I gave up trying to make it better. And I gave up hope that it would get better with time. I had settled into a very cool place, as if sitting still in the most remote chamber of a deep, deep cave. I did not feel warm—I was still freezing. My legs still ached so badly that it was difficult to walk to the bathroom and back. I had chillblains on my ears—they looked, and felt, as if they were made of bloody crepe paper. I had let go of my fantasies about how wonderful this would all be, how spiritual. I no longer imagined that I would be transformed here into a certain kind of person, or that I would learn things that no one else knows. I could see in the monks who visited us that while some were quite kind in their strictness, all were human, and some were simply children, enjoying power over someone of lesser rank. Even in seclusion, I could see clearly that this monastery would not transform us all into walking embodiments of compassion. Until that day, I could not have known how much baggage I had carried with me into that monastery.

So I gave up. But I did not quit. I did not do what a rational person might do, which is to pack up my things, politely thank everyone for the food and shelter, and go home. I cannot say why I didn’t leave—I’m certain that at times in my life, I would have. But I stayed. It may seem too simple, but now, years later, much of my understanding of Zen practice comes down to just this: to give up, then to continue anyway.
https://nyoho.com/tag/tangaryo/

Priests waiting for admission ...



Poor fellows left to sit in Tangaryo for a week ...



Upper classmen monks spying on the Tangaryo, making sure that everyone is sitting ...



Gambatte (Hang in there in Japanese) Kyonin!

Gassho, J

STLah

[Jundo]

Current position. The town hall called for evacuations of some areas of Tsukuba that tend to flood, but fortunately we are not in a flood Zone ...



The big concern is the next town over from here in Ibaraki, about 15 minutes by car, Joso City, which sits below a river dike that has broken in recent years during big rains, inundating a wide area and sweeping away whole parts of the town ...

https://youtu.be/tIzmv0qoLLU

Gassho, J

STLah

[Jundo]

Kyonin adds ...

The monks here gave me a nice and small room. Perfect for just stay put, contemplate and zazen. ...

They even gave me a thermo full of tea. And since I am so cold now, it's fantastic.

[Kokuu]

That is awful in Ibaraki. So much damage. I hope that Tsukuba can avoid similar flooding.

Glad to head that Kyonin is safe in Eiheiji.

Gassho
Kokuu