[Date & Time] Monday,
November 18, at 12:30~16:30
[Spot] Kenchoji Temple
[Visitors] 5 visitors (2 from
the U.S., 1 each from Russia, China, and Vietnam)
[Attendants] 2 KSGG members
[Language] English
This tour was conducted on a
sunny and comfortable day. On the way to
Kenchoji Temple, we saw beautiful maple leaves at Engakuji Temple. About 20
people participated in the zazen
practice held at Kenchoji Temple. The practice included the explanation and
demonstration of the way to practice zazen
including how to take a correct
posture, which were followed by three sessions of 15-minute zazen practice. The visitors seemed to concentrate during
mediation to some extent. Afterward, we
moved to another room to be served with a bowl of maccha, traditional Japanese green tea, and sweets, while having a
question and answer session. They asked various questions such as the specified
tests to become Buddhist priests, their everyday life, and many more. These questions and answers were also very interesting
also for me as a Japanese.