We left Kumamoto early Monday morning at 7:15. It was an especially early morning for me as I woke at 4 am to get in my hour of meditation. We spent 10 hours riding the trains that day, but it was very relaxing as the Shinkansens were quite comfortable since there were relatively few people traveling. We got to Tsubaki Jinja at 4 pm, checked into our rooms at the Kaikan then prepared for Misogi under the cold waterfall. As we were walking up the ancient sandy-pebbled pathway through the majestic, manicured, old-growth cedar trees leading to the main Shrine in the waning light of dusk, the lamps lining the path suddenly lit up! which added to the magic quality of the atmosphere. It was the first time for Misogi for many of the participants. Everyone enjoyed it and most of us went for a second misogi the next evening. The second day at the Tsubaki jinja was spent relaxing and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. We attended the morning Chohai (prayers) at the main shrine, and afterwards we were allowed in the Honden, the most sacred area of the Shrine, to offer honkyoku to the O-kami sama. We played Tamuke. Those who didn`t know it just played RO. It sounded beautiful. Guji, the head priest said he was moved by our offering. Afterwards, Ochiai-san and Shiba-san, two young kannushi (priests) of the shrine gave us a wonderful tour of the shrine complex explaining all the structures` history and meanings. One structure that was extremely impressive was a beautiful buddhist shrine which was built in the early 70`s as a gesture to create harmony between Buddhism and Shinto. Also, a superb tea house. Both of these structures were donated by the owner of the Panasonic Corporation who was a religious man. We were fortunate enough to catch the tea master on her teaching day. She and the miko (female shinto priestesses in training) served us tea in the traditional style. She said she was of the Urasenke school of tea, which is the school I am most familiar with. It was a very lovely experience to have tea served by them.
In the afternoon I gave shakuhachi lessons in the shrine of Ame no Uzume no Mikoto, the goddess of harmony and music, which moved me very deeply for some reason. Ochiai-san said it was fine to give lessons there, so I did so. This was the first time within this shrine and I found it to be especially beautiful. Like being embraced by a loving mother. It is THE most beautiful place I have ever taught in and look forward to returning there every year to teach.
The second misogi was much colder than the first one. On top of that there was a wind which chilled us even more. But it was well worth it to experience the sensation of the hot o-furo (bath) after the icy waterfall! Our last dinner was a meal fit for king with several dishes served one after the other. I thought I would lose weight on this trip, but it looks like I`ll be coming home with a few pounds!
Tomorrow we will spend time with Miura Taro, shakuhachi maker and kyuudo (Japanese archery) master. We will also have a small concert with some of the students of the well known composer Nomura Seifu who is from Yokkaichi in Mie-prefecture. Then we will head to Kyoto in the evening where we will be meeting up with Peter Smith who will be arriving from Vancouver.
To be continued....
Alcvin
www.bamboo-in.com
ramos@dccnet.com
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