Another Journey

I finally feel at home in Kyoto. There are so many familiar sights on the roads, I know the stations, the train lines, the different areas of town. I have even picked up some of the Kyoto dialect, and feel very cultured trying it out. I know the best places to eat, the cheapest places to shop, the best way to get around...It must be time to move on then!

Today I head out for Fukui, around 2 hours North of Kyoto, a small city facing the Japan Sea. Tommorow I will check-in at Eihei-ji, a rather large zen temple (http://wikitravel.org/en/Eiheiji). It is around 750 years old, and was the temple of Dogen Zenji, one of the truly great Zen Masters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogen).
Here I will spend four days living with the monks, doing as they do.

It is a strict temple, even by Zen standards. The day begins at 3:30 (yep thats right...I expect my body to be very, very indignant when I try to wak it up at that hour), with meditation in the pre-dawn. The day is spent doing a mixture of meditation, sweeping and cleaning the ancient temple grounds (as a form of meditation), eating special `pure` meals in a ritualized fashion, listening to Zen masters lectures on Zen practice, and more meditation. Everything is done in absolute silence (except the lectures, obviously), and is very strict and ritualized. Reading the above list, something in me is certainly screaming `RUN NICK RUN RUN YOU CAN`T DO THAT YOU`LL CRUMBLE AND DIE RUN RUN RUN`. Indeed, the people that have done it say it is incredibly difficult, especially as they insist that you sit in at least half-lotus position for all meditation, meals and lectures, which becomes painful even for flexible people. However, everyone who has done it also agrees it was an unforgettable, amazing, wonderful experience, and they are glad they did it. As far as true Zen experiences go, this is as real as it gets.

Needless to say, I will not be able to blog or receive any other communications for this time. You`ll just have to find some other form of entertainment until I come out the other side.

Wish me luck!