Meeting Rundown
This quarter in my buddhism study I have gone to the Shao Shan temple with Amy and Owen to meet with taihaku or Kenzan. During our meetings we start off with a greeting bow where Owen, Amy and I bow towards Taihaku and say “Yoroshiku”, the Tauhaku bows and says “Dozo Yoroshiku”. After this we do group meditation, usually we sit on our mats facing away from each other but for our last meeting we put our meditation mats in the middle of the room to face each other, this lasts for 10 to 20 minutes. We then go into the kitchen area for a discussion about 1 or 2 of the 10 Buddhist precepts and plans for the future. Once discussion is over we go into the meditation hall to practice setting up the alter, in our last meeting I did it all by myself, I lit the candles, placed the incense and replaced the water. Depending on how long the meditation in the beginning of the meeting was we meditate again or practice bowing and chanting.
When entering and leaving the temple I always hug the same tree, it has become a tradition, I will miss that tree. |
Besides meeting with Taihaku I made an effort to meditate every day for 10 minutes but at the end I was getting too stressed out to focus on anything. At those moments in time I was thinking about two days before yesterday, two days after tomorrow and a little of the present. Once the stress got really bad I started bowing in my room. I would be crying in my bed for some school related reason then get up and go to the carpet where I paint and do two or three bows in the direction of the small buddha Taihaku gave me at our last meeting.
This study throughout this year has helped me become more genuine in my actions and has helped me start to manage my stress. When I am interacting with people in the back of my head I hold the 10 precepts and try to follow their suggestions. I do have to admit that if I am stressed out I have a hard time being genuine because I lash out because of my own frustrations and problems
This study throughout this year has helped me become more genuine in my actions and has helped me start to manage my stress. When I am interacting with people in the back of my head I hold the 10 precepts and try to follow their suggestions. I do have to admit that if I am stressed out I have a hard time being genuine because I lash out because of my own frustrations and problems