After living in Zen temple for years, I percieve the stress when I face to electronic devices.

According to the inquiry made by Symantec, the major IT company, the stress becomes maximum when the PC shut down suddenly or lost all data without saved.

The stress value often exceed that of disappointed love, Symantec reported...

How do you know...

It happened when i visited Eiheiji and took part in a morning service again(not as a monk, but as a layman).

When a group of Unsui comes into Hatto, I noticed the smell of incense of Unsuis in Eiheiji for the first time after my leaving.

It was a relaxing day, and it felt good to go cycling by the river.

White clouds in the blue sky were well contrasted by the early summer green.
It made me realize that summer was here.

A different season, a different circumstance.

My friend told me her story thinking about life and death...

It turned out that her grandpa wasn't well yesterday.
She cancelled all her schedule and hurried out to the hospital.
About halfway to the station, she realized that she had forgotten her wallet and pasmo.
As she was walking back in a rush, she imagined herself being run over by a car and what would happen after her die.

I, as an Unsui, always think about life and death.
But honestly, it's hard to imagine myself dying and my body just disappear.

I feel it all has to do with how our mind and body is connected.

I went to Zojoji for the meeting of Tibet problem yesterday.

my greatest concern is how i can live my daily life as an Unsui.
Whatever happens, the world keeps turning.
Time doesnt stop to wait for me to keep up.
People don't stop what they are doing.

It is at a time like this, when i feel like theres no one else but myself to pick myself up and catch up.

kick into action.

We make an escape route at the Zen temple.

My friends who live in Australia come to visit Eiheiji every year.
Last year, they visited this certain temple, and happened to find young Unsuis smoking secretly in hiding place.
I couldn't say anything but "that's also human society...”
Actually, many priests smoke and I’ve never heard of smoking prohibited in Buddhism.

The most dangerous thing that happens when we prohibit smoking in Zen temple, is smoking secretly in hiding place.
Once a fire starts, the whole temple will be burned down because it is all made of wood and connected with cloister.
Smoking is strictly prohibited for the first few months in Eiheiji, but after that, the senior priests give monks escape route for smoking. They give smokers a certain time and place to smoke.
Temple life consists of not only a bright side but also dark and hidden side.
Sometimes we need an escape route.

If you have something really important, it should be a matter of life and death.
That is an adventure; an adventure that always exists in our daily life.

The one big priest who closed the escape route, Miyazaki Ekiho Zenji, passed away this January.
He tried to stop smoking many times when he was young, but only to fail.
I would like to finish this article with a quote from MIYAZAKI ZENJI.

"I don't smoke now
I stopped smoking with great effort
I couldn't stop smoking by myself, so we made a pact and were fined for smoking
the day after paying the penalty, I began smoking again and returned to my former self

and after careful consideration,
I sweared by my HONZON:
"when I smoke next time, please take my life."
I could stop smoking because I don't want to lose my life.
It was 30 years old and I felt we could do anything at the risk of life
If you also have something that you want to stop.
do it at the risk of life

have some tea please..."

I've never smoked before. never thought of smoking, and never been recommended to smoke.

According to Yomiuri Shinbun, 70% of park visitors in mid city of Tokyo go there to smoke.
My friend who lives in the States was surprised seeing a man walking and smoking at the same time as he walked into an elementary school in Japan.

i always wonder about smokers, because no smoker says, "I love smoking and I want to keep on smoking for the rest of my life".
In fact, many of my friends smoke, but they have a sorrowful look as they light their cigarette.
they all say in harmony that they want to quit smoking.

If you want to quit smoking, just quit.

But i know it's difficult.
It's similar to how a practiced Unsui returns to "娑婆shaba" and end various Zen Buddhist adherences.
i know it's very peaceful and happy from the heart to wake up early with the birds, sit "坐禅Zazen", do "作務Samu", eat vegetarian cuisine, and go into our Futon
after sunset.
Living in Tokyo, it is obviously difficult to continue this. I understand in my head that i should continue those adherences, but I can't my body to act it out. It is the separation of the body and soul.
Once it becomes a habit, it becomes so difficult to even feel it.

The problem with cigarettes is nothing more than an Unsui's problem.

There is actually a place where this smoking problem has
been brought up since old times; the Zen doujou.

to be continued

I returned to Fukui last weekend and stayed at Tenryu-ji for Zazen.
When I arrived at Tenryu-ji, it seemed empty so I hit the Moppan (a kind of doorbell made of woode), 3 times. Then, Hakuho Roshi (abbot) came out.
We had some tea together, and talked about his going to Europe for Sesshin (special practice week) next month.
Then went to bed earlier than usual, because the hour of rising at Tenryu--ji is 3:00 am, which is 30 mins earlier than that of Eiheiji.

Waking up at 3:00 am everyday seems impossible at first, but owing so much to other Unsuis, we got used to it in the temple.
Since I live in Tokyo, it's really hard to wake up early in the morning, though I know that it's good for everything.
Unsuis need Unsuis to keep on practicing.

We change ourselves, not a clock in Zen Dojo

At Eiheiji, "振鈴(SHINEREI, wake up) at 3:30am beginning today," is announced at the beginning of summer, and the time of rising is an hour earlier than the winter time which is at 4:30am. 日中(NICCHU, noon chanting) is still at 11:00 so we have more time in the morning. Bedtime also stays the same, so our sleeping time is an hour shorter, but it is not a problem once we get used to it. Rather, I am more grateful to be able to sleep till sunrise in winter time.

Completing morning zazen and chanting while the air is still cool. Having more time for 作務(SAMU, working).
Finish eating 薬石(YAKUSEKI, dinner) before 6:00pm and spending a quiet time.

Having all of the event condensed within the morning time, is a feeling in which us Unsui all have in common throughout the year, and the afternoon becomes a time for a kind of leisure time.

In Japan, there is a saying “Hayaoki wa sanmon no toku,”　which is often translated into English through Benjamin Franklin’s saying, “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Many successors, even today, state its merits. Ending various adherences at night to go to bed early, and greeting the sun early in the morning, as it rises up through the clear air.

How about adopting this daylight savings system, that us Unsui have adopted since the ancient times?

dozo yoroshu

0609 summer time 1

Discussions on whether or not to implement the daylight saving time
system (called "summer time" in Japanese), is beginning to actively
take place in Japan.

Within the diet, the nonpartisan house has proposed a bill for the
introduction of this system from the year 2010.

Including the US, this system has been proceeded in over 70 countries,
making use of the long summer daylight for energy saving by early
rising, and starting and ending work earlier. This was also
implemented in Poland and England, where I used to live, and I
remember going around the house and changing the time, without really
knowing why.

In Japan, it is expected to reduce the increasing amount of energy
consumption in the households as well as the carbon dioxide excretion
in accompany.

Nonetheless we cannot look away from its "side effects." A lot of time
a trouble will go into changing the computer system and transportation
timetables, adding more overtime work, which may raise an "over
working" issue.
In 1948, Japan implemented this system for four years under the
General Head Quarter's command, however, was called off for such
reasons.

On the other hand, there is a place where the daylight saving time has
been carried out since ancient times; the Zen doujou.

to be continued...

Softbank Corp. reached a deal with Apple Inc. to sell iPhones in Japan
later this year.
Although i haven't decided to purchase it, but I feel a Zen taste from
Apple product designs; its subtractions, not additions.
I hope it won't be expensive.

The price oil, food and metal continues to increase. Its influences
to our daily lives are actively being covered by the media.

Such a time may be a chance for us Unsui to look over our daily
lifestyle.

When you think about it, our ancestors have lived life without oil or
wheat or metal, and this lifestyle is still being kept by some temples
today. Experiencing the hotness of the weather as being hot, the
coldness as being cold is a beauty in which the Japanese have named
"Iki" （粋）. Such "iki" can also be felt by the existence of
fans (sensu), wind chimes (fuurin) and hot water bottles (yutanpo).

I am not suggesting that we live on air, but rather realizing that
this may be a chance for us to "live in happiness" through carefully
selecting our necessary consumptions.

dozo yoroshu

Hello! I am Seigaku, the navigator for KNOM.

After attending university, I practiced Zen Buddhism at Eiheiji
Temple, and I am currently living as an Unsui in Tokyo.

The direct translation for Unsui (雲水）is cloud （雲）and
water（水）, which is used for monks of the Zen sect.
Like the floating clouds and the flowing water, by taking different
shapes and forms, I hope to spread Buddhism to people around the
world, and share this wisdom full of love.

I myself am still trying to figure out the direction that KNOM will
take, but my hope is to discover a way in which the Buddhism lifestyle
can be integrated into our modern lifestyle.

dozo yoroshu

• Broken heart
• Felt lonely, left by myself
• Blue, Green, and White
• Body and Mind
• smoking 2
• What happenes in Tibet
• smoking
• waking up at 3.30
• summer time 2
• summer time 1

2008:

July(13)
June(13)