I was intending to write about my recent trip following a timeline, but I'm still recovering from my shingles, so I'll write about the easiest one tonight.

On the second day, eight of us out of 18 went to the Anraku temple early in the morning to practice zazen meditation. It just cost 500 yen a pop. The temple has a long history and is located in the Bessho-Onsen district of Ueda, just a five-minute walk from our guesthouse.

I was the one who suggested trying zazen, but I was having trouble focusing because I had eaten too much the night before and slept in later than usual. My body was a jumble of random thoughts. It surprised me that this deputy chief priest had a really excellent voice and appearance. However, to be honest, I don't think he possessed the necessary charisma.

He gave us calendars when we left there. I'm curious if this style of calendar, with a brief devotional printed on each page, is unique to Japan. I regret throwing it out right away. I should've taken pictures of it so I could explain it in this post. They simply say truisms. I agree with some of them, but so what? Furthermore, I can't agree with the rest of them.

However, the temple garden was lovely, and we all had a good time talking about Zen philosophy when we got back to our guesthouse. Although my knowledge of it is limited, I'm sure that it's not the same as those calendar things. I'll learn Zen my own way.