Zazen

This morning I and three others woke very early, at about 5.45, in order to do some homework. This wasn't your run-of-the-mill homework, though. We got up early so that we could meditate for our Buddhism class. It was definitely an awakening experience [pun not intended] and something to which I wish I had more time and energy to devote. Zazen is sitting meditation. It consisted mostly of sitting cross-legged on the edge of a round cushion facing a blank wall [except in my case, there was an electrical outlet there to distract me]. Did I mention that we sat there for forty minutes? I actually think it was somewhere around thirty ... we started a bit late. I certainly didn't think we sat there for even that long.

Anyway, after that there was a lot of bell-ringing, chanting, and bowing. The bowing was a little awkward, because we were doing it the wrong way and the woman* who was leading us through this thought we weren't going to bow ... but she showed us the proper way - down on your knees, hands on the floor [palms up], and touch your forehead to the floor. We did this three times, then finished the other bits of the ceremony.

It was very cool to be a part of. Afterward, we went to KwikStar for a BS's-daddy-sponsored breakfast, then went back to our rooms to go our separate ways for the day. I ended up reading a little of a book for about half an hour. I slept after that, waking up occasionally and smelling remnants of the incense the woman had been burning. My skin seems to absorbed it a little bit, and it's kind of nice to have that kind of reminder of this morning.


* Note: the woman, I later found out, is French, not Asian.