top of page
Search

Discovering Zen

  • kirklmiler
  • Jul 14, 2019
  • 2 min read

Each morning I consistently wake up around 3am, my body clock still on Austin time. I use the time to correspond back home, do some writing, meditate, using those dark, quiet hours productively. By 6 or 6:30 I am ready to venture out into the quiet streets of the neighborhood for silent walks before the rest of the world arrives. I explore. I learn the intricate, narrow streets of my neighborhood. I have discovered temples and gardens around every corner and tucked into every side street. I knew Kyoto was known for its temples and gardens, but I had no idea they would be within a walk from my front door.



Just yesterday, I happened upon the most beautiful temple and Zen Garden I have found on my walks yet, Myokoju Temple. Just being there in the pre-dawn hour in solitude and silence was an experience of Zen. After quietly wandering the garden for some time, the resident monk came out and greeted me. He didn’t speak much English, but didn’t have to. His smile said it all. Maybe mine did too.




Once I have had my morning walk and taken some early morning photos I make my way to the bakery just as they open. By this time the croissants are just coming out of the oven and I am ready to head home to enjoy the reward. Now I am ready for a nap and return to my simple but comfortable bed.


When I awake again I am ready to further explore Kyoto.


It seems to be a good schedule. I have decided I am keeping it. It’s a schedule for an artist, a writer, a thinker. Most days I lose sense of the time or even what day it is. My phone only works over wi-fi so I have not received a call in two weeks.


I am not on the clock.


I am just beginning to find my own way.


"If we were not so single-minded

about keeping our lives moving,

and for once could do nothing,

perhaps a huge silence

might interrupt this sadness

of never understanding ourselves..."


-Pablo Neruda, poet and Nobel Prize Recipient




 
 
 

Comments


bottom of page