I first travelled to Japan on April 6th 1991. Arrived in Narita airport on April 7th. Stayed overnight at the airport and arrived at Ryūtaku-ji the next day. I stayed there until January 27th ’92 when I flew back to Israel.
- I travelled the second time arriving in Ryūtaku-ji on April 17th (just at the beginning of the first sesshin) and stayed there until May 15th I think, after which I went to Shinshō-ji Kokusai Zendō near Fukuyama, - I visited Sōgen-ji for a sesshin during that time and Zuiō-ji (Niihama) for just four days (as far as I remember) before that. - I returned to Israel sometime in August I believe.
My Zazen in Ryūtaku-ji was at first very bad. - Or so it seemed. - One member of the Sangha in Israel who was also as it seemed friendly with the Rōshi (Kyūdō Rōshi, the rōshi of Ryūtaku-ji at the time, has been to Israel from 1970 to 1984 (which is before I started practice) establishing the Dead Sea Sangha there) told me the rōshi said one can never tell if his Zazen is good or bad, - but I am not sure he was accurate, and now as it seems to me he might have been talking about single Zazen sittings. If you feel very good or most bad in a sitting it does not mean, as it seems, - the sitting was equally fruitful or beneficial. But observing your sitting over a period of time it seems quite obvious one can get - normally - quite a reasonable idea of what his sitting is like. It doesn’t mean you can’t be wrong but this is not what it’s about. - My Zazen got better at the second season (October to January) as it seems. - I don’t remember exactly but more or less it seems so. In between seasons (during the summer) the zendō was mostly closed as far as I remember and sitting by myself (at the hondō or somewhere) was quite easier, - my legs were very painful at first and sitting by myself at my own time was different from being obliged to the zendo sitting periods determined by the jikijitsu. (Zendo head monk) So it may be that during that time too already my sitting was getting improved.
- My posture got very good, I think. At the end of the second season, or perhaps sometime earlier, I can’t remember that good. - The January sesshin and the season end on January 25th. I left two days after that, as I said, which surely was a mistake, - but regardless of the issue here. - In Israel my Zazen couldn’t stay the same. It didn’t really or just get bad, - but the posture could not have been continued as it was. It may have been roughly the same, but some quality was lost. It’s the posture, - it could not be the same as it was in Japan. It may have been about 3 days, - but after that something is different. It is clearly something about Japan. I don’t necessarily know what, I won’t speculate here, - but the phenomenon does exist. This is my point here.
The same happened the second time I returned to Israel. On returning to the Ryūtaku-ji in ’92 my Zazen, the posture, - got better again, it didn’t change when I left Ryūtaku-ji (see above) but on flying back home to Israel the phenomenon repeated itself. - It is nothing crucial, it is nothing extreme, I paid no great attention to it at first, - I think, - but the fact seems to be that a certain quality of the meditation - of the posture, - and I had quite a beautiful posture, - could not remain just the same as it was in Japan here too. - I recall after returning the second time, - around October ’92 to January or February ’93, - people seeing me didn’t believe I was an Israeli, - I didn’t encounter it myself but people working with me told me they were asked where am I from and when replying I was from Israel they were not believed. (We were working in the streets cutting trees there) I think it has to do with it. - Israelis are different from Europeans. One can tell by the eye. Certainly from Japanese. - In the same way Arabs are different too. As a general rule of course. If you live in England you might gain a sort of nobility they have. But as for the matter here, I made clear, - it is not a matter of education. It is not a matter of a culture. It is something else. Most would not believe its existence, - as it seems. It seems to negate what most would believe to be the rules of nature. Beside, - it is quite a delicate phenomenon, even on being able to witness it many would miss the observation. - But personally I could say (of my own experience) it is beyond doubt. - Does it mean one is better to go to Japan if one wishes to (seriously) practice “Zen”? I don’t know. I generally don’t think it is better to start practice in Japan, - it is quite obviously better to sit a while before going there. - Else? I suppose - as the Japanese say - “case by case”. - And if one meets a true master he will be able to advise better. So far for this one.
- I travelled the second time arriving in Ryūtaku-ji on April 17th (just at the beginning of the first sesshin) and stayed there until May 15th I think, after which I went to Shinshō-ji Kokusai Zendō near Fukuyama, - I visited Sōgen-ji for a sesshin during that time and Zuiō-ji (Niihama) for just four days (as far as I remember) before that. - I returned to Israel sometime in August I believe.
My Zazen in Ryūtaku-ji was at first very bad. - Or so it seemed. - One member of the Sangha in Israel who was also as it seemed friendly with the Rōshi (Kyūdō Rōshi, the rōshi of Ryūtaku-ji at the time, has been to Israel from 1970 to 1984 (which is before I started practice) establishing the Dead Sea Sangha there) told me the rōshi said one can never tell if his Zazen is good or bad, - but I am not sure he was accurate, and now as it seems to me he might have been talking about single Zazen sittings. If you feel very good or most bad in a sitting it does not mean, as it seems, - the sitting was equally fruitful or beneficial. But observing your sitting over a period of time it seems quite obvious one can get - normally - quite a reasonable idea of what his sitting is like. It doesn’t mean you can’t be wrong but this is not what it’s about. - My Zazen got better at the second season (October to January) as it seems. - I don’t remember exactly but more or less it seems so. In between seasons (during the summer) the zendō was mostly closed as far as I remember and sitting by myself (at the hondō or somewhere) was quite easier, - my legs were very painful at first and sitting by myself at my own time was different from being obliged to the zendo sitting periods determined by the jikijitsu. (Zendo head monk) So it may be that during that time too already my sitting was getting improved.
- My posture got very good, I think. At the end of the second season, or perhaps sometime earlier, I can’t remember that good. - The January sesshin and the season end on January 25th. I left two days after that, as I said, which surely was a mistake, - but regardless of the issue here. - In Israel my Zazen couldn’t stay the same. It didn’t really or just get bad, - but the posture could not have been continued as it was. It may have been roughly the same, but some quality was lost. It’s the posture, - it could not be the same as it was in Japan. It may have been about 3 days, - but after that something is different. It is clearly something about Japan. I don’t necessarily know what, I won’t speculate here, - but the phenomenon does exist. This is my point here.
The same happened the second time I returned to Israel. On returning to the Ryūtaku-ji in ’92 my Zazen, the posture, - got better again, it didn’t change when I left Ryūtaku-ji (see above) but on flying back home to Israel the phenomenon repeated itself. - It is nothing crucial, it is nothing extreme, I paid no great attention to it at first, - I think, - but the fact seems to be that a certain quality of the meditation - of the posture, - and I had quite a beautiful posture, - could not remain just the same as it was in Japan here too. - I recall after returning the second time, - around October ’92 to January or February ’93, - people seeing me didn’t believe I was an Israeli, - I didn’t encounter it myself but people working with me told me they were asked where am I from and when replying I was from Israel they were not believed. (We were working in the streets cutting trees there) I think it has to do with it. - Israelis are different from Europeans. One can tell by the eye. Certainly from Japanese. - In the same way Arabs are different too. As a general rule of course. If you live in England you might gain a sort of nobility they have. But as for the matter here, I made clear, - it is not a matter of education. It is not a matter of a culture. It is something else. Most would not believe its existence, - as it seems. It seems to negate what most would believe to be the rules of nature. Beside, - it is quite a delicate phenomenon, even on being able to witness it many would miss the observation. - But personally I could say (of my own experience) it is beyond doubt. - Does it mean one is better to go to Japan if one wishes to (seriously) practice “Zen”? I don’t know. I generally don’t think it is better to start practice in Japan, - it is quite obviously better to sit a while before going there. - Else? I suppose - as the Japanese say - “case by case”. - And if one meets a true master he will be able to advise better. So far for this one.
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