Travel to Taiyoji ( Zen Buddhist Temple)
When we first arrived in Chichibu I was absolutely amazed at the beautiful mountains and trees! It reminded me of a beautiful painting! It was definitely a different experience than the busy city of Tokyo. The sun was shining and the weather was perfect. I was excited to spend the night in the temple!
The temperature went down very quickly. I was very cold throughout the night. The monk was very nice and he made us dinner and breakfast. The following morning some of us went on a walk with all of the monk’s dogs. This walk was also a perfect opportunity for some awesome pictures!
Before breakfast we did some meditation practice surrounded by nature. This was definitely an experience I’ll never forget!
-Maegan
May 17th we stayed at the Taiyoji temple where a lone monk resides with his 6 dogs. When we first arrived we settled in and the monk had done a traditional prayer where we had all participated. Afterwards we traced a sutra for our wishes. The outside bathing was a very enlightening experience that overlooked the mountain with a hot tub. The food that was served was a vegetarian based, which was very nutritious and tasty, we all tried our best to finish the food that was prepared! After dinner we had all started to prepare the beds and went to bed. In the morning we all participated in a Zen meditation with the monk!
-Chazz
Everything at the temple was so peaceful. What a beautiful experience of simplicity in nature. I felt sorry to leave but we were given good advice about clearing our minds of chatter and finding peace within.
Thank you, Taylor, Sarah and Chazz for the ost about our overnight experience at Taiyouji! This is my 2nd time visiting here, but at each time I am in awe being surrounded with the stunning beauty of the nature every moment of the day. Some of us ventured out to walk to a fall and there’s simply opened the sliding window/door to gaze the night time stars and the sky.
We were able to appreciate wabi sabi at Taiyouji which was founded in 1313. When women were not allowed to visit temples in Japan, Taiyouji welcomed women.
Jyuushoku, the head monk, welcomed us and taught us a lot through his humble gestures, words, and actions.
Thank you, Jyuushoku!