Our journey back from Taiyoji Temple consisted of trains, subways and busses. After arriving in Kyoto, we settled into our hotel and went out into the town to see the Nishiki Market. Some of us ventured to the Geisha district as well.
Sunday morning started off with a wonderful class of Qigong. This practice was meditative and allowed us to move our bodies in a relaxing way. The teacher guided us through holding the weight of our bodies through our feet instead of our upper bodies. The theme of the class was learning how to accept and give energy through our body movements. We had so much fun experimenting with this practice and found it to be relaxing!
-Taylor
The highlight of our day was the tea ceremony at Hayami Ryu Tea School. The tea master had such reverence for his craft and explained the history of the Hayami Ryu tea ritual and how it was favored by the emperor over the other 2 tea ceremonies of the time. We were given a mochi with bean paste as a treat and then participated in the ritual of serving and consuming the tea. The ceremony is intricate and cultivates mindfulness. The tea was delicious!
We also had the opportunity to sample thick tea which I am grateful for. I’ve participated in several tea ceremonies at GCU and they involve the thin tea. I think it was very special that we could share this as a group.
The tea master will be visiting GCU in December and it will be an honor to welcome him to our campus and hopefully participate in another ceremony hosted by him.
-Sheila
After the tea ceremony, our groups visited two of the most famous temples in Kyoto. The Kiyomizu-dera temple and the Kinkaku-ji Temple were incredibly beautiful structures filled with so much rich history of Kyoto’s beginnings. The sites were filled with people from around the world who came to learn about the history. The temples are surrounded by incredible greenery which made the experience magical.
Thank you, Taylor for your blog post! As I read your post, such fond memory and gratitude fills my being. If someone see our itinerary, it may look busy, but actually I think all of us enjoyed each distinct activities throughout the day.
Qigong class taught us how to relax our body (“datsuryoku”) to be most powerful.
Meeting Hayani-ryu iemoto (tea master) Hayami Souen was our treat. He prepared the tea house with a special scroll that has a drawing of a carp considering that the guests may appreciate the drawing rather than the kanji scroll. He wanted to serve the tea just like the carp swimming in the stream in such handsome way. The flower base had a white camellia and matching sweet of white mochi that contains bean paste. Iemoto was such amazing host for us. We will keep it to our heart and remember to visit him in 40 years!
We began our last morning in Kyoto with a walk around Kyoto Imperial Palace’s park. Many locals were commuting through, what a nice way to get where you’re going!
We then took a cab back to the hotel. The driver was the highlight of our day! He loves America, Elvis, and the Monkees so we started singing the Monkee’s theme song. 😊 he’s always wanted to visit America but has been in Kyoto his entire life. He has 2 daughters in America so they are living his dream. Such a wonderful moment to share between us and him! We are grateful Dr. Komagata was with us to enrich the conversation.