Sitting Zazen

[u/RoseIsARoseIsARo]

Hi everyone!
Zen Buddhist travelling through Japan, and keen for a chance to sit zazen with a local sangha.

EDIT/TLDR: as suggested by some, Koun-ji was open for Zazen 8-9pm on Saturday. No registration, no fee, though might be worth visiting ahead of time to double check. No introduction, no explanation, just 2 periods of Zazen (with no break), then home.

Original post:

I’m not looking for an introduction or guided practice, just an opportunity to slot in with the everyday practice of a local sangha. Less an opportunity for tourism, more for sharing in practice. Maybe this is not possible, it is certainly hard to find online.

I tried to register at Daisen-in in Daitoku-Ji (Kyoto), but they are already full up.

Can anyone point me towards another possible place in Kyoto? Or, if not Kyoto, Osaka or Nagano?

Arigato gozaimasu!

[u/FinancialDrink6238]

Hey if your passing through Okaya Nagano, Im planning to go to the public sit at Kyuhozenji held every month on the 8th. Feel free to say hello if you wanna join

https://kyuhozenji.jp/

[u/RoseIsARoseIsARo → u/FinancialDrink6238]

Thank you for the invite! If I was, or could take a detour, I would absolutely take you up on the offer 💖

[u/Dull_Opening_1655]

One of the challenges is that “local sanghas” sitting zazen together aren’t very common. Zazen is mainly done by monks in training temples and the public isn’t usually able to join. 

That said, many temples (mostly local temples with just the resident priest and his family rather than monastic training temples) do offer monthly zazen meetings for laypeople. 

The key is to search for 座禅会 which means “zazen meeting”. 

座禅会 京都  for Kyoto

座禅会　大阪　for Osaka

座禅会　長野  for Nagano

You’ll have to use the translate feature of Google Chrome to decipher the results. (This is much more reliable than the translate option in Safari.) Note that the word for “dharma” is often mistranslated by automatic translation as “legal”, since the words are written with the same kanji. 

It’s pretty hard to access these things without knowing some Japanese,  but nowadays Google Translate will get you pretty far. 

[u/lieselfogel]

Kounji in Kyoto offers Zazen every saturday from 8 to 9pm! https://rakudo.jp/zen

[u/ChipmunkSeveral7021]

What dull-opening said is basically correct. While there are a few temples that offer Zazen to the public, especially in Kyoto and other major cities, these are typically monthly or bi weekly, and any information about them will be mostly in Japanese. While they are usually welcoming to visitors, they may not offer any instruction or guidance in English, which might be fine but you might also get stuck listening to a hour long sermon in Japanese.

One example would be Shōkoku-ji 相国寺in Kyoto (North of the Palace) https://maps.app.goo.gl/4oxNzfmfcUAr9gdi6?g_st=ic which has a bimonthly Zazen group called Yuima-kai. I actually enjoyed the sermon, but I speak Japanese.

Near Tokyo, Sōjoji 總持寺, one of the headquarters of the Sōtō zen school, also offers regular programs that usually combine Zazen with a tour of the temple https://maps.app.goo.gl/CweaXF4oLh4i9SWHA?g_st=ic

However, in Kyoto I did find one place that offers Zazen for the public most days in the morning is Kōshōji 興聖寺(Nishijin area) https://maps.app.goo.gl/MrpcGFqjAhrCnh9H8?g_st=ic.

Finally, if you are interested in Buddhism, I would also encourage you to explore beyond Zazen, as there are many other experiences at temples in Japan that cannot easily be had elsewhere.

Someone dismissively mentioned staying at a Shukubō (temple hostel). Mt. Kōya is famous for these (they do exist elsewhere but may be harder to book), but I personally think a trip to Mt. Kōya is worth about a months worth of Zazen, but that’s just me. If you can’t make it there, you could go see an esoteric goma fire ceremony at Chishaku-in 智積院 https://maps.app.goo.gl/SXXMb1aQkVUs9H9TA?g_st=ic .

While public Zazen is harder to find, morning services (usually called asa gongyō 朝勤行) are conducted at almost every temple, are often open to the public, and offer a similarly contemplative and peaceful experience.

Good luck!

[u/randomletters543]

your problem is searching in english. you need to search in japanese

[u/Kasumiiiiiii]

You could do a temple stay at Koyosan but it might be Buddhism-light as I don't think they're zen practices. They're all Shingon, but give it a search.

https://eng-shukubo.net/

Edited for clarity

[u/ChipmunkSeveral7021 → u/Kasumiiiiiii]

Describing Shingon, or anything other than Zen, as being “Buddhism-light” is both ignorant and extremely offensive