Blue Cliff Zen Center

The 5 year memorial ceremony for Zen master Shinzan was last night at the Zenways dojo in London. It was a great night with so many folks from all around, in person and online. About halfway through the ceremony was an opportunity for silent sanzen, where you can be face-to-face with a teacher one last time. Beautiful to see how one life has touched so many in different ways.

We visited the Silver Pavilion (Ginkakuji) a few days back. Even though it’s called the Silver Pavilion, they chose to keep it natural and in the wabi-sabi aesthetic - an expression of simplicity, imperfection, and impermanence. Ginkakuji is a zen temple in northeast Kyoto, it has incredible gardens.

This is Todaiji Temple in Nara, the ancient capital of Japan. There’s an enormous Buddha statue in the main hall, and it was seen as the center of the universe. The emperor was also represented by this great Buddha statue. It’s a beautiful building, one of the biggest wooden buildings in the world. We are in the second week of Japan together - it feels great to be doing some sightseeing and cultural activities after our Zen retreat.