zen = pain

i just spent a week in a zen monastery on a mountain.

 forget whatever you read in zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, zen is lots of pain.

 more specifically 5 days of 15 meditation hours a day, with green muck resembling food

you have no choice but to eat (it is the practice to eat everything that is put infront of you, they almost kicked me out when i showed some mild problem with this. usually i am considered a good guest for not eating a lot…)

plus no talking or showers allowed

 so yes, it was a very interesting experience, i am happy i did it. no, i dont want to do it again any time soon.

 the abbot is german (which might explain the extra cruel nature)

this guy is really very cute when you get to know him but when he creeps up behind you

with a bamboo stick and breaths in your ear it is no thing to trifle with.

plus all the doors are sliding here

there is a shrine in the bathroom door you bow every time you go in

because shit is also sacred (everything is sacred or nothing is)

 you eat everything you are served, everything, this means puring your

drink to your plate after you are finished and drinking everything that remained

every move calculated. no space between thought and action

well thats it in a nutshell for more detail punch it out of me in person.

i hope to put up more pictures soon, and anyway ill be home next year

oh and there is no place like home