Chokoku-ji Zen Temple (Soto Sect)

Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan

James P. Davis, Ph.D.

This temple is the Tokyo Branch of Eihei-ji Temple, of the Soto Zen Sect.  One element of my time in Japan was my immersion in Soto Zen, which involves the intense practice of zazen meditation as its primary means of attaining enlightenment.  Unlike the other branches of the Zen school that rely on the "Koan", the Soto sect emphasizes realization of one's true nature through the practice of zazen, both in its sitting meditation form, and also in its "action" form--i.e., the notion of practicing Zen as a part of everyday activity.  The founder of the Soto sect, Eihei Dogen Zenji, stressed this need to encompass all of one's life experience as an expression of the Dharma, or truth, of the pure path of the middle way.

A large statue of Kannon Bosatsu, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.  In most Buddhist traditions, this figure is female (as the Chinese Kwan Yin, see the rendering at the Chinese temple Kek Lok Si in Penang, Malaysia); however, in Japanese Buddhism, the figure is clearly male (in some statues, there is a small mustache).  Note the monk in the lower left hand corner of the photo, and in the photo below.  These photos were taken on a Fall day, when I walked down from where I was working in the Aoyama area to clear my head.  The monk was beating out a cadence on the drum, while chanting prayers.  One of those moments--you had to be there....

A better picture of the monk beating out a cadence during mid-day chanting. 

The image below is of the Mondo hall, where special events and ceremonies are held.  Notice how muted the color schemes are, when compared to the bright red coloring of the Chinese style, or the saffron colors of the Burmese style, Buddhist temples (see the temple images from Penang, Malaysia).  Lay people don't meditate in this hall, but we walk through this area to get to the meditation hall.  As is customary in Buddhist temples, you bow towards the center, not necessarily in worship, but in a spirit of gratitude.

I spent some amount of time at this temple practicing zazen meditation with other lay people (Japanese and gaijin alike).  It is a wonderful place to begin the discovery of one's true nature, under the watchful--though strict--eye of a Zen monk.  Usually, on Monday evenings, the temple has two lay meditation sessions, which last about 60-70 minutes each.  The first involves about 45 minutes of zazen, followed by silent kinhin (walking around the dais in rhythm with the breathing). The second session involves more meditation, followed by chanting of a sutra (usually the Heart sutra, if I remember correctly).