Need Refreshment After Work? Try Zen Meditation

TOKYO (Nikkei)--It is common these days to find company workers going to sit in Zen meditation at nearby Buddhist temples after work or on weekends, seeking to regain the composure they tend to lose in their busy everyday affairs and discover new aspects of themselves.
In early afternoon one Saturday, I visited a temple in Minato Ward in central Tokyo to experience Zen meditation myself. In the temple -- which, thanks to ample greenery, seemed far removed despite its location in an office block -- there were already four people who looked to be in their 20s or 30s and who all said they were beginners in meditation.
Upon the signal of three tolls of a bell, meditation began. As instructed by the priest, we straightened our spines and slowly breathed from our lower abdomens with our eyes open. During meditation, various thoughts occur to you, but the priest told us not to pursue them. Rather, one should wait for them to pass -- just like watching clouds drifting across the sky.
The difficult part of the meditation is the way of breathing. The moment a thought came to me, it disturbed my breathing. I hurriedly focused my attention back to breathing and concentrated on the movement of the lower abdomen. Some minutes later, an idea again leaped to my mind and I tried again to concentrate on breathing. I repeated this process again and again. In the meantime, however, I found myself becoming somewhat relaxed and comfortable.
Explaining the reasons why they came to practice meditation, the participants said that they were stressed out over work or that they wanted to consider their way of living.
Tozen Nakano, a priest who wrote many books on Zen, said that one does not need to take it seriously to do Zen meditation, but he added that it is important to think about why one feels like doing so. "That you take interest in meditation means there is something essential in the practice which resonates with you," he said. "Continue meditation while ascertaining that and you will begin to feel that you are different from what you have been in everyday life and you will be filled with composure."
Recently, many temples hold Zen meditation gatherings on weekday nights, attracting company employees after work, among others. One such temple, Rinsenji in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward, has a wide range of attendants at its Zen meditation sessions -- from men and women as young as their 20s to senior citizens.
A man in his 50s who regularly participates in the temple's meditation gathering said that he has "no particular aim in practicing meditation, but I make it a rule to do so on every Wednesday." He also attends tea ceremony lessons given by the temple.

source: nikkei net interaktif