Sunday, September 27

All the exchange students woke up at 6:00 this morning in order to observe a Buddhist religious ceremony that began at 6:30, hence my early bedtime the previous evening. At the religious ceremony we listened to two monks chant mantras from memory. The monks' breathing was well coordinated. They chanted for over half an hour, never once stopping except to take in more air. They never breathed at the same time, so at least one person was always chanting the mantra to keep the rhythm and prayer going.

After observing the religious ceremony, we enjoyed another delicious meal, tidied up our rooms, brought our luggage to the front door, and then entered the same room in which we observed the ceremony to learn how to practice ajikan, a type of Buddhist meditation. We were supposed to sit with our right leg folded over our left leg in a pretzel position, and our hands on top of the right foot with the right hand on top of the left and thumbs extended up and brought together in a circular shape. After that we were supposed to arrange our tongues so that they rested behind the top teeth to allow for easy exhalation of air, and we were to keep our eyes halfway open so as to not truly see anything with our vision but so as to not accidentally fall asleep. We meditated for only fifteen minutes or so, but I could not concentrate easily, and the sitting position was uncomfortable for me.

After the meditation practice we had free time for lunch and exploring the town. We all returned to the sleeping area around two p.m. and from there retraced our steps to get back to Osaka and Kobe. It was a bit of a culture shock to return to the bustling city scene.