I am doing way better this morning. A good nights sleep will do that. I slept most of the night except for the old man’s Loo breaks. The fog rolled in last night like a dragon through the forest and valley. Everything was in a mist this morning.
It was actually pretty cool , as in a hip way and cold as in samuii. Zazen was pleasant today because of this energy, even though chilly because of the temperature. There was what I thought so much much water in the air it was rolling off the trees like rain. hitting the Zendo roof, but there was no rain. so I thought. Because, coming up the mountain from the valley there was no rain, but once one reached the Redwoods near the top of the it was wet wet wet.
I found out there is a micro climate effect on the Mtn top under the Redwood, but in the valley it is normal. So once one reached the Redwoods, it was rain rain rain, but right at the edge of the Forest it was dry, foggy but dry. It made for some weird effects.
However interesting at the same time. It reminded me of Hawaii with rain on one side of the street and none on the other.
We did a different chant today during the meditation session. It was a chant of the Buddhist linage. I had a hard time with it. My difficulty came from it was a catchy rhythm and I was having to really work at not doing a harmony part to it. It was kind of a funky groove and I could really hear a higher harmony to the low drone. I did not think it would go over well, so I had to be cool and Ganbaru to stay with in the format.
This morning was up until lunch break a morning of silent practice. We were not to speak until the signal at lunch time.
Did I say it was cold?
Generally we eat in silence until the , hmm I’m not sure what her title is, assistant to the Roshi, gives the ok. Today it goes from the time we rise until the signal at lunch. So our work period and our practice is done in silence. Not a big deal for me. It was nice to have the quiet, we could have gone all day for all I cared.
In the afternoon, I learned to today that the two direction punch/push principal in Kung Fu and Tai Chi has it’s counter part in Kyudo in the Kai & Release. The Physic thing of every action has a equal counter action, or something like that. SiSuk often told me when punching I have to understand it is a two direction action. The left helps the right, the right helps the left. The power comes from the left when punching right , and visa versa. When pulling the Yumi, one pushes with the left and pulls with the right. This happens not just through Kai, the full draw but afterwards , on the release as well. Yet another one of those cross over things from one art to another.
I was also scolded today by my Sanpai, not in a bad way, for saying his bow was named Big Bertha, oops sorry 
. It is really called Big Bear, Oki Kuma in Japanese. Gomenasai Onii-san.
“The target is a mirror of ourselves” I read this somewhere, and another Onii-san said that to me today. I asked him if he was ok. He was sitting off to himself looking very very down. He said his shots were all falling shots falling short of the target and that is how is life fells right now. He feels like giving up, his shots are giving up. He did work his way through the dropping arrows later over the next couple of days. I hope he does so with his other part of life. I was not having that issue with my shots, they were not hitting the target all the time, but that I felt was in my aim. Hmmm on the other hand, I had not been getting any calls for interviews…makes me wonder…
I forgot to take a picture of dinner that night. We had Japanese cold noodles and baked tofu.
left overs
I had a big helping of the noodles and seconds on the Tofu. all the days walking up the mountain and weeding had made me hungry. I was running late for dinner and also ran up the mountain…almost. My lateness was due to helping someone learn walking Tai Chi. I told him it would help with his grounding and balance in doing Kyudo. It is something that he could practice when the group does the walking meditation in the Zendo. He was all for that because he felt that time was like a black hole. I told him there were other things from Tai Chi and Shaolin that would help him with his Kyudo practice. He wants to become a student of mine now.
The event is just about half over. I am filled with gratitude to my Onii-sans for this gift. It has been a night and day different experience from last year. The fog cleared up in the afternoon and it turned into a beautiful yet chilly day.
I am sooooo glad I brought extra warm clothes just in case…
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