ARE YOU READY FOR AMAZING THINGS TO HAPPEN THAT YOU NEVER EVEN IMAGINED?
What if you could go to beautiful places in the world? Imagine being amid a very different worldview and exploring an ancient culture. Japanese creativity has been alive and active in centuries-old arts and crafts, and their meticulous gardens are carried forward into today. For me, the journey to Japan was also a trip to the future as I observed the towering buildings and the organized behavior of the citizens.
I was shocked and delighted to be invited to teach in Japan.
In 1991, I was amazed to receive an invitation that would take me traveling to Japan. I had thought it would be wonderful to visit this wondrous place someday. I had seen photos of the beautiful gardens and temples.
I was intrigued by the stories of Japanese creativity and the fact that these islands had been isolated from the world for over 200 years (the 17th to the 19th centuries). However, they emerged in the 20th century to become influential to the rest of the world.
Nothing could have prepared me for the depth of Japanese creativity.
After a fourteen-hour flight with a layover in Hawaii, I met my host at the large, clean Narita International Airport. After being processed through customs, we taxied for over an hour into the overwhelming skyscraper city of Tokyo. After the long drive, I found myself in a lovely hotel room with time to rest before meeting other team members.
How did it all begin?
In the early 1990s, I was Director of Marketing for the American Cancer Society during the week. On the weekends, I went to people’s homes in Southern California, where friends assembled to hear me speak.
Small groups gathered to hear the information I shared about higher consciousness and self-empowerment and answered questions for the participants.
What prompted the invitation to Japan?
The concept of a trip to Japan began at one of the meetings in a home in West Hollywood. After the presentation, a charming older man asked me if I would like to travel to Japan to teach.
He explained that his daughter worked for a successful businessman interested in bringing healers, spiritual teachers, and psychics to Japan to teach. As a result, this gentleman suggested that I could conduct workshops and private sessions in Tokyo and Osaka if I would like to participate. I thought this invitation was indeed an honor and a fascinating opportunity. And so it was.
At first, I was concerned that I knew little about the Japanese people. Therefore, I read as much as possible to understand Japanese creativity and culture. But soon after I arrived, all my worries disappeared. It became evident that, of course, underneath language and ritual, we are all very similar in our doubts, desires, upsets and joys, and personal interactions.
I traveled to Tokyo and Osaka fifteen times over four years.
From 1991 through 1995, I traveled to Japan two or three times yearly for a month. I would spend two weeks in Tokyo and then take the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Osaka for another two weeks.
Each weekday I gave eight one-hour private sessions, and on the weekends, I led two-day seminars, accompanied by my very efficient translator, Yuko. As a result, the work schedule was exhausting (six and one-half days a week) and extremely rewarding.
The weekend seminars attracted anywhere from forty to over one hundred people. The topics covered everything from how we create our reality to releasing the past and connecting our hearts, minds, and souls. I was thrilled with the attendees’ response. They asked questions and appreciated the information they received.
Visit Kyoto for temple tours, the Cherry Blossom Festival, Tea Ceremony, and the Geisha dance performance.
Japanese creativity was apparent during a unique experience I had in Kyoto. A lovely lady from my classes treated Yuko and me to a special visit to Kyoto for the Cherry Blossom Festival, which was incredibly beautiful! I felt like I was walking through a wondrous cloud of blossoms. in heaven
I also attended a graceful, formal Tea Ceremony that was like watching a play in slow motion. Every movement was measured and meant to create the meditative moments of a sacred ritual.
In a large theater, t enjoyed a stunning Geisha performance of the four seasons. That afternoon Japanese creativity was evident in the intricate, colorful Geisha costumes designed for each season. The audience was carried to another time and place under the spell of the music and dance.
Kyoto prefecture is home to 1600 Buddhist temples.
We toured gorgeous Buddhist temples in Kyoto, and one, in particular, impressed me greatly. It had a long wall of golden Buddha statues standing on platforms of different heights. The energy of the devotion of thousands of people filled the Temple.
I learned that there are 1,600 Buddhist temples scattered throughout the prefecture of Kyoto, many of them masterpieces. In the late afternoon, my translator said we should see another temple high up in the hills. I think it was named Daigoji. The Temple was created in 874 by Rigen Daishi (monk Shoho).
The Story of Monk Shoho
A local god inspired Monk Shoho to discover a well of holy and spiritual water on Daigo Mountain. He found the well where the god told him and placed Buddha statues to show his gratitude. Followers of Monk Shoho rebuilt the structures, but the five-story pagoda was created in 952.
We followed a winding road up the mountain and walked in the beautiful, peaceful gardens as the monks began to chant inside the wooden buildings. We could hear their low, rolling voices sounding forth to the land and sky.
A traditional Japanese lodging
I was delighted to learn that just down the road was a traditional Japanese lodging where we could stay the night. The meditative gardens, a living symbol of Japanese creativity, were perfectly designed. The beds were mattresses on the floor, and down the hall was a hot steaming pool where women were bathing. I touched my foot to the water and realized I couldn’t possibly enter. The water temperature was close to a boil.
Dinner with unidentified food and the price of the room
The dinner was inspired by Japanese creativity. For instance, there were intricately designed seafood dishes and other items that were impossible to recognize. The presentation was elegant on wooden lacquer tea racks.
The price of the stay was surprising to me in 1994. The attendant said it was equivalent to $200 U.S. I said, “Well, that was worth it,” as I pulled out $100 and prepared to share the bill.
“No, Madam,” came the answer. “$200 each.” The price of everything in Japan then was about ten times the cost of the same item in the U.S. (I don’t know how the prices have changed since then.)
The beautiful countryside and the organized business of the city
The fabled country and gardens of Japan are mesmerizing. The politeness between people and the gestures of bowing to each other creates an atmosphere of humble reverence.
.On the other hand, the crowds on the subways in Tokyo were overwhelming. The staircases leading to the trains were filled with salary men wearing the same haircut, black suits, white shirts, and black ties. Their organization was impeccable. Yet, it was a long way from the rice fields that rolled past the Shinkansen (bullet train). These were not the people who attended my classes.
My classes were attended by people who were curious and ready to learn.
The attendees of my classes were sensitive, open-minded, and interested in learning more about who they were and who they could be. By the end of my visits, the students had let down their reserve and hugged each other. They relaxed and could easily laugh, ask questions, and participate (all of which I was told could never happen.)
An invitation to speak to a private group at a particular temple
Another wonderful experience I enjoyed was being invited to a huge Buddhist temple in Tokyo. The architecture and interior were a pure representation of Japanese creativity. This Temple of the Lotus Sutra (I don’t remember the correct name) was initially founded by a Japanese woman with a deep spiritual connection. After attending my seminars, one of the temple leaders asked me to speak to a small group of his peers. I was honored to experience this sublime moment of interaction with such a profound group of people.
There is so much to see and learn in Japan.
If you plan on traveling to Japan, be sure to have a tour guide and translator unless you speak Japanese. There are no signs in English, and one can easily get lost.
There is so much to see that demonstrates the unique Japanese culture. I visited terrific castles, graceful gardens, and inspiring temples. I enjoyed Japanese art, textiles, kimonos, and picturesque rice fields.
Japanese creativity is displayed in the century’s old, deeply spiritual, artistic treatment of nature. Their gardens provide a sense of rhythm, reverence, and unwavering peace that fills the heart and soul.
The Japanese relationship with nature
The following is a quote from the article, The Japanese Relationship to Nature and Possible Lessons for the Future, by Stephanie Pincetl.
“…what can be observed in Japan is a fiercely intimate treatment and deep appreciation of nature as one explores the streets and parks of Kyoto and beyond, from the breathtaking Fall Chrysanthemum displays in the city’s botanical garden to the carefully tended thousand-year-old temple garden.
“The bonsai tree-like forms painstakingly and devotedly tended to grow on volcanic rock, roots trailing downward, anchoring the small yellow-flowered plant. Or there is the cascading Chrysanthemum variety trained to flow like rivers of color over horizontal trellises, showing this remarkable relationship of the human to the plant, how they respond to one another to create a specific beauty.”
Japanese creativity and spiritual awareness are part of their lives
.Yes, Japan is a journey worth making. It reflects the future in the power of man’s creative engineering ability, as displayed in the buildings reaching for the sky. Japan provides profound reminders of the past in an ancient culture that embraces the arts, textiles, pottery, food preparation, and more. People honor traditions and rituals that enhance the human experience.
It has been said that the Japanese are irreligious, but many Japanese can embrace various spiritual teachings without perceiving them as contrasting and competitive. The Shinto religion originates in Japan and is called a natural religion. Buddhism arrived in Japan around the middle of the 16th century.
Christianity first came to Japan in 1549, six years after Portuguese traders had become active; that year, three Jesuit Catholic missionaries landed in Kagoshima.
Belief in religion seems flexible according to critical times in one’s life.
One Japanese man told me, “We Japanese are born Shinto. As adults, we are Buddhists; we are Christian when we marry and pass out of this world. Yet, the traditional Japanese wedding is still alive and well. Sometimes, couples do both. The rituals of each religion seem to fit the moment appropriately. Of course, this is not true for everyone in Japan. Many adhere to one religion for life.
There is always so much to learn about each individual and each culture. I know I only touched the surface. My experiences in Japan were veep and profound, and I will never forget the lovely people who became part of my life.
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Continue to the next journey. Visit Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
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