Mom's visit, part Two

We woke up early on Sunday to head off to a large Zen temple known as Tenryu-ji. We were able to tour the inside of the temple itself, which is pretty empty. One aspect of zen is the idea of emptiness or nothingness, and so the temples are full of just that. Besides a few instruments used to call followers to prayer or daily meditation, there wasn't much to see. Even the Buddha statue was hidden under a curtain, mostly obscured from sight. (if you click on the word "Tenryu-ji" above, it will take you to the photos, but there are three small pages of them. Make sure you click on the little arrows in the upper left corner to see all three pages.)

One of my favorite things about zen temples is their gardens. They are neatly kept and have blooming flowers nearly year-round. There were many flowers I'd never seen before, and we never even found out the name! We didn't stay long because it was starting to rain, and we had plans to eat at a restaurant where Haruko, one of my students, works. It was their first experience with the many courses, all served on small individual dishes. I'm so proud that they tried everything, even the things that looked sketchy! On our way to the restaurant, we walked through Arashiyama, one of my favorite areas in Kyoto. That included first encounters with geishas and guys pulling people on two-wheeled carriages.

After lunch and a couple lessons, one of my other students, Chikako, joined us to go to a traditional residence and garden up on the mountain side. It is called Okochi Sanso, named for the silent film actor who lived there for many years. Unfortunately it was still rainy and gray, and I got soaked, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

We left there and took a trip to another student's family home where Yoshiko and her family served us another traditional meal, starting with cherry blossom tea (a little too salty if you ask me). It was a long day, and we were all glad to get home, get dry, and get to sleep...