A visit to a Zen Temple

[Simon]

Last week, during a trip to Japan, I visited the Tenryuji temple in
Kyoto on a whim that there was a "lunchtime Zazen Kai".
Having looked on the map as to it's location I decided that the trip
was worth the view from the inside of a taxi (taking in the sights of
Kyoto) even though the distance may have not suited the budget so
much.
Getting closer to the temple the river starts to look cleaner, the
trees a little more colorful and the feeling of approaching a special
place is a little subdued by the hightened level of tourist activity
around the area.
In the final 100m leading to the temple gates it was clear i had
underestimated the grand nature of the place I was visiting and the
parking guardman was going to be more interested in directing the
busloads of pensioners and high school students than answering ones
call for directions to the lunchtime Zazen Kai!
How true this turned out, not just for the guardman, but for all and
sundry involved in directing and controlling traffic in these
magnificent surrounds.
In the end I just filed in with all the others and took in some of the
sights of the temple.
So much so I'll never forget sitting a nearby restaurant eating some
curry udon reflecting on how impressive it is for the temple and it's
grounds to exist and be preserved in such timeless surroundings.
Not a bad "lunchtime Zazenkai" in the end but I'm still a little
regretful at not paying a more attention to http://zen.rinnou.net/head_temples/10tenryu.html
.
Simon.

[Simon]