On March 28th, ICT had a Buddhism workshop by Jesse from USA, who is a Shingon Buddhist priest and currently affiliated with Jimyō-in a temple in Tokorozawa. Participants gathered at Kongoin (金剛院) to get to experience Buddism NOW!

 

We moved to the beautiful main hall of the temple, and appreciated Buddhist Ritual Performance (For World Peace) including the Heart Sutra (Traditional Drum Accompaniment) 般若心経（太鼓）after brief introduction to Buddhist ritual. Jesse simply explained point by point during the performance. The participants were amazed by how many Buddhist priests in Japan (estimated 300,000 priests, which roughly the same number of active and reserve personal in the Japanese Self-Defence Forces).

 

After the excellent performance, all of us experienced meditation using chairs for 5 minutes followed by Jesse’s simple instruction. We also enjoyed listening his stories and having a great Q and A time, where Jesse used some analogies of department store, shopping street and members club to answer the question what Japanese Buddhism is.

 

We would like to thank Jesse san for all his guidance and giving perfect answers for each of us, the priest at Kongoin Nonobe san for kind accommodation! And also a special thank-you to all participants who attended the workshop! We had a fun and relaxing afternoon with you all, and look forward to seeing you at next ICT events.

 

*The next workshop by Jesse will be held around June! Don’t miss a chance to enjoy Jesse’s talks and meditation.