Experiential Field Trip - Zen meditation at Ekoji Buddhist Sangha

           Today I visited the Ekoji Buddhist Sangha and practiced Zed meditation.  I decided to bring a friend with me so we could experience this together.  As we were pulling up to Ekoji I was shocked that it was in the middle of the Fan in a house that looked just like the others surrounding it.  The only thing that set it apart from the residential houses was a little sign over the front door.  I thought it was interesting, and kind of great, that they do not advertise with a huge sign like a lot of other worship centers do. 

            As we walked up to the building we were not really sure what to expect.  The moment we stepped through the door it was like we had entered a different world.  The noise and stress of the outside world seemed to melt away into something more simple and quiet.  We were told to take our shoes off and wait for someone to come over and explain the process.  We were led upstairs and were shown the different meditation rooms.  We ended up at the Zen room and were given some instruction about Zen meditation.  We ran through the postures and how the meditation is done so that we would have a clue as to what we were doing when we went downstairs and did the real thing. 

            I am VERY glad that we had the instruction before going to meditate!  Once downstairs, we were led to a cushion, sat facing the wall, lowered our eyes to a 40 degree angle and started the quiet seated meditation… which lasted 30 minutes! Now, it might seem like it would be easy to sit still and do nothing for that amount of time but it sure is NOT.  The whole point of Zen meditation is to connect with the current moment and only feel what you are feeling in that exact moment. 

            After the seated meditation a bell rang and we all stood up and did a standing meditation for 10 minutes.  The standing meditation required that we walk slowly around the room in a circle.  Okay, by slowly I mean that I moved 12 feet (at the most) in 10 minutes.  It was SLOW!

            The overall experience was very positive.  The instruction we had before the actual meditation was extremely helpful and informative.  The meditation in and of itself was like nothing I had ever experienced.  I do not think that I have ever felt that at peace and quiet.  Overall, it was a great adventure and I will definitely go back to do Zen meditation in the future!