By Rick
Monday, May 27

On Monday morning, we were reaching the end of our “silent meditation,” the period during which none of us could speak or make direct eye contact with others. I didn’t know what to expect going into the silent mediation, but I think I was pleasantly surprised by the results. After breakfast, we could speak again, and I noticed a drastic change in how everyone felt. It seemed everyone, me included, was a bit more talkative and energetic. Zen Buddhism often speaks about having compassion for others, but when there’s no one you can expressly show compassion for, you end up showing it to yourself. I think the silence was needed and helped everyone recharge their social batteries a bit. 

Later that day, Dr. Masaki gave a great metaphor for why meditation can be a useful tool for us. He brought a cup of water outside and grabbed a handful of dirt which he dumped into the water and shook around. He told us that meditation is a practice that’s designed to calm our minds, and ultimately when we’re calm it allows us to listen to our “true self”. He said our mind is like the glass of water filled with dirt, which was a consistent muddy brown after he shook it. When we let it sit for a minute however, we began to notice more than just dirt in the glass. We saw different pieces settle to the bottom, some float to the top. Then we began to see things that we might not have noticed before, like some moss and grass, a rock, maybe a bug. Meditation is the practice of calming our water, so to speak, so we can see these things. These various parts of our minds that become clearer when the dust settles represent aspects of our true self, which we must recognize when we are asking ourselves what we really want in life. Meditation is just the practice of calming the water; at times we are more successful at calming the water than others. It’s like a water clearing instrument that we have to become adept at using before we can see all the pieces inside the water. Even if our minds are clouded with a lifetime’s worth of dirt and debris, often what we need to do is just let it sit. Let our thoughts come to a natural rest, and allow our glass of water to stand still for minute, maybe two. The setting of course helps, and I must say that Mother Farm in Chiba, Japan, which we visited, was probably one of the best places to practice this mind calming.