When Buddhism entered Japan through China it gave way to a lot of schools and one of the most well-known school not only in Japan but all over the world is the Zen school. Zen has become synonymous with the Japanese culture. The gardens of Japan, their tea ceremony and the martial arts are direct expressions of Zen and if not it has a big influence on these factors of the Japanese culture. The result of the Zen effect is overwhelming that visitors from the overseas that come to Japan to study meditation would often pick a Zen monastery. Shingon is also another school that has attracted many foreigners but not as famous as Zen.
If you want to learn meditation, here are some of the places that you could go to. These monasteries allow foreign visitors and teach them how to effectively meditate.
There are only a few monasteries which allow trainees without informing them beforehand which is why it is very important for you, if you want to train in a monastery to meditate, to contact the monastery first to discuss what you want to happen or to do. You can do this through writing or through a phone call. You also need to check the rates per night in monasteries before you book for a long-term stay. There are monasteries that charge you during your stay but there are some that don’t.
If you are going to reside in the monastery, you are expected to participate in everything that they do 100% and you have to know that this is a very demanding routine. The schedule is usually composed of long hours of meditating and various physical activities. It is advised that before you go to the monastery and stay there, you need to make sure that you are informed of the activities that they are doing there so that you would be prepared as well.
You also need to bring with you lose and comfortable clothing that is suitable for meditation (especially during lotus position). Most monasteries are located in the mountain which is why there is a need to bring warm clothing even if it is during summer.
Here is the list of the monasteries that offer multi-meditational courses:
- Rinzai Zen
- Sogenji (曹源寺), Okayama
- Antaiji (安泰寺), in Hyōgo prefecture.
- Eiheiji (永平寺), in Fukui prefecture.
- Zuigakuin (瑞岳院) in Otsuki, Yamanashi prefecture