Zazen at Gyokushoji Temple 玉祥寺の坐禅体験

Official explanation

Everyone is welcome to try zazen meditation at the historic Gyokushoji Temple in northern Kikuchi. The hour-long sessions are a shortened version of the practice typically performed by adherents of Soto Zen, the school of Buddhism to which the temple belongs. Before starting out, participants are given a brief lesson in how to breathe and relax both mind and body, as well as how to sit on a zafu, the round cushion used in the Soto school’s zazen practice. Sessions also include guidance in meditation while walking, or hokozen.

Zazen classes at Gyokushoji are non-religious, focusing on self-knowledge as a path to relaxation and peace of mind. Zazen practice is enhanced by the tranquil environment of the temple, founded by Kikuchi Tamekuni (1430–1488), the twentieth head of the Kikuchi clan, which ruled the surrounding area and most of central Kyushu from the eleventh to the sixteenth century. Tamekuni was a reformer who expanded education opportunities for samurai and townspeople and encouraged their intellectual and spiritual pursuits. His tomb is in the Gyokushoji cemetery, located next to the main gate and accessible directly from the temple’s parking lot.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.