The Place We Call Home

The gate into Daishin-in. During the week, the gate is locked at 9:30 PM. If we get locked out, we have to sleep somewhere else. This has yet to happen to anyone.

 

The entrance where we remove our outdoor shoes and place them in cubbies. Every time we enter and exit a little chime sounds. This seems to be temple standard issue. Thankfully, it is quiet and melodic. Osho-san, the temple priest, and his family (wife, children, and grandchildren) have living apartments to the right of the giant wood sculpture. We turn left to go to our quarters. 

 A view from one space to the next.

Our tea room where we eat breakfast and hang around a lot. We also have presentations and lectures in there. It's a wonderful corner room with views into two garden areas.

 A view of the building where we sleep. Males on the bottom floor, females above.

 The small room with Naomi-san's flower arrangements. She is the daughter-in-law of the temple priest. She helps manage the temple and keeps the tea room stocked with snacks in the afternoon.

 The large hall where we had our Zen breakfasts.This will also be our studio space.

The garden outside of our instructors' rooms.

In truth, my room was too messy at the time I took these photos, so I will post images later of the private space I share with my classmate and studio project partner. There may even be images of the Japanese bath and etc.

The first day of class was Monday. We were treated to a scrumptious traditional Zen breakfast.

Clockwise beginning on the upper right: Daikon simmered in something (possibly soy sauce or dashi), miso soup, tamago or essentially a thin omlette rolled up (in center), rice in the covered bowl, a slice of watermelon, and pickled daikon.

The following day we also were treated to another delicious Zen breakfast (no photo this time) consisting of more pickled diakon, the remains of tofu processing - it sort of resembles cold, roughly mashed potatoes in texture (absolutely delicious and nutritious), more miso soup, this time with mushrooms, a poached egg, rice, and slices of fruit.