Japan – on a whim

Japan was ridiculous.

Went there on a whim… an intuitive feeling… and a whole bunch of pocket change.

I was at one of my weekly meditation sessions with my (for a total lack of a better term) “guru”, Shigenori Murata, when the feeling came. I have been seeing Shigenori once a week for some time, and have been growing exponentially working with him. He is what we westerners would likely call a “Spirituality/Meditation Coach” and is the most educated man on the subjects that I have met. With an Oxford PhD (DPhil) in Asian Philosophy and Spirituality, and a huge self-study of Zen, Shamanism, Kundalini and different types of meditation, the man has been an incredible wealth of knowledge (I will pop his info at the bottom if you want to try out a session in person or on Skype).

Long story short, Shigenori asked me about Japan, and suggested I visit a few temples. It felt right. I went home to think about it, and caught a glance of my insane change jar. This is not just any change jar. This change jar was holding about 4 years worth of my ‘end of the day coins’ (it is a weird obsession I have not to spend it… random I know). I said to myself “if there is enough for a plane ticket in there, I am going to Japan… on Tuesday”.

Well, (as seen in the picture at the top) there was a lot of change. Over $1900 worth.

After forcing a few lovely ladies at the bank to help me roll it, I bought a ticket to Tokyo with no idea where I would go or sleep.

I don’t have enough room on here to write out all the synchronicities that happened along the way, but let it suffice to say that I got to: have a cool (and very challenging) Zen session with monks in Kamakura, ride a few bullet trains, see a HUGE Buddha statue, stumble upon the coolest Indian shop I have ever seen, visit the birth place of Reiki on Mount Kurama (I just took my Reiki level 1 and 2 a couple weeks prior), get a 5 person Reiki session in Kyoto, accidentally pick up a 30 year old plum which I had to then buy – then gave it away to a shop owner who was as excited as a 3 year old on Christmas, drank too much plum wine, and had experiences that I can’t ever put into words in temples, in meditation on the mountain, and in just walking in that magical country.

Overall – amazing.

Thanks Shigenori!

If you are thinking of starting or deepening your meditation practice… here is Shigenori’s email: muratameditation@gmail.com