“It is necessary for us to keep the constant way. Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine. If you become too busy and too excited, your mind becomes rough and ragged. This is not good. If possible, try to be always calm and joyful and keep yourself from… Continue reading Shunryu Suzuki’s Aikido

This was the first sign that notified me that I had begun to tread on haunted ground. I didn’t see any ghosts or things moving against the normal laws of time and space, but this place was weird. I assume she acted as a sort of scarecrow, but it doubled as a scaregaijin. Here’s another… Continue reading Hauntings in the Mountains

This post is a little late coming as I took the trip about two weeks ago, but better than never ne? It occurred to me that morning, that though the snow melted many months ago, I have yet to go on a real gaijin adventure on my bike into the mountains in search of the… Continue reading Mountain Shrines, and Monkeys, and Villages, Oh My!