Dear zen friend

1)   October sesshin          from  10/11  to  10/15

      November sesshin      from  11 08  to  11/12

2)  Zendo is busy for preparations for wintry season. There are many things to do by strong muscles. I sometimes feel It would have been easy if I would move to California or Florida.

Recently I found a Japanese TV show called “An Isolated House” in Youtube. In Japan people have moved to cities for decades by thinking life in deep mountains is hard and inconvenient. Villages were emptied and houses were abandoned. But some houses are run well in isolated areas. Why and How?

A TV producer found houses in isolation using google earth, sent a cameraman and a reporter for making a show. The crew visited a house. But to drive an unpaved narrow road in the countryside is dangerous. They often get lost or the house is found empty. For making a show they try to find a different house and people. A best show is often made by chance. A wise man or an artist live in an unexpected situation.

Each house has a story. 93 year old man has maintained a mile long path and gone shopping by a car. He has not visited a doctor for 2 decades. A business man moved to inside mountains. The crew found him while looking for a mysterious house nearby. He has meeting with his employees through internet in the morning and is building his house, the headquarter of the company in the afternoon.

Many have built their houses by themselves. Most of them had no experience of construction work. One planted 10,000 trees like pine, cherry, cedar by himself. One re-cultivated village wide paddy fields by himself. Nobody asked help but enjoyed their lives. One wishes to build a bathhouse with water warmed by electricity. Modern technology allows him  to generate electricity using brook stream. His dream is sure to come true.

There are many interesting episodes on each show. I cannot miss it. All the people on the screen are practical, industrious, creative, and healthy.

I stop complaint.

Regards.

Eishin Ikeda

Valley Zendo