Roosters crow. Wake up before sunrise. Put the Heartstone in the basket of my bike. As I cycle towards the temple the sun comes up. Covering the river, the guardrail, the houses, the yellow roadsigns, the trees, everything, in a deep warm orange glow. Accompanied by this glow I bow before the front gate. Seated on the stairs of the practice building Koya comes walking towards me from his house and greets me.

We enter the space take off our shoes. A statue in the middle of the room. Raised wooden platforms with large square pillows, on top of them smaller round pillows. “Don’t step on the front part of the platform, because this is the table.” Koya explains. First sit in the front. Bow. Then turn around facing the wall. Stretch the legs, stretch the back. Tae your time. Legs crossed seated on the small pillow. Breath naturally. He explains he

practices zazen meditation with his eyes open. Which is new to me. To not focus on a point, rather let everything come in. He goes somewhere in the back where he drums on wood. This comes back sometimes during the meditation. In the beginning I struggle a bit with not focussing the eyes. At some point this disappears. I begin to see a white circle. Koya talks: “ Everything practices zazen through us. Or more as one. Make people happy when we go out.”

After the meditation, or rather as a part of, we have a small breakfast. A package wrapped in cloth is placed in front. Inside there are 3 bowls that fit in each other like a babuschka. A white cloth, a grey cloth. Chopsticks in a paper. A spoon.

You fold it open in a specific manner. Bowls are placed from left to right. Big to small. Grey cloth is used as a slab. Spoon in the big bowl. Break the seal of the chopsticks and put them in front. Koya arrives with a big wooden bucket filled with rice porridge. The porridge goes in the large bowl. You raise your hand when it’s enough. Middle bowl get’s umeboshi. Smallest bowl get’s sesame seeds. You eat the food as an offering to soul and body. Slowly chewing the food. Feeling it move from the throat into the stomach. Sort of eating meditation. Afterwards water is poured in the big bowl. You flush the bowl with the water and pour it in the next bowl. Wipe the bowls with the cloth. Clean the spoon. Wrap the set again.

We leave the practice space and walk up the stairs towards the temple. Carry the Heartstone. I focus on the steps, when I look up I suddenly see a big snake looking at me. He slithers of in the grass. In the temple Koya and his wife Massan open the windows. Light incense. Koya takes the stone and places it on the altar in front of the big wooden Buddha statue. He lights the candles, while Massan takes off the dead leafs from the tree branches in the vases. Koya takes place on a pillow. Massan takes a seat a few meters away. In front of him a big singing bowl and a wooden carved sculpture used as a drum.

He explains that he will chant Buddha enlightenment into the stone. Everything becomes Buddha, the statue, the stone. It’s an exchange. Anything can fulfill Buddha nature, also things.

After the ritual we talk a little. He arranged for me to be picked up around noon at my accommodation. A local guy will take me into the mountain to see a holy site. A waterfall.

Leki arrives in his old van. He is a surfer and also does indigo die. His company’s named In Between Blues. Connecting sea, river and sky.

He tells me Japan is like a big blender, because of a certain openness they embraced a lot of things from other cultures, integrating them in their own. The old native name for Japan was Yamato, meaning ‘Big Harmony’. Afterwards named Nihon, ‘the sun’s origin’.

We drive into the mountainous area, following the river. Pull up at a little bridge, park the van. Go on by foot. After a little climb we arrive at the shrine. Say our thanks. Bow, bow, clap, silent clap, clap, bow. He shows me the grounds.

He and some friends, also local business owners, decided to start and finance work on the old shrine. Like in the older days, when everyone would chip in to maintain the holy site. As keepers of this place. Talk about how to shape a town, a society. How to combine education, arts, economy, politics. To fulfill this role at a certain point in your life.

Descending the stairs, the waterfall is in view. In between two big rock sides, water blasts down. Walk up to the rumbling sound. They say a dragon lives here. I am a dragon in this year of the dragon. Take of my clothes and get in. When you enter the water, when the sun is exactly right, a rainbow circle surrounds you. Rainbow is the child of water and sun. Perform misogi, the cleansing ritual, there. Afterwards take some water in a bottle. Next to the waterfall is a sculpture of Nami kiri fudo, who cuts waves to bring calm.

We drive to Leki’s house a couple of villages from here and pick up his son. Have lunch at a seaside place which serves the best sashimi. He explains to me that there is a very holy site nearby, where people come to pray to protect them from earthquakes. There is a giant catfish called Namazu that resides under the earth. Sometimes he agitates the Kaname Ishi, a stone where the Japanese archipelago rests on, causing earthquakes. The catfish is being guarded by Takemikazuchi, a Kami of thunder and swords. Who was also in the first Sumo match. When he let’s his guard down the catfish wrecks around and hits the stone, trembling the earth. Maybe there’s a miniature catfish in the earthquake simulation vehicle I saw in Tokyo.

By coincidence we run into an old friend of his, he met in Australia. Who he hasn’t seen for years. We take her and her partner along to see the Earthquake Kami. Brought the water from the waterfall and the Heartstone. Pour the water over the stone at the holy site.

We visit another shrine on an island that was used for making smoke signals. We hang out at a local artists studio. All wearing big masks. He drops me off at my place.