Haza, September 14th 2013

It is not yet decided when we will start to harvest the rice, one of the main jobs this autumn. Today we started to cut bamboo to build the “haza”,a construction on which the cut rice will be dried before threshing. Altogether we have about 4 acres of ricefields, which will be harvested and threshed … Read more

Antaiji on a sunny day, September 13th 2013

With 15 residents, it is possible to do many different jobs at the same time. Today’s samu was divided into 6 groups: Yudai’s hatake (vegetable field), Eko’s tanbo (rice field), Steffi’s herb garden, Jisui’s Zen garden, Tsukan who did shissui (carpenter) work, and a group that builds a new stone wall for a new rice … Read more

Tenzo makes breakfast on a free day, September 11th 2013

The schedule at Antaiji does not depend on the week day, but rather the day of the month. From the 1st to 5th each month was sesshin, when we sat all day long. On the 6th was a free day. After that, the schedule changes depending on a five day cycle: The first three days, … Read more

Dharma talk in Kinosaki-Onsen, September 8th 2013

Raining since the early morning. Today’s samu was chopping would, making tomato puree and raising the fallen rice plants. I went to Kinosaki-Onsen, a hot spring town about one and a half hours away. The car had a puncture on the way, but I was just in time to participate in a small tea ceremony … Read more