Online activity at temples has increased across the nation as people seek new ways to live amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Terakoya Buddha, a Tokyo-based incorporated association, has organized a free session every morning since April, hosted in rotation by Buddhist priests of different schools from temples such as Kourinji in Utsunomiya; Chousouji in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture; and Mifukuji in Shiroishi, Saga Prefecture.
The sessions consist of stretches, meditation and a contemplative exercise called "happy work," in which participants ponder a given topic. The exercise is primarily aimed at focusing on the positive side of negative events and seeing matters from different perspectives, to protect oneself from stress and anxiety. It also helps participants develop skills to separate what they can't control from what they can, and try not to worry about matters beyond their power.
In one session, a priest posed the question, "What do you do to overcome your concern or anxiety?" At other times, participants were asked things like "How do you forgive people's mistakes?" and "What do you do to be compassionate to others?"
After the 20-minute session, which starts at 7 a.m. through the Zoom app, the priest of the day spends the next 10 minutes sharing thoughts posted by participants in the chat box.
One participant wrote, "Since I started taking part in these sessions, my breathing has changed for the better." Another said, "I've become more positive and able to believe that my concerns won't last for long and there will be another day tomorrow."
"We have patterns of thinking," priest Kyodo Sasaki of Myokaiji temple in Katsuura, Chiba Prefecture, said during his session. "It's important to try to see things from different perspectives and foster good habits to improve our daily lives."
This morning initiative has grown popular, with about 200 people now participating each day.
"We started online sessions because of the virus, but this online method helps people meditate routinely," Kazunori Matsumura, 47, the head of Terakoya Buddha. "Priests have also found this effective and rewarding."
Terakoya Buddha launched the initiative as part of its "Healthy Temple" vision aimed at making temples places where people gather together and cultivate healthy habits in their daily lives. To that end, it conducts a wide variety of activities, including training priests to vitalize the surrounding community.
The association also organizes yoga classes at temples. At Rengeji temple in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, yoga classes are offered both in person and online. Participants move their bodies slowly with simple yoga poses and then listen to a talk by a deputy priest of the temple.
Instructor Yoko Yoshimatsu, 41, said practicing yoga at a temple enables participants not only to correct a lack of exercise but also to familiarize themselves with temples, which many people only visit for religious rituals.
"Temples have a distinctive atmosphere that relaxes people," Yoshimatsu said. "When the virus situation is brought under control, I want people to visit casually and enjoy the atmosphere with all five of their senses."
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