A Brief Meditation from Kyoto

Good sirs,

I recently landed back on Jersey soil after a magical two weeks acquainting myself with her majesty, Japan. I haven't had all that much time to reflect on my experience, but I wanted to share a moment that captures much of its beauty.

One night, post-ramen, my girlfriend and I stumbled into a small, lil bar where we made friends with Hideki. He was incredibly thoughtful, had a pharmacy of premium Japanese snacks (and whiskeys...), and managed to summon one of the most important strangers of my 2025 through his soulful handling of 70s vinyl. Based on first glance, I would have drawn any number of incorrect assumptions about this stranger. He looked like a cross between a Tokyo hype beast and a Wan Kar Wai superhero - cigarette lit, shaved head, cool kids jacket (like something Slozbro would wear) - but had an immoveably peaceful demeanor. Gradually, he joined our conversation with Hideki, and we all laughed as our ChatGPT-enabled conversation came to life. So, who was this great stranger who ask? A monk...in training.

My new friend was the son of the leader of a prominent temple outside of Kyoto. Of course, I had a ton of questions for him, but more than anything in that moment, I wanted to know if I could come see him at his temple. He agreed backhandly, thinking I was being polite...

Two days later, he gave us a tour of his temple. All beautiful stuff. But, towards the end, he brought us into a special room, home to original temple artifacts, which he himself had never been to. As we walked in awe of these grand ancient paintings and sculptures, housed in a private black box, our conversation progressed. I asked him what image appeared in his mind when he meditated. Was it blank? He said to see nothing is impossible. So he instead allows his mind to wander, but only in the present. I asked him how much clarity he had on his life's purpose as a monk. He had complete clarity: his goal was to achieve enlightenment in this life, be reincarnated as a bodhisattva in his next life, and then cease the cycle of human rebirth. Then, I asked him what enlightenment was. He smiled. And thought. After several minutes of typing, and deleting, and thinking and typing. He shared the following with me through Google Translate: Enlightenment is when everything you see becomes beautiful.

In lieu of a long-winded exposition, I'll simply share that this thought closed out a year of religious discovery for me, talking to people of all religions, trying to make sense of how people believe what they do and what it is they reeaaalllly believe. I think my new monk friend from Kyoto has figured something out. And I hope it proves useful for some others here, in pursuit of living a kind, happy and laughter filed life.

Cosibro