My Private Kyoto

I was so overwhelmed by my stay and visit of Kyoto, that it was like the feeling one has to keep a private secret just for oneself.

Now I am just about ripe and ready to share some of my feelings. I stayed in a nice neighbourhood, not far away from Nijō Castle. The houses in the small streets were well kept, sparking clean, and plants and flowers were in the front of the small houses. 

I came to Kyoto open minded for seeing and feeling beauty, learning Calligraphy, and for any random encounters.

When I left the hotel onto the street that shone with its cleanliness, a short walk brought me to an ancient Buddhist temple that amazed me with its beauty – the Shinsen-en Garden and temple. The bright red curved bridge was in the center, a stream flowed under it, green vegetation covered every corner along the paths. I was thrilled by the immense Sakura bloom, it was exciting and heart opening.

The Shinsen-en Temple, Buddhist, has been a pilgrimage center for about 800 years, like a contact to receive blessings from the Gods and the Universe. The atmosphere at the temple was vibrant & electrifying but calm and happy.

Sakura (桜) the Cherry Blossom was most stunning encounter that touched my heart.

One of the things that captured my heart in Kyoto was that I felt that despite the tendency of Japanese people to be introverted, people always think of others before themselves. It comes as the respectful bows they make when meeting someone, it comes from the silence they maintain on trains and buses [it’s not respectful talking on cell phones in public places in Japan, which is common in most other countries], and it comes from the cleanliness that everyone maintains in their immediate surroundings and in public spaces.

A remarkable meetings was with the Master Calligraphy teacher @shoukei_moji.