Buddhism, Tokyo style...

Last night went to a talk by Sogyal Rinpoche, the author of "The Tibeten book of living and dying", and monk to the stars. It was cool, especially considering the lifestyle I've been leading up until now. He gave a rambling 3 hour lesson about meditation interspersed with stories and jokes, and I loved every minute of it. I'm sure what helped greatly was that the talk was in a really cool nightclub (if a trifle "hippy") which had it's own micro brewery that made it's own summer ale and stout, both really nice! The only few negative points about the evening were that I'm not so used to sitting cross legged on the floor for three hours and that beer in Japan costs Four quid a glass... Other than that it was a nice evening. After the talk there was a Koto player and, this being tokyo, Veejays and Djs providing a futuristic take on the evening's events. As well as the usual hippy "lost it"s there was a bunch of cool people there too... I guess the Beasties have done wonders for Buddhism... Maybe better poster boys than Richard Gere, I dunno.

In summary, I learnt:

• To be truly happy one has to turn the mind inward and make it like a placid pool.
• Depression and other mental problems are caused by thinking too much.
• Through training the mind to be still one gains confidence and self assurance.
• Three hours is a fucking long time for me to be sitting cross legged on the floor.
• Reverend Buddhist lamas prefer a light summer brew to a thick stout.

Thus endeth the lessons for today. I'm back in the Tokyo I have become used to, sitting in a little wipe clean internet booth with smoked windows wondering how many of those noises I can hear are people finishing themselves off to Manga pornography...

Peas out.