The monthly day of meditation and prayer

    Also this month, March 2013, on the second thursday of the month, Shinmeizan will hold its monthly "day of meditation and prayer" in which Christians as well as people of other religions can participate. This tradition began in 1995, and has been faithfully observed until now, without interruption. This month, it will be the 164th time! This monthly "day of meditation and prayer" open to all, is marked by silence, contact with nature and the meeting with other people, sharing one's own spiritual experience: the characteristic aspects of life at Shinmeizan. The same schedule has been kept all along these 18 years.

  The retreat starts at 10:00 with about one hour of meditation in common, guided by one of the members of the Shinmeizan community, followed by another hour of personal meditation. At noon, lunch is shared together, in silence. After a short break for a walk in the midst of nature, always in silence, the subject dealt with in the morning is taken up again, but this time, in the form of prayer, first together, for about an hour, and then for about half an hour individually.

  This "meditation and prayer" meeting ends around 15:30 sharing together a cup of tea in friendly and joyful conversation. This schedule allows for people to come and go back home on the same day, even for people arriving from Fukuoka (70 km North) or Yatsushiro (60 km South), but some people prefer to arrive on the evening before or to stop at Shinmeizan for the night after the retreat.

   This year, the subject for the monthly meditation and prayer is taken from Pope Benedict XVI's weekly public addresses given in 2011 and 2012 on the prayer of Jesus, published both in English and in Japanese and Shinmeizan wants to take this opportunity to join the millions of people all over the world in thanking Benedict XVI for his luminous and couregeous teaching during the eight years of his exemplary service to the Church and the world. In addition to these monthly days of prayer, Shinmeizan offers the possibility of guided retreats also for several days, both to individuals and groups, both Christians and people of other religious traditions, during the whole year. Shinmeizan is indeed first of all a "place of prayer", or spiritual experience, which provides both the foundation of, and the inspiration for, interreligious dialogue.