Well when we first began to study Buddhism I could see a few similarities between the religion and the martial arts. However, when we visited the center I was able to visually observe how a big part of my life has it's roots from the religion.
When we first walked in the room, I saw the to Zen teachers dressed in their outfits and I was immediately reminded of the Korean uniforms some of the black belts from my Tae Kwon Do school purchased on a trip to Korea a few years ago. The next thing I noticed was how the regulars to the center would bow to the meditation room when they would walk in or out. This too is strikingly familiar to me. In Tae Kwon Do everyone bows when entering or exiting our training room which we call a 'dojang'. We bow to show respect for our training space so I'm pretty sure that the worshippers were bowing to their room too show respect for their worship space.
I found the chanting that they did very interesting as well. It was a little different from the Gregorian chanting I'm used to hearing in the Catholic church. Their were two differences that I immediately noticed when they began to chant: 1. They mostly stayed on one note, they rarely moved up or down in tonal pitches. 2. They were clacking wood rythmically to keep all who were chanting together in time. Their form of chant is actually easier for an average person to participate in than Gregorian.
Overall, I found our visit to the center to be a very interesting experience, one that will definitely something I will remember for the rest of my life. It also has given me a couple new insights on my martial art. I know the next time I'm training I will be remembering my visit.
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