“All throughout your daily life.” In Zen, these words mean all the time whether you are sitting or standing—eating, walking or mopping. We say that you can practice Zen by fully applying yourself when doing any activity, even any one of these.

When you’re cleaning, just clean. When you’re walking, concentrate on nothing but walking. Or perhaps even, only sucking on a piece of hard candy. Just concentrating on doing one thing brings you closer to the spirit of Zen. Perhaps you can’t even picture the concept of Zen itself, but trying it for yourself is crucial. Experience is everything.

I had been thinking about experiencing Zen through such an ordinary aspect of regular life, hard candy, and I wanted to try this together with Assistant Chief Priest Matsuyama of Taizo-in Temple, a sub-temple of Myoshin-ji Temple! I’d had this plan in mind, and we managed to put it in action in just two months.

People tend enjoy hard candy while they’re doing something else, like while working or playing. Surely, there can’t be many people who have ever tried fully focusing their awareness on the candy alone. So, normally, this is something that we do alongside another action. Concentrating only on the candy itself helps us to look inward, and many people have found it to be an interesting experience. 

 

This candy for meditation is on sale now (300 yen) at the entrance and main hall of Taizo-in Temple.

This hard candy is produced together with Kyoto candy shop Daimonji Ame. It is made from yuzu picked at Taizo-in Temple and medicinal herb gotsukora extract which is used in Ayurveda and has a meditative effect, as well as rosewater, edible cedar powder and starch syrup. And, this elaborately crafted candy is also surprisingly delicious. Actually, it’s so delicious that once you’ve enjoyed trying a sample, you’ll end up feeling like eating an entire package!

 

And of course, information about the candy is also provided in the ON THE TRIP guide along with the story of Taizo-in Temple. Your virtual navigator will be Assistant Chief Priest Daiko Matsuyama himself.

This is a guide with a sense of the here-and-now. If you walk around the temple grounds with this as your guide, you’ll feel just as if Priest Daiko were there guiding you. Definitely make sure to use this guide at Taizo-in Temple. And please try the “One Drop of Zen” candy meditation experience too.