亀清旅館では「若旦那と朝５時座禅」と言う独特なプランがございます。ハードルが高いせいか、あまり売れていない現状です。（バカ売れしたら逆に困る！体がもつかどうか不安になるから。）少し、お客様のご興味を結構引きますので一応、既に設定しております。

（たまにお客様に聞かれます。「本当に朝５時に座禅をするの？」って。「ご要望があれば、喜んでご一緒に行きますよ」と答えたら、大半の方は「起きられない」と逃げます。）

今朝はニューヨークから来たＷｙｌｉｅさんと一緒に、頑張って早く起きて開眼寺へ行って、座禅してきました。行く途中で太陽さんがちょうど上がってくるところでした。「田毎の月」で有名な姨捨棚田の側を通って、奥の善光寺平の光もあって、その景色を見て思いました:　朝５時に起きる価値はありますね。

One of Kamesei Ryokan's more unique Stay Plans is our "5am Zazen Meditation Plan". I take guests to Kaigan-ji Temple at 5am for a zazen session with the priest there, Shibata-san. In actuality, this plan very rarely sales. (I would be in trouble if it did -- I don't think I can wake up at 5am every morning!) But the plan serves a purpose in getting people's attention.

(Guests often ask me, "Do you really go do zazen meditation at 5am?" I always reply, "If anybody would like to go, I'd be happy to take them." Most people dodge the proposal because they can't wake up at 5am.)

This morning, I had the privelege of taking Wylie-san, a traveller from New York, for 5am meditation. As we drove to the temple, the sun was just starting to come up. Our route took us by the famous moon-reflecting terraced rice fields of Obasute. The fields have been harvested and the rice is stacked for drying. With the lights flickering in the Zenkoji Plain down below, it made for a beautiful sight.

Waking up at 5am was worth it!