EnglishRev. Takafumi Kawakami, Deputy Head Priest at Kyoto’s Shunkoin Temple, embraces the skill of mindfulness as the center of Zen Buddhism and meditation, inspiring us all to slow our frantic lives to stay true to the present.
A deceptively difficult task for our human minds is to live in the moment. Our brains and drive to be in constant motion hurtle our thoughts and attentions between the past and the future with few stops to be truly “in the now”. Rev. Takafumi Kawakami, Deputy Head Priest at Kyoto’s Shunkoin Temple, places the skill of mindfulness – the mindful ability to be wholly and peacefully in the present―at the center of Zen Buddhism and meditation. While Rev. Kawakami has found himself in the recent world spotlight for performing Buddhist wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples, he embraces the principles of mindfulness equally to performing wedding ceremonies as he does throughout his teachings and life―accepting and staying true to the needs of the present. His example inspires us all to slow our frantic rush forward so that we can be who we need to be now.
