Dear friends and family,
On Monday the 29th August 2011 what was the 49th day following the passing of Suzuki Sensei as is the Buddhist custom a group of us assembled for the scattering of his ashes.
The day began at 9.00 am at the Japanese Peace Pagoda in London where we had located a Japanese Buddhist Monk to say some prayers before we scattered the ashes.
He met Eleni, Alison and myself, outside of the pagoda, dressed in his ceremonial robes and beating his drum. He explained that it was customary for us to circle the temple three times and bow to the Buddhas on each side.
We then followed him back to his Temple that was well hidden amongst trees in the park. When we entered we were astonished at how lavish the alter was that lay within.
He explained the small service to us and what we were required to do and the service began. We felt a great sense of peace there and were sure that this was something that Sensei would have appreciated even though he was not a religious man.
Sensei had asked for his ashes to be scattered in the sea in England and we chose a spot that was relatively close to London and also that was very beautiful and somewhere he would have liked. A group of us met on the harbour at Chichester and travelled out by boat to a point mid way between Hayling Island and East Wittering. The weather was really good after a bad week the same as it had been for the funeral. The group that made the journey with Eleni were Jon Wicks and his wife Therasa, Costas Michaelides and his son Andreas Michaelides, Joop Weeland, Kevin Warren and Alison Reigate.
The boat ride lasted for about one hour and was a mixture of laughter with a few tears but everyone felt that the final mission had been accomplished. It was now a matter of looking forward to the future and what had to be done. Eleni was happy to have a few close friends with her to carry out Sensei’s wishes and we all felt greatly honoured to have helped her in this.
After our last goodbyes we visited a local restaurant for a meal ( why change the habits of a life time!!!!) and went our separate ways home.
On the pictures. 1. The monk in the temple. 2. All together on the boat with the urn with the ashes of Suzuki Sensei. 3. Eleni scattering the ashes of Sensei.
Regards
Joop Weeland
President WIKF Holland
Memories of Sensei Suzuki
