Month of Running Monks

December is here. It’s the last month of 2021. I’ve already exchanged conversations about how fast the year has gone, which we seem to do every year. In Japanese calendar, December is called, “Shiwasu （しわす）” literally means “running monks.” Well, I didn’t know why it was called that, so I Googled. It turns out, there was a tradition in Japan for families to call in a Buddhist monks to their homes to do a year-end service. So all the monks were busy running around visiting homes during this month. If it was a tradition that existed while I was growing up in Japan, I simply never knew about it, and of course, my family was not a practicing Buddhist, either.

All I know is it’s not the monks who are running around in December these days. We all tend to get really busy this time of the year. Especially as we’re arguably on the heel of a year and a half COVID alert, people seem to be anxious to get back to “normal” life: i.e., holiday parties and shopping. Yes, I was typically one who would get extremely busy this time of the year as FOMO kicks in and didn’t want to miss anything. But today, I’m really longing for the quiet.

For many years I went to a year-end silent retreats at the end of the year between Christmas and the New Year, which was really my favorite activity for December. I love spending the last days of the year in silence and meet the new year in silence. Between the teacher discontinuing that particular retreat program and all other circumstances, I have not done a year-end retreat for several years now let alone it’s been more than 2 years without a silent retreat.

Needless to say (as it seems like that’s all I’ve been writing about), it’s been a year and more of losses. And I feel like I haven’t sufficiently honored those who moved on. Will I get a chance to do so? I hope so. In many traditions, religious or not, there are some ceremonies and rituals to acknowledge this time of the year. Even though I may be running around earlier part of the month, I certainly hope to give myself some time of reflection and quiet. I hope you do, too.