Late Nite Visits

I've gotten a fair share of odd people at my door, and always after 9pm. It's not that late, I'm just not used to people I don't know showing up at my door after dark. So tonight, the doorbell rings, and I assumed it was a friend that was going to show up a couple days ago...but didn't...anyway, I assume it was a mistranslation.

I open the door to find two women standing there, and my gianormous presence fills the doorway. I duck to see who it is. I had also changed into clothes to go running in (I CAN FINALLY GO RUNNING AGAIN!), which consists of an undershirt and shorts; ideal running clothes; not ideal clothing for standing in the cold trying to understand what strangers are saying to you.

After the normal shock and awe that occurs once people realize that a non-Japanese person can live in Japan, as well as speak a little of the language, they start their speech. Oh yes, they are a religious sect, and are trying their best to explain it to me. In Japanese.

Now, I'm not too bad with the language. I can easily get around. I don't really have problems dealing with clients in Japanese. Even if I don't understand entirely what is being said, I catch atleast some of it, and can respond accordingly.

Not in the case with religious vocabulary, apparently.

The conversation starts off with them asking if I'm happy, and that I can be happy by meditating with them. They then offer to show me, and it will only take 5 minutes. I have never felt unsafe in this country. Ever. But people that go door to door, asking if they can come in and meditate with you, just doesn't sit well with me. I feign misunderstanding, and decline. I'm sure they weren't going to loot my apartment and all the vast treasures found inside, but I also don't want people I don't know coming into my tiny apartment and sharing happiness with me by passing the divine light through their palm and into mine.

I then get asked what country I'm from, and, like always, answering "American" opens doors to all sorts of questions about stereotypes. They assume I'm Catholic, which I'm quick to correct by explaining that I am nondenominational. This fails horribly, since I'm not familiar with the Japanese term for "Nondenominational," so I explain that I'm Christian, but not Catholic. I guess I said something wrong, because I picked up on the words "hate" and "other gods." Or maybe I didn't say anything wrong.

Try explaining the concept of having your own, personal religious beliefs, but are still able to respect other peoples' and cultures'. Ok, now do it in another language.

Disproving their fear that all American Christians would immediately get angry and violent, we chat about what I'm doing in Japan. I'm still mildly curious what they were referring to when they asked if I was happy, and if I wanted to become happy by meditating with one of the ladies, so I ask if they can write down the name of their sect. They do, and apologetically give me a huge pamphlet, in mostly Japanese, and try to explain the pamphlet as best they can. I thank them, they point out that I'm probably cold, I agree, and they leave.

I vaguely remember studying this religion in one of my Japanese religion courses, but there were so many New Religions that we covered over a short period of time, I had to use wikipedia to help me. Apparently, Johrei is "a method of channeling divine light into the body of a patient through the palm of the administrator. To do this, the administrator holds his/her hand about a foot away from the area to which the spiritual power is purported to be directed."

Thanks wiki!