“I didn’t believe in the power of meditation at first, but it’s amazing. It’s real.”

Yuki Kameda, a 38-year-old graphic designer from Japan, never imagined how much meditation could change her life for the better. Several years ago, faced with mounting workplace anxiety and intense self-doubt, she found Mingyur Rinpoche’s Joy of Living teachings.

“At that time, I felt like I was reaching the limit of my capacity,” Yuki said in an online interview from her Tokyo home. “I didn’t know how to meet my supervisor’s expectations, and that created a lot of self-doubt. Even though people around me would say I was doing fine, I just couldn’t believe them.”

Seeing Yuki’s emotional state, her husband suggested she read Mingyur Rinpoche’s bestseller, The Joy of Living. That was the key that would begin a deeply transformative journey.

The Power of Meditation

Meditation shifted Yuki’s frame of mind entirely. When a colleague’s actions felt like a personal betrayal, instead of reacting with anger, she turned to loving-kindness and compassion meditation.

“I realized everybody is the same, just like me. They all want to do a good job at work,” Yuki said. “I realized that everything is really the expression of love and compassion. So now, when I encounter something challenging, I pause, and I think about the background of why this person is saying this to me.”

The shift has not been limited to difficult emotional situations. For thirty years, Yuki has been acutely sensitive to sound. At night, she couldn’t sleep due to the neighbors’ voices or street sounds and would rely on earplugs and sleeping pills. On the train to work, she would be bothered by the chatter of others and the sound of babies crying. “I really found it so challenging and hated that my mind was reacting in that way.”

These days, loud sounds often pass unnoticed. “Even my husband, when we are out and about, sometimes asks if I heard a loud sound, and I’d be surprised — I didn’t even notice it,” she said with a smile. “I found that things I used to dislike no longer bothered me,” she said.

A New Perspective 

Yuki is not alone in her interest in meditation. There is a growing openness to meditation and mindfulness in Japan, especially among younger generations.

In Japan, religion or spirituality has often been viewed with suspicion, especially by older generations. “Some of my peers think meditation is a bit spiritual or even cult-like,” Yuki said. 

A number of factors have led to this reticence. Older generations remember the government-sponsored version of Shinto, Japan’s indigenous religion called State Shinto, which was influential until the end of World War 2. Additionally, many Japanese recall the deadly Tokyo subway sarin gas attack in 1995 carried out by Aum Shinrikyo, a religious doomsday cult.

Yuki herself had been hesitant to embrace meditation. “When I encountered The Joy of Living, my mind changed.”

Generally speaking, Yuki is careful in how she introduces meditation to her friends, often framing it in terms of neuroscience or corporate wellness trends, citing companies like Google and Apple that encourage mindfulness for their employees. “When I share that information, people are much more open to it,” she said.

She notices the younger generation, in particular, is fairly curious. “The younger generation, those younger than me, seem to be really positive about it. They don’t have much aversion to something spiritual.”

Volunteering with a Purpose

Yuki’s appreciation for meditation has inspired her to volunteer for Tergar Japan, the national group that organizes Tergar events and oversees the practice groups. She began looking after the administration of Joy of Living workshops, moderating the group’s Slack homework channel, and doing her best to encourage and engage participants. She also offered her graphic design skills to support meditation workshops and events.

The experience of volunteering during Mingyur Rinpoche’s most recent visit, she said, was invigorating, not exhausting. “I was afraid my physical stamina wouldn’t be enough for the four days of volunteering from morning till night, but it was the opposite. I received tons of power and strength through these experiences,” she said.

Outgoing in nature, Yuki found the isolation during the pandemic difficult and now enjoys the community interactions that Tergar Japan offers. She attributes her enthusiasm for Tergar to the connections she made with other volunteers and, especially, those from different generations. “I gain so much knowledge and inspiration from others older and younger than me.”

Reflecting back on the last years of her meditation path, Yuki smiled: “I have had such a different mindset since I began practicing meditation. I didn’t believe in the power of meditation at first, but now I’m amazed by it — it’s real. I’ve really come to see the benefits of meditation!”

November 2024