Arnaud DESJARDINS stayed in Japan, and thanks to Master Sensei Taisen DESHIMARU he was able to film the life of the Japanese monasteries of the three orders of Zen (Soto, Obaku and Rinzai). He visited the monasteries of Eihei-ji, Manpuku-ji, Engaku-ji, Sohei-ji and met several Zen masters including Sogen Asahina, head of the Rinzai Federation and Taishun Sato, abbot of the Eihei-ji monastery.
We discover the various rituals and ceremonies that punctuate the daily life of the monks: The collective zazen in the dojo with the use of the baton (kyosaku), the rite of monastic ordination, tonsure, the relationship of the master to the disciple (mondo or sanzen), reading and singing of the sutras, tantric rites, communal meals, the teaching of zazen and meditative walking (kinhin) by the master Deshimaru to novice monks.