Sometimes, the best things in life are not planned. While staying at the San Francisco Zen Center, I learned that there would be a Buddha's Birthday celebration. This is basically when Zen Buddhists bust out the balloons, bathe a tiny buddha statue and chant a lot. It's actually kind of fun, I think.

So, I ran upstairs to my room, grabbed my camera and then jumped into the procession.

I did my best to blend in (for future reference - this is kind of hard when wearing a red coat). But I didn't shy away from taking pictures of people I didn't know (which was nearly everyone there). No one really seemed to mind though and I even discovered a few other shutterbugs snapping away.

Who says Zennies can't have a little fun?

so I ran upstairs, grabbed my camera and jumped into the procession.