Koyasan

Ruth: Until today we had one incomplete page in our henro stamp book, the one reserved for Koyasan. This morning we took two trains, a cable car and a bus and arrived at the final resting place of Kobo Daishi: Koyasan. I say resting place, because to his followers he is not dead but has been in a state of deep meditation since the 9th century.  

Koyasan is a large monastic community established by Kobo Daishi.  It is located in the mountains near Wakayama at over 800 meters. There are at least 55 monasteries  that offer accommodation here, but we chose to just visit for the day. 

Yesterday Gord asked me what I planned to say to the Saint when we reached his mausoleum. I was surprised and unprepared for the question and responded with just, “Thank you”.  Gord was completely disappointed with this response and had apparently prepared a much better speech for himself. 

If I thought that Kobo Daishi was actually listening to me I might have quite a bit to say. I would certainly let him know how I have appreciated the opportunity to follow in his footsteps around such a beautiful island. I would say that I am grateful to all the wonderful people we met on Shikoku who helped me to feel better about humanity. I would also tell him that practicing a slow and simple life mindfully for 55 days has shown me that my whirlwind multi-tasking habits push me further away from what I actually seek. 

Gordon: Our visit to Koyasan was spent almost entirely in the graveyard.  It stretches through an ancient cedar forest for almost two kilometres, and has more than 200,000 funerary markers.  I am a big fan of cemeteries, and the one at Koyasan is the most fascinating and beautiful that I have visited.  

The highlight of the cemetery is, of course, the tomb of Kobo Daishi, located at the far end.  In my own reporting conversation with him, I also expressed my gratitude for the opportunity to visit his old haunts on Shikoku.  I also told him that I benefited from reading and thinking about the Heart sutra 111 times.  I did have to be honest with him, however, and admit that much of Shingon Buddhism did not resonate with me.  There is too much weird animism, including the cult of Kobo Daishi.  In many ways it merges with Shinto, which is an animist religion.  The esoteric nature of the Shingon sect also seems like a spiritual pyramid scheme to me.  The pilgrimage did not change my agnostic view of the world, but it did, hopefully, leave me more mindful in my day to day life.

Final Day of Walking or Cycling

Gordon:  Today was our 55th and final day of walking or cycling.  We have covered a little over 1300 kms, as measured by the English language guide book, though our actual mileage was probably about 1500 kms.  We also visited all 88 temples on our first circuit, and 23 temples on our second.  The total of 111 temples sounds quite auspicious.

The storm yesterday was truly biblical in its intensity.  When a particularly active cell passed over, the wind would increase to a frightening pitch, the rain fell as though it was being poured on our heads from a bucket, and lightning was striking all around us.  While it was rather unpleasant, my reaction to it may reflect some modest progress in mindfulness.  Throughout the pilgrimage I have tried to periodically be in the moment, by turning my attention to the sounds, smells and sights around me, as well as assessing my own physical feelings.  During the storm I turned my attention to all of the novel things I was seeing.  These included large numbers of tiny, lime green frogs on the roads, as well as many multicoloured land crabs (a strange sight miles from the sea).  There was also the movement of all the water: sheets of water were running across the roads, the drainage holes in concrete walls were fountains, and formerly small steams were dirty, raging rivers.

This morning was quite the opposite of yesterday.  It dawned clear, and remained warm but pleasant all day.  We decided to walk or cycle from Hiwasa to Mugi along a beautiful secondary road called the Minami-awa Sun Line.  It rises several hundred metres, and then undulates across the landscape, with views of the rugged coastline and the possibility of seeing wild monkeys.  While we came up empty on the monkeys, there were a dozen stray cats at one viewpoint.

I walked quietly and happily, trying to be in the moment, but already thinking about continuing our second circuit in the future.  We deposited a name slip at each temple, and part of what we wrote on them was a wish.  At the final temple we visited we both wished to return to continue the pilgrimage.

Henro Huts: Temples 20-23

Ruth: Thank goodness for these henro huts that are sprinkled along the route. As I write this I am sitting in one watching the first of the colossal monsoon rains sweep through. The news this morning said that Shikoku would receive up to 200 mm of rain today and I am beginning to believe it. When I spotted this lovely shelter I was filled with relief. 

I didn’t have a long wait before I was joined by a very soggy Gordon. Next a tv cameraman showed up and asked if he could film us trying to stay sheltered from the rain. After he left we were joined by Theresa, another henro from Hong Kong. In spite of her rain paints and jacket, she too was soaked to the skin. Then we heard a car honk and it was our host from Panda house. He and his son arrived with two cars to rescue us from the storm. At that moment the rain had decreased a bit and we thanked him but insisted on making our own ways there. 

 

After he left us the sky opened up again, but this time with wind and lightning. Our host returned to offer Gord and Theresa a final chance to catch a ride but they were determined to march on. 

Whatever the situation whether it’s heat, exhaustion or biblical rains the henro huts have been waiting for us. The day before I made the climb back up to Temple 20, I stopped in a rest hut to cool off in the shade. Someone had left a knee brace that fit perfectly.  It was just what I needed for the most difficult climb on the route. I plan on leaving the cheaper sleeping bag we bought in a hut for the next pilgrim in need. 

These huts are also the unofficial but mostly tolerated camping spots for many henro doing the route on a budget. One of our friends was camping in a hammock a few days behind us. Whenever we spotted a particularly sweet hut we would text her the location. 

This one even has a shower!

The Henro huts have played an important role for us all along the route. It’s the day after the storm now and I am sitting under another shelter cooling off out of the hot humidity. I’m sharing this one with a number of stray cats. We brought cat food up this time, but we were too late. A young man on a motorcycle had already cleaned and filled the food bowls he leaves for them. We gave him our food for next time. 

Pictures of many more of the huts can be found here: 

http://walkingmylife.weebly.com/henro-huts.html

In the last two days we returned to four of my favourite temples on the route. Kakurinji temple 20, Tairūji temple 21 Byōdōji temple 22 and Yakuoji temple 23. This is where our henro will have to end this year. 

Temple 20

Temple 21

Meditation or Medication?: Temples 13-19 again

Ruth:  I would like to think that the reason I feel calmer and more serene is that my efforts on this pilgrimage are having an effect, that the hours of slowly pedalling around this beautiful island have helped me to stay present in the moment and let other concerns wash away. This is definitely part of the answer, but I have another theory as well. 

After my trip to the Azores I found two blood clots in my leg. I was prescribed and have been taking blood thinners. Halfway through the trip I finished the course of pills, with another short course to start a week before my return flight. Going off the pills was terrible. Any change of head position from horizontal to vertical made me so dizzy my head was spinning. It felt like the “bed spins” you get when you lie down after too much alcohol. It made getting up from futons or tents even more challenging. I had enough pills to just go back on them and after about a week the dizziness thankfully faded away. 

I have POT Syndrome which means that my heart must pound faster when I stand up to prevent my blood from pooling in my legs. It makes me wonder if at least some of my anxiety could be a physiological reaction to not having enough blood in my head? It is curious that I have not felt any anxiety the entire time I have been on this medication. Of course I have worried over a few problems but never felt the anxiety I  normally struggle with. 

It will be interesting to see what happens when I wean myself off the medication. Perhaps instead of trying to figure out if it is Buddhism or the blood thinners I should just sit back and enjoy this moment. 

Temple 12, Again

Gordon:  Temple 12 was unfinished business for Ruth. It is the first significant challenge on the Shikoku pilgrimage, and Ruth had been obsessively strategizing about it for weeks before we arrived in Japan.  In the end, she and Geraldine took a taxi to it on our first encounter.  Seven weeks of cycling later, Ruth is feeling much stronger and she wanted to cycle up.

The main pilgrimage route to Temple 12 is a forest trail that climbs a total of 1100 metres in three grades over 12 kms.  The approach by road is more circuitous, with the result that Ruth had to cycle 35 kms to reach the Temple.

The starting gun was fired about 6:45 this morning, and Ruth and I set off on our respective routes.  She had an early lead, as the first few kilometres were flat, and I had not yet visited Temple 11, which Ruth had done yesterday evening.  From the back of Temple 11 I immediately started up a steadily climbing trail, while Ruth followed a river around to the base of her climb.  She dropped her trailer at a michi-no-eki (a road rest stop), as I completed my first descent.  Ruth hit the bottom of her 700 metre climb when I was engaged in my second climb.  Sweat pouring off me, I completed the second grade and began the second descent.  The final climb is the steepest, with the poorest trail.  I was also starting to feel a bit fatigued.  Ruth continued her upward grind, rounding the hairpin corners with what was no doubt a steely look in her eyes.  I reached the final, paved traverse used by the bus tour groups, rounded the last corner, looking for that silly bike ... but no, she wasn’t there.  I walked triumphantly through the Temple gate, clearly the better Buddhist.  It was another half hour before Ruth staggered through the same gate, drenched in sweat, but ecstatic none the less.

The pilgrimage season is essentially over on Shikoku now.  I saw only one other walking pilgrim today, and a single group of bus tour pilgrims.  There has only been one other guest at the last two places where we stayed.  This makes it easy to get accommodation, but I understand that many of the places will soon be closed for the season.  All in all, it is a pleasant time to be a henro, but I’m afraid it won’t last, as the rainy season will soon be upon us.