Dear Friends,
During my pilgrimage in the spring of 2016, I posted each day a haiku and a photo. Now I am posting a more detailed report of the Shikoku pilgrimage as an ohenro, a pilgrim walking the approximately 800 miles Shikoku-no-michi route around the island of Shikoku. For years, I carried the secret wish in myself to walk the 88-temple hike. Finally I could do it. The whole pilgrimage took 54 days, which included a stay at the Sōtō Zen temple Zuiōji for 8 days.
The Shikoku Island is divided into 4 prefectures. Each prefecture has been given a Buddhist dōjō (place of spiritual training) name:
Tokushima, Place of Spiritual Awakening
Kōchi, Place of Ascetic Training
Ehime, Place of Enlightenment
Kagawa, Place of Nirvana
I will structure my report according to these four sections. However, I started and ended my pilgrimage in Kōyasan, the place where Kūkai is buried and in whose footsteps every ohenro walks. Therefore, I will also include my days in Kōyasan, a place located south of Osaka on the main island.
Due to the nature of the blog, I only can give an overview and have to leave out many details. In my forthcoming book Shikoku; The 88 Temple Way; Poetics of a Japanese Pilgrimage, I will describe my personal experience and the trek in even more detail.
Two days in Kōyasan
In the beginning of the 9th century, Kūkai (lit. translated as Great Sky, Great Ocean) received permission from emperor Junno to build a monastery on Mt. Kōya, a place deep in the mountains and far away from civilization. It became the center of the Shingon sect, whose founder was Kūkai. His teachings are based on the use of mantras, mudras (gestures) and rituals. This kind of Buddhism is called Esoteric Buddhism.
Kōyasan consists today of 120 Buddhist temples and is a World Heritage Site. The okunoin, where Kūkai is in eternal rest, is the most sacred place in Kōyasan. His mausoleum is surrounded by an immense graveyard, where over 200 000 people are buried. The graves are nestled in between ancient cedar trees, some of them more than 1000 years old.
An over 2 km long walkway leads to the mausoleum of Kūkai, known also as Kōbō Daishi, the great teacher. It is said that he did not die but rests in eternal meditation to wait for the arrival of Miroku Nyorai, the Buddha of the Future. The path is lined by stone lantern (ishidōrō). Left and right from the path you can see many different shapes of grave markers. Even today, people want to be buried beside Kōbō Daishi. Many different big companies also have their commemoration stone here at the cemetery. One of the big pesticide companies commemorates here all the insects it has killed.
Under the root of a powerful cedar tree sits a little Buddha with offerings in front of him. It is very common to offer money.
The water fountain is located near the mausoleum. It was freezing cold when I was there.
Those two Jizō Bosatus (Boddhisattvas), guardians of children, seem to like the warmth of cuddling together.
Entrance to one of the temples close to the Ichinohashi Bridge, the “gate” entering the sacred site of the okunoin (cemetery).
Danjō Garan in Kōyasan with lecture hall, main treasure and the Konpon Daitō (great pagoda) originally designed and built by Kōbō Daishi in the 9th century. Due to fires, the two story pagoda has been rebuilt many times.
Great Pagoda designed by Kōbō Daishi
Bell Tower at Danjō Garan in Kongobuji Temple
Entrance gate of one of the 120 temples in Kōyasan. The rope made out of rice straw is a Shintō symbol (shimenawa) indicating the sacredness of the space.
Inner court of one of the many temples
Here you see a row of Bosatsus (Boddhisattvas) with offerings in front of the temple Hongakuin where I stayed overnight. These beings try to save all beings while training under Noyrai, the Buddha of the Future. Many temples provide a place to stay overnight in Kōyasan. These places are called shukubō.
Food is served in the Tatami room where you eat and sleep. Rooms in temples are often cold in winter times. Underneath the table there is a heater to keep your lower body and feet warm (kotatsu). The table was set for my friends Yuko and Shigeo and myself. A monk served the dinner. On the tray, every dish has its traditional place. The red lacquered bowl holds the miso soup; on the plate beside is tempura. The blue patterned dish is for rice. On the table, in the little iron cooking pots heated by a candle, a soup with different vegetables is boiling. The food is delicious.
What exquisite beauty!!
Yes, it was unbelievable beautiful! I was in awe all the time. You would love it there!