Reasons for undertaking the Shikoku Pilgrimage
People have been asking. I told a Christian friend about the pilgrimage earlier today and she is one of the few who has not thought it odd. I get a lot of comments on the decision to walk in February -- a cold month in Japan, for certain. Others ask why I am "really" undertaking the pilgrimage. Some of my responses, all true, but not in any particular order --
-- Because I have long been curious about Buddhism in Japan
-- Because I have lived in, and traveled to, Japan over the past 28 years but have never been to Shikoku
-- I want to see Shikoku
-- For my physical health
-- For my mental well-being
-- it is a challenge
-- I feel drawn toward Guanyin/Kannon
Here is the reason that is rather long-winded and which only my wife knows (and all too well): I finished a PhD last year and found the whole thing, especially the final few years, rather hellish. Toward the end of the grind, I got sick, and about the same time I began studying Buddhism and the Dharma with ever greater. I got better. I am a constitutional skeptic but believe in the power of the imagination. I have a religious bent. It bends toward the Dharma. I want to pay homage to the Dharma. I cannot explain it any more fully because I don't understand it any more clearly myself.
As for the cold weather: I fear the heat and rain more than the cold. I live on a tropical island. People in northern Europe dream of Malta and the Canary Islands. My fanasties tend toward grey skies, evergreen trees, mountains and the broad wintry sea. I cannot explain it more fully than this because I do not understand it any better myself.
I leave in a couple of weeks. I hope to walk through Tokushima and visit the twenty-three temples in that prefecture.
May all beings discover the path to liberation from suffering.
Su Dongpo
Kobo Daishi and the Shikoku Pilgrimage
Re: Kobo Daishi and the Shikoku Pilgrimage
I think your reasons are perfectly understandable. I think many people go on a pilgrimage during or after some kind of life crisis or life changing experience. I don't know how people could find that odd... maybe many didn't have a similar experience. Well and non-Buddhists maybe would not understand your affinity towards the dharma and Kannon (btw. there are 30 temples with Kannon as principal image).*
* You probably have the complete list of all the temples with names, principal image and affiliation. Maybe this is interesting anyway.
* You probably have the complete list of all the temples with names, principal image and affiliation. Maybe this is interesting anyway.
Re: Kobo Daishi and the Shikoku Pilgrimage
I hang out with academics. Our research time is precious and the pilgrimage has nothing to do with research. It also sounds vaguely religious, which is definitely a no-no for many in my line of work, although I don't want to overstate this -- people vary in all walks of life of course. I think it is also not something most people who know me casually would expect of me, and few know of my interest in Buddhism.Tatsuo wrote:I think your reasons are perfectly understandable. I think many people go on a pilgrimage during or after some kind of life crisis or life changing experience. I don't know how people could find that odd... maybe many didn't have a similar experience. Well and non-Buddhists maybe would not understand your affinity towards the dharma and Kannon (btw. there are 30 temples with Kannon as principal image).*
Thanks for this. I hadn't looked at the Wiki in Japanese -- good idea. I have been meaning to give a short reading list and comments for others interested in the Shikoku pilgrimage, but I haven't finished much of this reading myself. However, I would recommend this handy guidebook, in English, to anyone considering walking the pilgrimage in whole or in part:* You probably have the complete list of all the temples with names, principal image and affiliation. Maybe this is interesting anyway.
David Moreton, Shikoku Japan 88 Route Guide (2nd ed., 2009)
This is a review of the first edition. As far as I can tell most of the shortcomings detailed here have been addressed in the new edition:
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