Koyasan and Kumano Kodo pilgrimage

Wakayama is one of the most revered places in Japan. It’s a mountainous and forested region on the southernmost point of the Kii Peninsula in the Kansai region. Japan’s earliest text refers to it as the “land of the dead,” where the spirits would ascend after death. Hence I was genuinely excited to explore Koyasan and Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage Routes located in Wakayama.

As in many things, timing is everything. I had attempted to go Koyasan last May but due to the typhoon then, Koyasan was declared emergency and the trip was cancelled at 24 hour’s notice. My friends had invited me to join them 9 years ago on the Kumano Kodo walk but didn’t materialize. Very often, we forget many things and ‘coincidences’ have to happen for something to materialize. As Ramanandji would say, even the fact that you can lift your little finger is a Grace of God (Isvara Pranidana).

GLIMPSES

*Koyasan is a special place in the spiritual history of Japan. Since 9th century when the monk Kobo Daishi founded the first temple on the mountain and established the Shingon sect of Buddhism, devout Japanese have started their religious pilgrimages with visits to Koyasan. We went to Okunoin Cemetery and visited the mausoleum of Kobo-Dashi (founder of the Shingon Buddhist sect) . There were prayers ongoing as the timing we went were in conjunction with the 20 years celebration of both sites being World Heritage Pilgrimage sites (the only other one being Camino de Santiago). As we left the area, i felt monks all seated in meditation circling in Big Mind, which is beyond time/ space continuum. I had gone back to read later on to realize that 20000 monks were also buried in the cemetery.

*We had then booked a walking tour of Kongobushi temple complex and was guided by a monk Nobu T. Having a monk as a guide gave insights to the various spiritual meanings of the place, including the heart of Shingon Buddhism. He had spent time in UK and spoke fluent English. Kobo Daishi had incorporated via his own learnings from China - the various teachings, namely Vajrayana Buddhism. The word shingon is the Japanese reading of the word 真言 (zhēnyán) in kanji,which is the translation of the Sanskrit word mantra. The practice of the Shingon school stresses that one is able to attain "buddhahood in this very body" (sokushin jōbutsu) through its practices, especially those which make use of the "three mysteries" (Jp: sanmi 三密) of mudra, mantra and mandala. The "Three Mysteries" of body, speech, and mind participate simultaneously in the subsequent process of revealing one's nature: the body through devotional gestures (mudra) and the use of ritual instruments, speech through sacred formulas (mantra) - Mahāyāna mantras mainly, and mind through meditation. As yoga students, we are familiar with the use of mudras and the commonly used Heart Sūtra. To see it coming together, was nice. And that open-ness that Nobu T had shared that Shingon accepts everyone a different experience and view points and also alluded to some of the austere practices of the monks, including kneeling for 2 hours reciting a mantra without mistake in front of the master was part of the rigorous training they had to undergo. He later gave us a lift back to Ekoin temple accomodation which coincidentally was his temple of abode. Seeing the Goma fire ceremony in the morning, and incorporation of mudra/ mantra gave a sense of familiarity to the one-ness of Being, that elusive enlightenment we are all seeking.

*The Kumano faith reached the peak of its popularity in the late Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura period (1185-1333). From the then capital of Japan, Kyoto, emperors and members of the Imperial Family would make frequent pilgrimages to Kumano. It was believed that they, and by extension, Japan would receive great merit by visiting frequently, and as such for a period, subsequent emperors would make the visit on an almost annual basis. On their visits it is said that the Imperial Family would pray for the those who had lost their lives and would ask the deities for the ongoing stability of the nation. Following in their footsteps the Kumano pilgrimage become enormously popular with ordinary people as well, and the routes we now know as the Kumano Kodo were structured in earnest. They could purify their past at Hayatama Taisha, reflect on the present at Nachi Taisha, and pray for the future at Hongu Taisha. These 3 shrines became known as the Kumano Sanzan,

We took the sacred Nakahechi trail (or Imperial Route) is the most popular and accessible of the Kumano Kodo routes and the most sacred walk in Japan, worshipped as a place of rebirth. The 68km trail offers splendid self-guided walking through a mountainous and sparsely populated part of the Japanese mainland. From Takijiri-oji on the western coast of the Kii Peninsula, the Nakahechi trail works its way east across the mountains towards the Kumano grand shrines at Hongu and then Nachisan. We walked silently through green, sun-dappled tunnels formed by tall ancient cedars, broken up by occasional peek-a-boo views of distant ridges, valleys, and quaint villages.

Physical hardship is key to the spiritual experience of hiking the Kumano Kodo trail. It only took a few minutes on the trail to grasp what that meant. The pictures would not do justice to Mother Nature, the tall cedars, the fog, the different birds chirping and communicating with each other and with us; coming through the ‘Dogiri-zaka’ - translated as the 'backbreaking slope' to Echizen-toge Pass. Subsequently the ‘guardian monk’ who accompanied us on the last day at parts of the walk from Koguchi - Nachisan.

The reward? Silence, serenity and seclusion.

While every downhill step is an excruciating reminder of the hardship and mortality of this physical body, the spirit remains clear and light. in that realization of inter-Being of Nature, humans, beings of another realm, animals in this beautiful Universe we live in where the ego has no place against the Laws of Nature.

As yet again, on this pilgrimage, we get a glimpse of ‘what is’ and enlightenment, may it encourage us on this path of self-realization. Through yoga, through work, through walking, through every living moment we breathe. May we live and experience from the depth of our Being, this incarnation in the human body. Another chance at enlightenment.May we come closer to God. 🧘‍♂️ Namaste