Reflections of a Shikoku Pilgrim

Krishnamutri once said: "When you seek you are really only window-shopping." He then went on to say, "The question of whether or not there is a God or truth or reality, or whatever you like to call it, can never be answered by books, by priests, philosophers, or saviours. Nobody and nothing can answer the question but you yourself and that is why you must know yourself. ... To understand yourself is the beginning of wisdom."

I bought my ticket this morning. Will leave Chicago on Monday, 3/28. Once in Ōsaka, i'll first take the train up to Kōya-san to greet the Daishi, and then head over to Tokushima City on Thursday afternnon. We start walking on Friday, 4/1.

After arriving at Kanku on Tuesday night (aboug 7:45 pm), i'll stay in a local hotel for the night, then get up the next morning and take the train to Mt. Kōya. After greeting the Daishi, i'll spend the night there and then take the train to Ōsaka on Thursday morning. Once there i'll find a Highway Bus for the 2 hour ride to Tokushima City.

Plans haven't been set yet on where i'm staying in Tokushima on Thursday night. That's still in the works. But, plans now are to start walking on Friday morning, 4/1.

For the return flight after the walk, i'm scheduled to fly back from Kanku to Narita on Sunday morning, 6/12. After a short layover i fly direct from Narita to Chicago, getting back home again early Sunday morning.

As far as i can see right now, the problems in the Tōhoku area of Japan aren't having an adverse effect on my plans. Shikoku wasn't affected by either the earthquake or the tsunami, and any problems with the nuclear reactors, if there are any, shouldn't affect Narita Airport, i wouldn't think.

So, i'm listening to the news rather anxiously this time, but still think all is OK and on schedule.

I was going to change my plane reservations and fly directly into KIX after a transit in San Francisco instead of transiting through Narita but that didn't work out. Because of the schedule for the airlines that fly that route, it would have meant a very, very early morning taxi ride to O'Hare Airport on the way out and another one coming home, plus getting home after 11:00 at night. I don't really like the timing or the two additional ~$80 taxi fares that would be required so i stuck with my JAL flights. For the JAL flights, i can use the train to and from the airport like i usually do.

I wrote about Mary Olilver's poem Mockingbird on my blog a while ago and as i get closer to heading to Shikoku, i often think of the final words in the poem:

Wherever it was
I was supposed to be
this morning—
whatever it was I said

I would be doing—
I was standing
at the edge of the field—
I was hurrying

through my own soul,
opening its dark doors—
I was leaning out;
I was listening.

Because the purpose of my going this year is to guide someone around the trail, being attentive to his needs, spoken & unspoken, will take up a good part of my thoughts. In addition, my thoughts at all of the temples will obviously be dedicated to those in the Tōhoku region. Given all of that, i'll spend the rest of my days standing at the edge of Mary's field — leaning out through the doors and windows of that ego called 'me' and listening. No more, just listening for what can be heard, with no expectations, hopes, or wants; simply being open and receptive to the message that Shikoku wants me to hear. You have to lean out because if you don't, when you are locked inside that ego with the doors and windows shut tight, you can't hear anything of value. It's like having a TV, but you only get one channel and that channel only plays commercials and advertisemtents all day, 24x7x365 — buy me, you need me, your life won't be complete without me, you can't amount to anything if you don't put your dinner down and go purchase me right now, you're a loser if i'm not in your life, and on and on and on and on. It's only when you get your head outside of that ego that you can see reality and hear its message.

The only quibble i have with Mary, though, is that i don't intend to hurry. Rather i intend to stroll, stopping often to listen; stopping often to watch; stopping often to open the windows even wider and let the fresh breezes of Life inside.

The Bhagavad Gita talks about the mental attitude one should have as you approach the henro trail:

Far lower than the yoga of wisdom (buddhi yoga) is action, O Arjuna. Seek thou refuge in wisdom. Wretched are they whose motive is the reward.

Endowed with wisdom (evenness of mind), one casts off in this life both good and evil deeds. Therefore, devote thyself to yoga. Yoga is skill in action.

The wise, possessed of knowledge, having abandoned the fruits of their actions and being freed from the fetters of birth, go to the place which is beyond all evil.

It doesn't say that all action is to be avoided, simply that action is far lower than wisdom. Action can't be avoided — we are, after all, living human beings. Action is required of us as we go about our daily lives: raising families, performing our jobs, cleaning our houses, taking out the trash, ... Each and everything we do, including breathing requires action.

But the wise men tell us that these actions and their inherent rewards are not where we are to look for refuge. No. Our refuge is to be found in wisdom, in that evenness of mind that comes from a solid, persistent, and long lasting meditation practice. It is in the space you find on your zafu that you find yourself, that being you really are.

I've talked a great many times on my blog about this silent center, this quiet, still land that you find on your zafu when you slow your thoughts down to the point that you can crawl between two of them into this new land. Well, at least my dear friend Lao Bendan has talked about it anyhow. It is here, and only here, that reality can be seen, heard, tasted, and understood.

And all of this is just a lead up to a reminder that even while walking the henro trail, nay, especially while walking the henro trail, this same freedom can be found. If your focus each day, with each step throughout each day, is on Being and not accomplishing, then you can taste the same sweet taste of freedom that these wise men were talking about. As Basho went out of his way to remind us centuries ago:

So, as i get closer to setting out i plan to spend more and more time each day sitting quietly and pondering just that question: What were the wise men of old seeking? What was the focus of their lives? What was the center of their focus? Am i focused on the same thing? With the same intensity?