Reflections of a Shikoku Pilgrim

Long story short, after eating and around 20 minutes of conversation, we got up to leave. When we asked how much we owed she said it was all free. Settai.

Another hour down the road we were stopped by a man who spoke fantastic English. He's in his 80s, but learned English during a long career as a merchant marine, where he worked his way up from deck hand to captain, and as the shipping company's representative in the Phillipines for 17 years. He wanted to show us a recently rebuilt house that is supposed to be where John Manjiro lived as a kid.

Manjiro was on a ship that crashed back in the 1700s (I think) and was picked up by a Boston whaler. Since Japanese policy at that time was once you leave they kill you if you try and come back, the whaler agreed to take him to Boston where he lived from the age of about 15 to I think his mid-20s, at which time he was allows to return home. He's pretty famous in these parts.

For dinner tonight, in addition to the usual sashimi and fried fish, the owner made us onion soup and a HUGE hamburger paddy. She said she wanted to treat us to something other than the fare we eat every night at all the minshukus we stay at (they all serve exactly the same menu everywhere). I'm not much in favor of oversized hamburgers usually, but have to admit it was a good change of pace. In addition, the owner gave me a beer and Eric some sake as settai.

Couldn't help myself today — passed a bookstore and I couldn't stop myself from buying another Japanese book. This one is pretty popular here and is about a high school girl who takes over as the manager of the school's baseball team and by reading, and applying, Peter Drucker's management philosophies takes the team to the national championships. Should be a great book to read to continue my kanji studies.

Health, contentment and trust
Are your greatest possessions,
And freedom your greatest joy.
Look within.
Be still.
Free from fear and attachment,
Know the sweet joy of the way.

This part of Shikoku, between Cape Ashizuri and Tsukiyama Shrine, is one of the most remote parts of the island but because it's the Golden Week holiday period right now the roads and shops are all crowded with people.

Someone asked me about bike henro, people doing the henro on bicycles. I've seen more of them this trip than I ever have before; it seems to have increased in popularity. I asked one where he gets his bike repaired if and when he needs it and he said people have to buy parts at the many Home Centers (small versions I Home Depot and Menards in the US) and jury rig their repairs themselves. Those stores are all over Shikoku but certainly not in every town. Another told me that she visits the "mom & pop" bicycle shops found in all towns of middle size and up. One person told me that he had many flat tires, another told me she had never had one.

A Japanese on a motorcycle gave me the link to a web site (in Japanese) that lists all the campgrounds on Shikoku. I'll get that up on the site when I get back home. He said they are everywhere but I haven't verified that yet.

Practice makes everything perfect. No one achieves proficiency in anything without persistent practice with ever-increasing intensity. If two slices of bread do not appease our hunger, we ask for more, but if two hours' meditation is not enough to still our mind, we do not prolong and intensify it, but abandon meditation altogether! Why this illogical approach?

Today was another clear and hot day. While walking along the highway that isn't a problem, but during the climb up to Tsukiyama Shrine it would have been nicer if it had been cooler. I think it got up to about 23 C this afternoon. I don't think we're scheduled for anymore rain for the rest of the week.

Tomorrow we will finish at lodging next to Temple 39 in Sukumo City, so when we set out on Friday morning we will be heading into Ehime Prefecture and starting on the second half of our walk. It's hard to believe that we are half way done. Time is passing entirely too quickly. I think i've been making the gods angry somehow because the more I enjoy myself while here the faster they make time pass and the sooner it is coming to a close. I want time to slow to a crawl, but I suppose i'm just being greedy.

We met an Australian the other day who has been here teaching English for three years. He told me I should move to Tosa Shimizu City because there is, apparently, a huge surplus of single women in their mid- to upper-forties who would be exceedingly happy to find a single foreigner like myself. A week before that, we stayed in a lodge where the owner speaks English (i'll write about it later in the lodging recommendations page) and he told me I need to come over and get married as well. He even offered to do whatever he could to help get me settled. :-) I tell them i'm too old and too stupid at this point in my life but that doesn't seem to sway them from their arguments.

I ripped a pocket on my pants the other day. The heels of my boots both have worn through and now are not completely waterproof. Both shirts have seams that have opened. I had to sew up two holes in the bag I carry my candles, incense, and maps in, and had to sew one side of the neck strap back on. My umbrella started to break yesterday. Everything seems to be falling apart recently but luckily the body seems to be holding up. I have this sneaking suspicion that before heading back to Chicago almost everything I have will be going in the trash. I'll keep my marathon shirts and just sew those up after getting back home. The boots will have to go home with me simply because I have no other shoes.

The owner of a coffee shop we stopped at today sat and chatted with us the entire time we ate. Not just chatted, but since we were eating at an outside table, went in and got her hat and pulled up a chair at our table. After we were done, she agreed to make of cup of mattcha green tea for us because she has been practicing the tea ceremony for 15 years. The cups she used were beautiful and she seemed tickled pink that we wanted her to make the tea for us. All in all, we sat there and talked for an hour and a half before moving on down the road.

"[W]hen it is hog and muggy, no matter how much effort we try to put into sitting zazen, our heads simmer as though they were fermenting; there is nothing we can do about it. But when the air is dry and a cool evening breeze is blowing, our heads clear and it certainly feels as if we have become one with zazen. However, both of these are the conditions of our heads responding to the temperature and humidity. Since doing zazen means to sit and aim at being one with zazen, naturally this kind of zazen is very fine, although this doesn't mean that such zazen is good, and that zazen that isn't like this is a failure.

"Regardless of conditions, what is essential in doing zazen is just to sit, aiming at zazen and waking up to zazen. In just sitting and waking up to zazen, the various conditions going on in our heads simply become the scenery of our zazen. ...

"The changes and conditions of climate and weather both effect us. This cause-and-effect relationship is particularly easy to see when you lead a life ... unvaried and devoid of distraction...

"The essential matter here is the attitude of just striving to wake up regardless of the conditions you are in. It is not about arriving at some state where all thoughts have disappeared. To calmly sit amidst these cause-and-effect relationships without being carried away by them is shikantaza."

We couldn't find anywhere for lunch after leaving Temple 40 and it was looking like we were going to eat at a convenience store, which never makes Eric all that happy, but as we approached the store, we stumbled across a small restaurant that advertised steak, which always makes Eric very happy. I assume you can guess where we had lunch.

Our pace has picked up in the past few days. I still don't want to push it much past 18 km a day so at our recent pace we are taking frequent breaks so that we don't end up getting to our lodging by 2:00, which is too early to check in.

We're spending the night at a minshuku above a beach, appropriately called Minshuku Beach. As I was outside doing laundry, a truck pulled up and two guys got out. As they were walking into the Minshuku they held up a metal cage/trap of obviously fresh shell fish and a basket of other fish that had just been caught or hauled out of the water and said it was tonight's dinner. Sure enough, as i was going back downstairs to my room, the older of the two had changed from an old beat up jacket to a white chef's jacket and was in the process of cleaning and filleting all of it. It was delicious!!