Muryokoin Temple

The past 24 hours have been among the most unique in my entire life...

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I make my way up the street - looking for Muryokoin, the Buddhist temple I will be staying in for the night.  There`s a young man from Osaka also looking for Muryokoin...with him it is much easier to find.

Monk are waiting with smiles and bows.  We take off our shoes and leave our umbrellas - slip on slippers and enter the office area.  Here you kneel on the floor - no chairs.  The monk across the short table is also kneeling.  He takes my receipt and a younger monk shows me the shower room (common) the toilets and where I will sleep.  They have a small treat waiting for me on the table in the center of the room.  Dinner is served at 6.

5 o`clock and I step out of my room and into the hallway.  There is a monk with a meditative look standing nearby.  I wonder.  He opens a panel - lifts a mallet of some sort and hits the bell.  It vibrates the air and vibrates my center.  I go out into the garden to continue to listen and watch as vibrating tones are heard and felt over and over.

I spent the next hour resting, thinking, looking out over the garden.   6 o`clock comes and a voice calls into my room...hai.

The panels slide open and three young monks with trays of food enter.  They are always on their knees as they arrange my meal.  After it is all set up - they leave the room, bow, bend down to their knees gain, bow and slide the shoji panels shut.  I eat - it is delicious. 

When you stay in a Buddhist temple you eat as the monks do - which is vegetarian.  It was very good, however I know some of my siblings might starve here due to texture aversion.

7:30pm I lay down.  Rain is still falling as it has all day.  A little harder now.  I fall asleep.

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6:00am.  The bell is hit again.  Again and again.  Shortly after I hear chanting.  My room is dark. It is still raining.  The chanting lasts for an hour.  Strange notes, all in perfect unison...almost like a buzzing, but with moment of melodious tones.

Just a little after 7 I rise and dress.  Down the hall they have been in the meditation room since six.  I join them for the last few moments.   It`s very dark inside the meditation room and only lit by several candles.  Incense is strong.  Incense fill this whole mountain actually.  A Buddhist priest is leading the meditation.

Breakfast comes.  After I finish I pack up what little I have and `check out`.  They did have a toothbrush with little toothpaste thank goodness!  As I am exchanging the slippers with my shoes out on the patio/porch type area the monks are out sweeping what appears to be an already clean area.  Everything in Japan is very clean for the most part.  Very emaculate really.  We have little conversation exchange.  One asks if I have an umbrella, as it is still raining.  I say hai, I have a little one.  He leaves.  As I stand up to head out - he comes back with a nice, big, blue umbrella with some Japanese writing on it.  I try to tell him I am not coming back  - I am leaving.  `Present.`  He bows and hands me the umbrella.  I bow back....we probably bowed back and forth a couple of times....lol.  Wow!  What a gift!  I was smiling big as I walked out the gates and onto the streets.  I`ll stay very dry this morning.

Konpon Daito, Okuinoin Gobyo, Sando, Torodo, Karukayado, Kongobuji and more.  It is all amazing.  Kongobuji has the largest rock garden in Japan and is absolutely entrancing.  Not the same power as Ryoan-ji - but still very impactful and I stay here for awhile.  Koyasan has over 100 temples - one needs 2 nights here really to experience it appropriately.  Running to Stand Still  - I think you and ZPQ should come here for your 5 year...and I`ll try to give you directions to this little office where they have a laptop set up with free internet!  It`s the only one I`ve seen in Koyasan so far.

Everything is very green this time of year.  They call is `new green` and it is very very satisfying.  All of the cherry blossoms have fallen...not even a trace this time of year.  Flowering shrubs are in full bloom creating bursts of hot and soft pinks throughout the landscape.  Much azalea.  It`s kind of like our late May or early June...aside from missing the blossoms, they say May is the best time of year to be in Japan....not too hot and humid yet - but not too cold either.  It has been perfect weather.  October, early November is also an ideal time to travel here.  Fall spectrum! 

It`s time to return to Kyoto - but I have saved plenty of Koyasan to return to, which I have not seen yet.  Pictures and more Koyasan stories to come after the 28th of May.

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Claire - hey!  So flattered you are reading my blog!  Thanks for commenting.  And thank you everyone for your comments.  Hope all is well at home.