Path friend,
Hello from the Shikoku Henro!
I'm writing from my guesthouse after temple 22. I can hardly believe the first week is done. How quick the days are going by. I'm having a nice hojicha and reflecting on the experience.
These first temples, in Tokushima, are known as the dōjō of awakening, hosshin (発心), the arising of the heart that sets out on the path. I love this beginning. Everyone who has set off on a spiritual path knows it, and it feels good to return to this stage.
What I remember most from this first week are the smiles of the other henro, and the excitement in all of us as we began our pilgrimage. There was the joy of meeting people who are here just for this first part of the henro, and the depth of connecting with those walking all 88 temples. Pilgrims from Europe, from Japan, from all over Asia, and from all around the world.
I remember a very old ginkgo tree, so tall, more than 800 years old. And the sweet conversations under her branches.
A beautiful foggy day: 31 km on foot and 1,200 meters of climbing, up and down. All shrines and temples that day felt so deeply touching.
Reconnecting with the Heart Sutra. Remembering His Holiness the Dalai Lama's teaching of the text. Every day reciting it, reconnecting, letting it sink in more deeply.
Accepting osettai! At first it felt super cute. Then it felt a little too much, slightly hard to accept. A few days in it just felt natural. To be supported and carried by so many people around us. It’s such a beautiful feeling. The other day a Japanese man crossed the street to hand me a 1000 yen bill. I kindly thanked him, and received my osettai with an open heart.
As always on a pilgrim path, I feel that the path carried me with a force of its own.
This first week we also had a typhoon! And I got the flu! So many unexpected things happened. And yet the joy of being here now, on the henro path, remains untouched.
I love being back in pilgrimage mode. Back in Japan, with tatami floors and a futon to sleep on. My muscles hurt from going up and down the hills. My body is becoming a pilgrim's body again, with sore calves and a shoulder slightly complaining about the backpack. Just enough energy to go about the day, and very little else.
And then there's the excitement of finding the arrows that show the henro way. Going from temple to temple, praying the Heart Sutra. At the end of the day, arriving at a cozy ryokan or guesthouse, talking with other henro, and having my own reflections. The joy of a body tired from walking.
Such a simple life, the life of a pilgrim.
✨
A question for you to sit with: What would your own very simple life be like? What are the few things that would be enough for a day to feel complete?
As always, I'm praying as I walk, and you are in my prayers 🩵
With love,
Rita
P.S. If you'd like to walk with me by offering osettai ✨🍃🙏🏽 you can do so via Wise (@ritat190) or PayPal (ritatojal@gmail.com).
