by Yuri Narula
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale - a tale of my latest trip. It's about a weekend I spent in a car for about 15 hours and traveled across most of mainland Japan. It wasn't a crazy punishment that I inflicted on myself. I went on a road trip with my friend Kerry to a Buddhist sanctuary - Koya-san.
As the tour books would describe it, Koya-san is nestled in a valley surrounded by eight mountain peaks, said to represent the petals of a lotus flower. This place exudes energy that can only be described as magic. Though at one point, there were over 1000 temples at Koya-san, today there are about 120. Founded in 817 AD by Kobo Daishi, it is still Japan's largest temple complex and the resting-place for thousands of Buddhist priests. In its natural simplicity, Koya-san is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.
Driving, we were able to make our ascent through the mountains and valleys. As we drove, we were flanked by the tallest and most ancient pin-straight trees. They were fir trees in the truest sense. (Instead of the thin, sharp needles sported by Canadian evergreens, their needles were wide and soft and even ... fir-like.) Every now and then, we would come upon a shrine built into the rocky surface, get a glimpse of tree-covered mountains and valleys folding into each other, or see waterfalls trickling down the rock and draining into streams. The air was crisp and clean and punctuated only with the smell of the trees and wet rock.
We arrived at the temple and were greeted by a monk. I made announcement of our arrival in Japanese, he responded in English, and that's how we carried on throughout our stay. (I had trouble understanding his English, and it looked like he had his own difficulties with my Japanese. Whatever.) He showed us to our room, which consisted of a kotatsu table, zabuton cushions, a heater ... and a TV. Before we had time to do much, our dinner arrived.
Devotion food, or shojin-ryori, is prepared without any onion, garlic, meat or fish. It was presented on two square table-like trays. There were many colorful side dishes like pickled seaweed, soup, tempura, noodles, and their specialty, Koya-tofu. We were warned by Japanese people that we probably wouldn't like this type of food as it's said to be flavourless, or "healthy food" as they called it. Anyway, the food was actually really amazing.
After dinner we put on the yukata they had left for us and went to the baths. It was relaxing and more than what was expected at a monastery. When we got back, our futons had been set up for us. Though we were expecting it to be freezing cold on the mountain, it had been an unusually hot day and the sky was clear, giving way to a most amazingly round and yellowed moon framed by the temple buildings and Japanese-style garden.
It was too beautiful a night not to take a walk. We went down a stone path through the graveyard. It was a mile long and lined with tombs as well as thick-trunked, old trees. Walking through this place, I could feel the weight of it; the history, the beauty, the mystery, the magic. It is so obviously a sacred place.
The next morning, we were ready for the morning ceremonies at 6:30. The "cute monk" led us up to the temple (... is it bad to lust after a monk? All me and Kerry could think of was ... well, never mind. He was really cute though.) We sat in seiza for as long as we could manage and watched the ceremony take place. Between the ringing of bells and chiming of a large bowl-like bell, the monks chanted in what was maybe a mix of Sanskrit and Japanese. After, we were invited to get up and look at the statues. This was no easy feat, as my feet were totally asleep. Next door, we saw the fire ceremony. Unfortunately, the meaning of the ceremony was totally lost on us, as we didn't understand the symbolism behind the chanting, gonging, fire, or items being thrown into the fire.
The ceremonies finished, we went back to our room for breakfast. It was much the same as dinner, though a bit simpler. We enjoyed it before checking out of the temple. Even with the long drive ahead, I left refreshed, satisfied, and deeply touched by my visit.