Shock upon arrival

The first shock Japan delivered was in 1974. It was a hot September. As a young traveler I had come in search of its cultural treasures. At this point in my history those were related to Zen Buddhism. So my aim was to enter a monastery and pursue a lengthy course of training.

I could not have known then that the idea of lengthy was really long! Now , 36 years later the training continues every day. You do not learn about a culture and then stop of course. It is not an academic course that Japanthropology points us to. It is rather a way of life now.

I am not Japanese and never will be. Yet most of my life has been spent with this culture. It has shaped me and in a small way I have also shaped it.

In 1974 ‘gaijin’ (as we mainly caucasian foreigners were called) were really rare. Kids would point at us and yell ‘ look at the gaijin!’

This never happens any more so at least we can say that our presence here is no longer that alien. In fact without these gaijin working in factories and doing menial jobs – work that the Japanese no longer can stomach-Japan would be in a state of acute labour shortage.

I have shaped this culture as it has shaped me. Like any decent marriage we influence each other. But there was never any doubt who wore the pants in this cultural marriage. It was Japan. And like a traditional Japanese marriage when the husband speaks the wife shuts up and listens. So as the wife in this story I listened and learned. I talk back more now. We are an older couple after all. We are learning how to live with our differences. Could the rest of the world do this? Why not?

Many Japanese Buddhists and lay people alike undertake a long pilgrimage on the island of Shikoku to recap their lives. It is like walking through your own karmic past and making amends for all the foolishness, the pride and the sins of youth. Theheart sutra is recited at each temple as a way of expressing fidelity to the Budhist tradition and also as a way to purify the soul of the pilgrim. How exactly does it purify? Through its inherent power of truth I believe.

If we look at its meaning we can see that it speaks of universal truth. In essence it is saying that everything which appears to be real and solid in our world is in fact a fleeting display of apparent form.

When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, he illuminated the Five Skandhas and saw that they are all empty, and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty.

Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form.

Now this is not at all a surprising text to any quantum physicist or indeed to any one who realizes that the universe, and all matter is 99.9% pure, empty space. It is one field. One mind. One reality. Beyond all duality. It is here. It is now. It is everywhere the same and different. Forms may change but the essence is unchanged.

Pilgrims intone it all over the island. The island is thus the heart sutra capital of the world perhaps! If sutras have the power I imagine them to have, including the power of healing, then just going to Shikoku might be a good idea.

I cannot claim I was healed walking from temple one to eighty eight and back to one. Upon my arrival at the first temple, having done the entire circuit, I was simply exhausted. I was shocked too. What on Earth had all that walking really been about? I certainly had not got enlightened.

Perhaps that is why the hard core pilgrims keep coming back to Shikoku. They know that to really understand the heart sutra may take many lifetimes. They do one more circuit of 1300 kilometers! Yes,  still we must make that stronger effort. And we must do it both alone and in community with others. Nobody else can do it for you , as the Buddha always taught his disciples. But a good, strong community certainly helps. That is kind of what Japan represents to me.