30Nov08: Megan Thompson

   Better late than never.  It's an old adage that I embrace and spurn with equal fervor.  It's useful, yet almost too cliché to truly embrace. It was a convenient phrase when I was only just learning to snowboard a few winters ago, but now I find myself eagerly making use of  it out to cover my embarrassment for not taking advantage of something that's almost literally been sitting right in front of me for four and a half years. It's not that I've completely ignored the 88 Temple Pilgrimage or Kukai himself.  I've been to nearly a dozen temples connected to him, to Koyasan, to Toji. I even own a translated copy of "Kukai: The Universal", which I read months ago. And yet I've never really taken advantage of the fact that we have the most famous pilgrimage in the country right here on our island, with some of the temples practically a stone's throw away from where I live. Considering that I love going to temples and shrines, it's a bit surprising to think how rather nonchalant I've been. I guess I've often thought "I can always go some other time."  or "Well, there's always later." for the whole time I've lived here.  Much as I like to tell people back home about the pilgrimage, or how Kukai himself was born in this very prefecture, I've never really had much to do with the pilgrimage itself. I wanted to be a part of it, but I was hesitant, not wanting to seen as an imposter. But when we went our mini-henro experience and I saw other ALTs clutching their noukyouchou for the temples to sign and joined them in slipping on the white jacket,  perching the conical hat on my head, and gripping the staff handed out by the organizers,  I finally understood that it was perfectly acceptable to join in the tradition. I'd never realized that even among Japanese people there are myriad reasons people do the pilgrimage; for religious reasons, for health reasons, for the challenge of it, etc. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that as reasons go, it was ok to simply be someone who wanted to be closer to the culture around them, to experience something that had been going on for centuries first hand. That was what the outing at the end of November helped teach me, and it wasn't just from seeing my fellow ALTs join in, but from being included in the photographs of other henro and from being greeted with enthusiasm along the way, in warm, welcoming tones. I eagerly look forward to participating again, be it through something like this or on my own.  Now that I have my trusty noukyouchou at my side, only 82 more temples to go!

 

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