| The first rule of the
pilgrim: Never turn down a free lunch.
As flip as this sounds, it is in fact
true that the pilgrim in Japan is required to accept virtually all
offerings. Although I won't be eating flesh (as usual) or drinking
alcohol (a novelty), if people hand me these items, I must accept
them. I can then either (a) pass them on to another pilgrim, or (b)
place them before a statue as an offering.
I am allowed to turn these
things down at the table, and when I'm a walking "henro" I can
turn down rides.
I have completed one of Japan's most
extensive pilgrimages--100 temples. It's in three parts: 33 in the
Kansai area, 33 in the Kanto area around Tokyo, and 34 in Chichibu, a
mountain valley near Tokyo. The first two I did by public
transportation; the last one, I walked (about 60 miles). These
pilgrimages are dedicated to Kannon, the goddess of mercy--China's Kwan
Yin. [More about these pilgrimages will be found in The Temple
Guy's Furudera pages.]
Along the route of the "Nihon
Hyakku Kannon" (Japan Hundred Kannon) pilgrimage, I have received
everything from "baby bamboo" fresh from the ground, with dirt
still clinging to the roots (I gave it to the old woman at the temple
where I was staying, as I had no means of cooking it) to a sweat cloth
for my face imprinted with an ink drawing of the temple where I received
it. Near-frozen tomatoes on a hot day, hot tea in winter, brush
calligraphy done especially for me, countless cups of cold water--and
all this without begging! I mention this because the old pilgrim
rules require begging. Some say you must make 64 requests per day, as a
humbling experience.
The modern Japanese use a word,
"o-settai," to indicate business entertaining. "I went
out with my client last night for o-settai." Funnily enough, even
some of my students who are older and interested in religion don't
realize that the origin of the word is related to pilgrimage:
"o-settai" was any gift given to a pilgrim, including
everything from lodging to cash, and gained merit for the giver. Funny
how things change. |
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