🌸 Noire Henro-san: Ring the Bell

Ring the bell….once.

Bell: a hollow metal musical instrument, usually cup-shaped with a flared opening, that emits a metallic tone when struck.

This short post may help you understand “ohenro-speak”. Those are words and other references that may not be clear at first reading. Don’t worry, I am learning also as I go on this journey.

Temple Rites

Stay to the left of the temple gate and bow before entering,

Upon arrival, the henro washes at the fountain before proceeding to the Hondō (main temple hall).

Ring the bell – once – to announce your presence at the temple.

Offer coins, incense, and osame-fuda (name slips). Chant the Heart Sutra.

After prayers at the main hall, proceed to the secondary temple: Daishidō.

Here, too, make a coin offering and osame-fuda. Chant the Heart Sutra, along with repetition of the Gohōgō Mantra

When leaving, always exit on the left side and bow once facing the gate.

The Trail

The pilgrimage is an opportunity to walk, think, and discover who I am and who I want to be. Or it might just be a walk.

The pilgrim trail goes through full forests. The floors are covered by leaves and rain run off from steep mountain passages. It is filled with the sounds of animals and insects, mostly unseen.

Sometimes the walk follows the coast of the Pacific Ocean… not so passive. Rain, wind, and the sun play tricks on my mind. Must I walk… in this?

And the going gets tough on long stretches that do not guarantee proper shelter for the night.

What have I gotten myself into?

But soon a sense of calm arrives with the Seto Sea on the north coast of Shikoku. Well, that is what an old ohenro told me when we happened to rest on the same bench at a temple.

There are more steep mountains. I cannot hate or curse them because they are sacred having been touched by Kukai, the Buddhist master.

In a short time, I’ve accepted my fate. I am determined to complete my journey as others have done for over a thousand years.

What do you see

Eventually, I see things differently. A resolution to a problem or a new idea or song might ring a bell.

Or maybe nothing at all.

Meditation. Right?

There are parts or stages of the pilgrimage that help ohenros focus on their journey. Buddhist monk training, I am sure, is seriously rugged. I like to think we ohenros are exposed to a very small part of it in these forests and mountains.

How many rings of the bell will it take… twelve, twenty, or eighty-eight?

Stages Of Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage

The stages, also called dojos, correspond to the four prefectures of Shikoku island.

🌸 Awakening  (Hossin dojo)	• Temples 1–23 in Tokushima prefecture
🌸 Asceticism  (Shugyo dojo)	• Temples 24–39 in Kochi prefecture
🌸 Enlightenment  (Bodai dojo)	• Temples 40-65 in Ehime prefecture
🌸 Nirvana (Nehan dojo)	• Temples 66–88 in Kagawa prefecture

Dojo is a common term for a place to train in the martial arts.

In Japanese, it is where you practice and train, “a place of the way”, in any endeavor in life. If it leads you to enlightenment (which we are trying to find) it is dojo.

On the trail, I try to discipline myself to show appreciation for all the people I meet. Certainly, we ohenros all suffer currently. Many, who are not on pilgrimage, have been at sometime in their lives. They share the fact subtly almost whispering, in fact. But they respect, appreciate, and are curious that I am in Japan doing the same. I respect and appreciate – here I go again – that they lived to tell the tale!

Advancing through each dojo and reaching toward enlightenment is motivation to persist. Even if I don’t carry out the ritual perfectly each time. And to keep walking. Now, I can do that with dedication. Isn’t that ikigai?

Could it be true?

Will my worldly desires gradually weaken? Will I become aware that my worries are not really worries at all?

I will have to ring a few more bells.

Baadaye and Mata Ne (またね)

Shirley J ♥️

During the spring of 2024, I began a pilgrimage in Japan where I am walking 1200 kilometers or 720 miles on the Shikoku trail from Temple 1 Ryōzenji to Temple 88 Ōkuboji and beyond. Read my original announcement here.

I am excited, and I am here, still walking. And just know this, I will return to tell the tale!