Mt Koya - stay with monks

Good morning, Osaka!  Goodbye Osaka! Today we headed for Mt. Koya. First up, breakfast:   

Holy mackerel!

Seaweed (I don’t consider this food):

Pastry that looks like little brains:

Our hotel is on a boulevard with performance car showrooms on each corner. After breakfast I ran around to take pics of the cars.  Man, would I ever like to take these cars out for a test drive.

McLaren

Lamborghini 

 

Ferrari

Before we boarded our train for Koyasan, we stopped at 7-11 to pick up something for lunch later.

The original place of Pocky!

Coins used in Japan

Our train headed up a mountain and we passed little villages along the way  After an hour, we switched trains. Then we got into a funicular. 

Finally, at the top of the mountain we got onto a local bus and landed at our destination.

At the entrance, there were these scary Gods, just like at Tiger Hill.  So, Japan got their Buddist religion from China AND their superstitions. More on Buddhism later. 

The monks aren’t friendly but I imagine we are simply a money-stream for them so I didn’t take offence. 

When we entered the monastery we had to remove our shoes. I spent the rest of our visit padding around in sock-feet. They had indoor slippers, outdoor slippers, and slippers for the bathroom. I couldn’t be bothered.

Our rooms are cool - Just like on Shogun!  Paper-this walls and the beds are duvets on thin mats. Good thing I like a hard bed!

As soon as we landed, Tatiana and I tore off our clothing and donned our kimonos to head for the onsen. When we arrived there was nobody else there (score!). A lady poked her head in and was either shy or intimidated by our glorious bodies that she didn’t come in. We had a great soak in the hot water. 

We ate the Monk food for supper. This old guy was telling us rules but I was at the end of the room and I can only hear words like I’m underwater because of my cold. What could I possibly do wrong?  I got reprimanded by a young monk for standing in the hallway wrong so I’m sure they’ll correct me if I mess something up.

For supper, I found that most of the options tasted like jelly of some sort.  Vegetarian crap. Not my fave. We had warm sake. It was pretty good. 

Earlier in the day we visited a Buddist cemetery that’s hundreds of years old. Our guide told us that the monk in the holiest area achieved enlightenment and continues to meditatively pray for hundreds of years. 

Purifying ritual:

There’s a well with a legend that if you look into it and don’t see you’re reflection, you’ll drop

Dead within 3 years. We all saw our reflection so I have to keep my job as I’ll be alive longer than 3 years. 

Some of the tombstones and statues were decorated. It immediately brought the 4th commandment to my mind. 

The cemetery was filled with large, beautiful cedars that are between 200-600 years old. They have each one numbered. Not sure why. 

After we left the cemetery we took a bus to another temple.  It was in a very pretty wooded area.

Yesterday Tatiana bought me an umbrella and while we went into the monastery to drop our bags, someone stole it.  I was told that people take umbrellas if they need one and drop them at the next place.  So, when I got to the temple I rummaged around the umbrellas outside and took a new one that looked like mine. All good.

Okay, story time. In Koyasan, they practice Shingon Buddhism.  At dinner I asked Evan what the basic principles are.  He said there was this guy who built the monastery back in the 800’s.  He threw some sort of golden wrench thing far into the woods and he built the monastery at the site where he found it.  Then he started meditating. His followers believe his spirit is still there, meditating. And (this is the good part), in 5.6 billion years he will return, with the Goddess of Mercy, to save the people.  Anyone who gets buried at that cemetery will be saved first.  He believes this! He even made reference to scientists recently predicting that the world will end in 5.6 billion years. I was gob-smacked.  This is very similar to what the Jews believe, trying to get buried at the Mount of Olives so when God comes for them, they’ll be first.

We stayed up late, drinking beer from the vending machine and debating religions.  Fun!

- Ruth