Mood Responsibility
Walking the 88 temples pilgrimage could be all about pretty scenery and pleasant experiences, but if you’re honest with yourself it might also be a lesson in self awareness and humility. Like this morning. It started with full sunshine and mist on the mountains. A scene straight from a picture book. But then it took a turn for the worst, then because of self awareness it took another turn for something better.
With our clothes laundered the night before we felt fresh and ready to go. We walked through the morning streets of Tosa towards the only temple we would visit today. The streets were quiet and calm. Almost immediately my mood started to turn sour with the realization that I had made the wrong wardrobe choice. That sounds stupid. It really does. It is stupid. The thing is, there’s a lot that goes into getting geared up to walk 8- 10 hours a day. The sugegasa (pilgrims hat) and backpack take time and precision to get right. Balance and the right adjustments are necessary to ensure comfort. At almost halfway through the pilgrimage, we were still getting the correct combination down. To change my wardrobe so soon after we started required finding a place to stop, removing my sugegasa and backpack, packing away the unwanted clothes, rebalancing the load and readjusting all the straps. Not a big deal usually, but with the ever increasing humidity, traffic noise, dodging school kids and workers, my poor decision was making me gloomy. Matt was coming up with really good Jizo Petes too, but not engaging was my preference.
Simmering in my misery the phrase “mood responsibility” popped into my head. Small things are opt to set us off but it is our responsibility, especially when others are involved, to put those miseries in check. My mood was effecting Matt’s fun and that was irresponsible of me. Acting so childish on such a beautiful day embarrassed me and I decided immediately to change. We continued on with our “Jizo Pete” mini-buddhist stories. “Jizo Pete and the Sleepy Caterpillar,” “Jizo Pete and the Angry Mountain,” “Jizo Pete and the Leftover Sandwich,” but perhaps it should have been “Jizo Pete and the Cranky Pilgrim.”
Soon a tunnel came into view. For us that means, whenever possible, we go around it using the nature trail. Another 800 meters ascent through trees and shadows. Our bodies are definitely getting stronger. Fewer breaks are necessary. This detour took much longer but the walk and the sense of accomplishment were worth it.
The walk across the red Usa bridge over Uranouchi Bay would lead us to Temple 36 (Iwamoto-ji). At the temple we ran into our candle sensei (teacher) from Temple 32. She was coming down the stairs as we were ascending. Even though she still had her mask on she was recognizable. She noticed us too and after an initial “a-ha” she launched into our new lesson about ofuda (name cards) and the correct way to write the date on them. An elderly man at the temple asked to take our photo. He was very kind but had a strange eagerness. He showed us the photos he took and the wide angle lens captured the most awkward perspective of us. My arm in the foreground looked huge. Wish we had that photo.
We called ahead to make our camping reservation for the evening. The phone conversation had a lot of long pauses and eto’s (Japanese “Umm….”). After explaining that we were pilgrims and would like permission to camp we finally got a verbal and confused “OK”.
Ran into Pierre whom we had camped with a week ago at Tainohama Beach. We waited for him to finish his temple prayers then walked 16k to the campsite together. He set a brisk pace on a hilly, paved, hot afternoon. The entire walk had ocean scenery to our left. Blue skies, verdant green trees and aqua water greeted us around every bend.
We arrived at the campsite around 4:45pm and could see why the phone lady was confused. This camping spot was actually a sports complex next to a lake. We approached the rowing coach on the dock with his students to explain our “reservation”. He told us it was fine to camp anywhere. We chose to set up our tent under a gazebo as the weather forecast predicated rain in the early morning. It was the best camping to date; dry, high, warm and quiet. Plus the complex had great toilets.
Pain woke me around 11pm. My quad muscles were hard as rocks and cramping. The body and mind took a little beating today, but both are hanging in.
As predicated the rain started around 2am but we were able to remain dry until morning.
April 26, 2016 - Temple 36
