Wow Place #351: Futago-ji Temple, Kunisaki Peninsula, Kyushu Japan
Cenzo: “Where do you think it goes?”
Dave: “I’m not sure. The sign says, “Mountain Pilgrimage Path.”
Cenzo: “It’s pretty steep. And look, you have to use a chain to hoist yourself up the first part! You don’t think it goes ALL the way up the mountain, do you?”
Dave: “No idea, but I think we should do it. What have we got to lose?”
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When you think about Buddhist temples, what tends to come to mind is a group of solemn, robed monks sitting quietly in a meditation hall, deep in spiritual contemplation. On Kyushu’s Kunisaki Peninsula in southwest Japan, however, a different, “swarthier” type of Buddhism has long been practiced.
If you’re a mountain hermit, a “Yamabushi” (literally “one who lies down in the mountains”), practicing Shugendō, an ancient, syncretic religion blending esoteric Buddhism, Shinto, and folk shamanism, your life is anything but sedentary.
Shugendo practitioners—historically known as shugenja –opt to endure a variety of physical austerities such as standing under waterfalls, spending days in silent contemplation and trekking up and down the rugged mountainside trails in nothing but simple robes and sandals.
The purpose of these ordeals is to undergo spiritual rebirth, seek supernatural power and commune with the spirits or deities believed to be inhabiting the wild terrain nearby.
Call it Buddhism on steroids.
About an hour’s drive from the popular hot spring town of Beppu, Futago-ji Temple is the center of the Shugendo world – and a world apart. Boasting a history of more than 1300 years, Futago-ji’s temple grounds cover a wide area on the slopes of Mount Futago –with gravel paths and stone stairs connecting the numerous halls and statues.
It’s a beautiful, secluded place, nestled in towering pine trees that allow spears of sunlight to guide your way between the various Buddhist and Shinto structures.
What interests me most, however, is the “Mountain Pilgrimage.” You just don’t visit many places of worship that offer a “challenge course.”
The path that my buddy, Cenzo, and I follow propels us high above the temple complex, wending our way past fancifully-named landmarks such as “The One Hundred Images of the Bodhisvattva Kannon,” “Needle Ear Rock” (overlapping boulders suggesting a thread passing through the eye of a needle) and the “Ogre’s Back Breaking Great Rock.”
To my relief, the journey only takes an hour or so—but I must say it it’s enormously fun — imagining for an afternoon that we are Mountain Monks challenging our minds and bodies to the rigors of a holy pilgrimage. I particularly enjoy when we’re squeezing between tight rock crevasses. It’s also a pretty slick little treasure hunt, as the path is marked only by pink ribbons tied around tree branches.
Best of all, there’s not another tourist in sight. In fact, for most of the day, we have the entire Futago-ji complex to ourselves! Although I haven’t climbed a mountain in sandals or meditated under an icy waterfall, I still feel something of the Yamabushi vibe: that sense of communing, alone, with nature, facing stern mountain deities, and working up a sweat in the process.
When it comes to our mountain pilgrimage, we had nothing to lose indeed, apart from shedding some stress – and perhaps a few pounds in the process.
(In his recent article “The Antisocial Century,” journalist Derek Thompson suggests that we’re all, to a certain extent, becoming monks in our lives. No, we’re not out in the forest, meditating under icy waterfalls in search of enlightenment. But since the beginning of the century, a great many of us are choosing to forgo external social engagements in favor of staying home and spending time with our screens. This is particularly true of our young people, so often addicted not only to Netflix but also to scrolling on TikTok and/or gambling on sports. Thompson argues that this phenomenon is extremely dangerous to our health, longevity and even our politics. Mammals need social interaction the way fish need water. We can’t continue to be “monks in a casino,” as Thompson puts it, secluded in our basements, drawn to the engaging bells and whistles of our phones the way gamblers are enticed to slot machines. I say, get out of your house and find your people! Take up a new activity. Flirt with an attractive person in real time and maybe ask them to go on a mountain hike! You’ll be glad you did—and you might possibly live longer.)