kukai

kukai                                                    Of course I should have known that it would be alright – the map outside the temple promising destination onsen and a pretty seaside park was the clinching motivation but since then the wealth of my situation has become abundantly clear. I’m walking towards a city named after my ‘home temple’ I left however long ago now back in Daizaifu. Tomorrow I will arrive at the location of one of the defining experiences of my life, the reason why I’m here in the first place. Which in itself is there because I am within a day of the Daishis birthplace and finally for the first time I feel his real presence around. Perhaps it was at a temple earlier I heard someone say “daishi-san” as if theyd seen him yesterday but also there are shrines, temples and statues everywhere in this mystical flat landscape I have entered. Which has the practical effect of being in a domain of heart-warming henro sign overkill so there is no need to worry about what was a fairly easy path ahead anyway. There is also something extra empowering about looking around the 360 degree horizon and knowing that you have climbed to, worshipped at and fallen but survived descending the highest point that can be seen. The light is finally running out as I come to the end of this so I will go back to featuring in the evening bark conversations of the vocally-acrobatic dogs of Kagawa-ken . and I finish happy to know that finally, amazingly, my shoulders hurt less with the pack on then off. Now that’s  enlightenment…