Perspective - T45

May 13 cont...

As I was climbing u the zillions of stairs I thought – from now on blisters? PAH! Sore Shoulders? PAH! Vertical steps? At least this time they were on a discernable track! What I had been through put all those things into perspective, so climbing the steps and rocky path with waster cascading down under my feet and frogs leaping out in front of me felt like a leisurely stroll, everything looked brighter and sharper and now I was enjoying every minute of it (maybe endorphins had kicked in!).

One of the tiny frogs supporting me

I started the descent to Temple 45 (I’d never been so happy to hear the sonorous gong of one of the huge Temple bells) and was intrigued by all the little shrines down the winding path. It looked like they were groves or similar and there were mysterious structures such as a large shrine built into the cliff that had a huge red deity in it. Then, just a little further down, some gates that were also built into the rock. When I looked through them, there was a crevice in the rock with a rope running down it – at the top of the fissure, I could see a Torii. This area, more than any I had seen before, looked very austere, ancient and sacred.

Structure built into rock face housing huge red sacred deity

When I finally got down to the Temple there was a small tour of much older ‘hard core’ Henro ladies reciting their sutras and lighting and gonging. They looked at me cursorily and continued on, not acknowledging me in any way - PAH! Gaijin Henro indeed!

Fresh from my ordeal, I felt warm toward them. They weren’t to know what I had just been through. The feeling was like that of having the safe secure love of a good man. Other men look at you and you know they judge you yet you feel no malice. What they see or think is of no consequence to you because you are secure in the knowledge that your man loves you, therefore you have no need for approval.

I had no need for these Henro’s approval – for once, I had my own.

Also – judging by how overweight or frail a few of them were, I also realized that I was not to know what an ordeal it might have been for them to get to this Temple.