With the sun shining through our paper screened windows, we had an early wakeup (6am!!!) to make it to the monks Buddhist morning prayer ceremony. The ceremony took place in the main hall, with the monks chanting and praying. It was an interesting experience, and one that allowed us to do a bit of self-reflection and easy meditation.
Once we got back to our room, our beds were all put away and breakfast was served. The breakfast we got was a typical spread that a trainee monk would have for breakfast. I think that we would struggle achieve even the trainee status…. Soup, rice, tofu and pickles for breakfast was a little difficult for some of us.
After a good morning home-school session, we checked out and went to explore Koya-san. We found the beautiful trail up to the Kobo Daishi Gobyo (Mausoleum) where the founder, Kobo Daishi, of Koya-san and of Shingon Buddhism is eternally meditating (ie. His remains are there). The trail leads you through a very scenic and peaceful Japanese cemetery. It is apparently the largest cemetery in Japan with over 200,000 tombstones lining the 2km trail. Safe to say, we did not even try to count all the tombstones, but instead soaked in the serene atmosphere.
We saw a lot of red bibs and hats put on little buddha statues along the trail, and the girls kept asking why. Well apparently the answer is: "red is a colour in Japanese folklore that protects against demons and disease. But there’s a deeper, more tragic story behind many of the baby bibs you’ll see on statues. Those bibs have likely been placed there by somebody with a child that died very young or is sick. It’s an offering of protective armour to that deity, fighting to protect their child from demons in the spirit world. Jizo statues at shrines and temples or by the side of the road is where you’ll most often see the bibs". The symbolism is definitely deep and a little bit dark.
After the long walk we found a non-vegetarian lunch option: noodle soup with either shrimp or chicken tempura, with a side of rice and tofu. There was also a gherkin covered in white sticky goo… Apart from the gherkin and tofu, the rest of lunch was tasty and filling. Which was necessary after the meagre monks breakfast.
It was then time to check into our next monastery, where we relaxed a bit before continuing home school.
This was followed by another walk through Koya-san before finding a restaurant for dinner. And after the last few meals we all decided that we wanted to play it "safe", so when we came across a restaurant selling pizza's, it was a no brainer for us. Even after a Japanese style pizza (ever so slightly different from the Italian pizza's we are used to), we were in a happier place. The girls both decided that they will make very poor monks/vegetarians.
We headed back to the monastery, for our bath and an early night. Tomorrow is another early start with a longish journey to Kyoto.
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