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| From Kyoto 2008 |
This is the view from the temple we trained at this week. Hōkyōji (宝慶寺) is four kilometers from the nearest town, and a good day's hike from the nearest train station. It was founded by a Chinese monk named Jakuen (寂円) who was originally a disciple of Dōgen, the founder of Sōtō Zen. He was one of Dōgen's top disciples and may have been second in line to run the founding temple of Sōtō, Eiheiji. Then why did Jakuen leave Eiheiji? After the death of Dōgen's appointed successor, the monks began squabbling over who ought to be the new abbot. It seems Jakuen was disgusted and walked away from the temple entirely. Nobody is quite sure if this is the real story because Jakuen left no records--only local legends of his piety.
But it appears that he took several of Eiheiji's most valuable possessions with him. That is to say, as far back as recorded history goes Hōkyōji has owned calligraphy and painting dating from the thirteenth century. Eiheiji burned down in a fire in the 1570s, but Hōkyōji preserved its treasures. Therefore, Eiheiji (which is now a tourist attraction and has a tour route running directly through the monastery) proudly presents to visitors a fancy, climate-controlled museum full of eighteenth-century reproductions. Meanwhile, Hōkyōji, which is scarcely visited by people out of the district, has a small building below the temple grounds which is normally locked and unavailable to visitors. It was opened for us.
Inside, in a rather plain atmosphere, are scroll portraits most Japanese people only ever see in their history textbooks. Nearly all of them are from the thirteenth century, including calligraphy by Dōgen himself and the only portrait of Dōgen made during his lifetime. The amusing exception is some random calligraphy from the seventeenth century by an unknown author declaring Hōkyōji the "number two Zen temple in Japan," something most Japanese would not jump to think of. Because the scroll is so old it was put in the treasure house as proof that Hōkyōji is awesome.
There are several interesting legends about Jakuen. He is said to have sat on a rock for eighteen years meditating before a stunning view of a sacred mountain called Hakusan. We ourselves were allowed to climb our way up the mountain to the rock ("Zazen Rock") and meditate there.
I had a very strange religious experience on this rock. A slight drizzle was falling on my face, and ahead of me was mountain from bottom to top. Trees below the rock shook in the breeze. Zazen in the temple makes me feel kind of dead, but on this rock I felt very sure that I was alive. Particularly, when my hands touched each other in the Zen mudra, I felt their warmth in a very direct and fulfilling way. It didn't calm my mind, but it made me want to stay. Unfortunately, we had to get back in time for lunch. Here is the view from the Zazen Ishi.
It is also claimed that Jakuen befriended a dog and cow who followed him around at all times. The dog would watch from the zazen rock and defend him. In fact, when he did takuhatsu (almsrounds), the dog and cow were said to follow him into town. In the treasure house we saw the alleged alms bags of the dog and cow. The cow's bag is bigger than normal and the dog's is very small.
There are more pictures at this previous Antioch participant's blog. His experience was eerily similar to mine.
My personal experience at Hōkyōji is next.
