Zen Adventure in Japan

        “Zen tries to dismantle all the useless things you have acquired,
        to unburden you, to create an openness
        in which you can experience existence again.” Alan Watts

Ask Lucy Guerrero what Zen flash she gained in Japan and she will tell you, “I learned that mosquitoes must eat, too.” Joaquin Valadez found his Way in the simplicity of willows reaching for the flowing tides of the Kamo River where he composed this haiku:

        Rivers flow through sand,
        Great mountains become small stones,
        Ah, the Universe.

There is perhaps no more perfect city to seek and find Zen than Kyoto. The city is Japan’s ancient capitol, it has been usurped by Tokyo only in neon and numbers. Everything that one truly envisions and anticipates of Japan can be found between the Kamo River and the hills of Arashiyama in serene Kyoto.

Kyoto is a perfect city for walkers. It is arranged in an organized grid pattern with evenly intersecting streets. It has a well defined public transportation system which makes any part of the city accessible by bus or subway. For our Sierra Club group, it was Nirvana without the enlightenment. From the sleek, modern train station, Kyoto Eki, all the major bus routes either start or end. The subway also starts/ends from this terminus. The convenience of all these converging forms of transport is tailor made for the footloose tourist.

There are 1,836 temples and gardens in Kyoto. This could prove to be a major task for type-A collectors like Sierra, Desert or Hundred Peak baggers. These groups within the Sierra Club maintain published lists of peaks from 5,000'-14,000' and their goal is to climb them all. Fortunately, we spent a comfortable week based in Kyoto, allowing us the opportunity to do some selective collecting. When we were not wending our way along the Philosopher’s Walk, a path meandering along a tree shaded stream which goes from the Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion) to Nanzenji Temple, then we were eating inexpensively on the 7th or 8th floors of fashionable Department Stores where the variety of food is astounding. Although we were armed with horror stories of $50-$60 meals, we found that we did very well for less than $15. Doris Duval, our java junkie, was pleased to learn, “I could get my caffeine fix at every corner. The Japanese vending machines dispense hot caffe latte, cold espresso, and 121 different juice and green tea drinks at the push of a button. I loved it!”

From Kyoto, armed with a 7-day Rail Pass, we made day trips via the Bullet train to diverse and unique villages and cities. These included Hiroshima and it’s near neighbor Miyajima, a UNESCO heritage site and one of the most sacred Shinto shrines in Japan. Shinto is the native iconographic religion of Japan and is usually associated with felicitous occasions as opposed to Buddhism which is associated with the dead and ancestor worship. We did a train excursion to Japan’s largest lake, Biwa where we ferried to a sacred island in the lake.

The astounding discovery that one comes away with is that Nature is in everything. This is a concept which the Sierra Club embrace. The Zen of Japan is Nature embraced in a bonsai, tamed, symbolic, miniaturized. The Zen of Japan is Nature turned into art when sand is raked to emulate the waves of the sea. The Zen of Japan is Nature captured in the trickle of water at Kiyomizu temple.

        “If you do not get it from yourself
        where will you go for it? “   Zenrin-kushu,1688

The culmination of our adventure was the summit of Mt. Fuji. This sacred mountain’s perfect conical shape has been immortalized by Hokusai, Japan’s foremost woodblock artist. In his “36 Views of Mount Fuji.” Many of his prints can be seen at LACMA’s (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) Japanese Pavilion.

At 12,388 ft., Mt. Fuji is just about the same altitude as San Gorgornio. However, Fuji-san, as it is affectionately referred to, is a volcano and it’s demeanor is similar to Mauna Kea with it’s black pumice appearance and unattractive dark, sledgy sand.

Every Japanese aspires to ascend this sacred mountain and they choose to do so to see the sunrise. This process is referred to as ‘goraiko’ by the Japanese populace and as ‘goofy/glorious’ by our group. We set-off at 9pm for this ultimate Zen experience.

“The obstacle is the Path.”   Anonymous.

As the sun began it’s rise above the horizon, we alternated between ecstasy and exhaustion. For the average hiker the ascent is a 7-hr steep, rocky uphill. The dark, punctuated by headlamps makes the barren terrain tolerable.

There are five huts along the ascent route. These are only open from July 1-August 31 and provide respite for the weary, food for the hungry and souvenir indicia for the ubiquitous hiking sticks that virtually every climber is compelled to purchase to prove he or she has been there.

The hut attendants happily wood burn an indicia for each station. These may be collected along the way at $5 each. Or, for the more frugal, a single summit stamp suffices. An average evening draws several hundred climbers and it is a unanimous and simultaneous, “Ahhh!” that is evoked when the sun breaks the horizon to create a new day from the top of Japan.

The Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club operates this trip annually and past participants have without exception found the experience to be expansive, enriching, elevating!