A Japanese Buddhist Monk, Shiounama has completed the 1000 day traditional endurance test. He had taken a vow to complete a sacred, thousand-day challenge, climbing Mount Hiei , a seven year piligramage to Kaihogyo. In this vow they had to walk climb every day, a tiresome undertaking, but among monks the Thousand Day Circumambulation is considered a kind of shortcut to enlightenment.
Buddhists have been seeking more efficient ways to what’sknown as bodhi, or “waking up,” for more than 2,000 years. Usually, a lifetime of meditation is involved. But a small Japanese sect had developed a unique approach dubbed “circling the mountain.”
Once Shionuma took his vow, he was obligated to finish, regardless of fatigue or injury or weather or second thoughts. Typhoons would devastate the trail with heavy rains and winds; gusts would blow out Shionuma’s traditional Japanese lantern, which he relied on during the several hours of darkness he hiked in each morning. He also faced venomous snakes and wild boars and bears. And he always made the journey alone.
An interesting documentary has been shared on Youtube that throws light on why this ritual is so important for these monks.
see the documentry below-
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