| Emperors, shoguns, daimyo, samurai, religious prophets, poets, and notables
of all ages of Japan, all have monuments along this 1.9km path leading to
Okunoin Gobyo, where Kukai is enshrined. Kukai was the Buddhist monk whose
work most influenced succedding generations; and as such is the most well-known
and recognized of all such Buddhist priests. He is considered to be alive
still in his Gobyo, in deep meditation, which will end upon the coming the
Maitreya, the future Buddha. Wandering through these monuments under the
towering crytomeria, cypress and umbrella pine (Koya-maki), and reading
the inscriptions, reveals a wealth of Japanese history to the visitor. Every
day many groups of white clothed pilgrims walk this route, fingering their
rosaries, worshipping the Buddha statues by throwing water upon them to
make their way up to the Gobyo, to pray at the feet of Kukai. |
