Mount Shigi is located in Ikoma District, Nara Prefecture, outside Osaka. One of the legends of Mt. Shigi tells of Prince Shotoku asking for victory from the gods over his opponents. Prince Shotoku was a descendant of the Soga family, who had loyalty to Buddhism. During the Year of the Tiger, Prince Shotoku was promoting Buddhism, and was in conflict with the Mononobe family. While at Mt. Shigi, Prince Shotoku prayed for a victory over Mononobe no Moriya. Bishamonten, the Buddhist deity of war, then visited him during the Hour of the Tiger, on the Day of the Tiger. Bishamonten then lead Prince Shotoku to victory in the Battle of Shigisan. Prince Shotoku then built a shrine in his honor.

Another legend includes a monk by the name of Myoren who lived on Mount Shigi. He was drawn to here by a Buddha statue, where he then built a shrine. He would eat whatever he could find himself, taking upon himself the task of praying for the statue. During the winter, he was visited by his long-lost rice bowl, which brought him rice every day. The rice bowl would go down to the storehouse of a rich farmer, who refused to share his bounty with the monks, scoop out a bowlful of rice and then return to the monk. One day, the farmer traps the bowl as it's scooping out rice, only to have the bowl carry the entire storage house to the shrine. In exchange for sharing his grain with the monks, the monk had the rice bowl return all of the farmer's rice to where it came from.

I was six hours early after a super easy trip back to Osaka and then out to Oji and a taxi ride to Shigisan. The taxi was expensive, but evidently the bus service out this way is not as reliable. The ride up to Shigisan was through a grittier set of neighborhoods than I have seen thus far, but not quite run down. As we made our way up the hill I was beginning to not expect much. As I arrived at Shigisan Gyokuzoin I was greeted by a manager named Seiji who took my info and by a monk who served me two types of Japanese tea, one being a frothy sort I had not seen before, and a tiger-faced pastry with the typical sweet bean filling which I have experienced everywhere in Japan. The temple lodging where I am staying is huge and feels more like a hotel. They are used to hosting large numbers of pilgrims, as well as being a center of teaching for Buddhist nuns and the copying of Sutras.

Upon my return home I found amazing stereographic images of Shigisan Gyokuzoin and the surrounding area.

I am far from being as open-minded as I should be or would like to be, but I hope I am making progress in that regard. My concern for greater openness in the church could be made on theological grounds and relying on the church's doctrinal statements about itself, but I have to admit that my concern is also personal.

Recognizing that changed behavior is quite another thing from apologies, I am definitely on the lookout for ways that the church is going to be different in the way it acts as an institution. If I am looking for an experience of church where women and lay people are included in meaningful ways, the various Protestant and non-Christian denominations are engaged, and where people served by the church simply want to feel safe then I am responsible for providing these experiences. If I work for these conditions then I have a right, it seems, to be critical of shortcomings in these regards. It is a closed clerical system in recent times which has led to not isolated instances of clergy sexual abuse but serial predation by known perpetrators and serial victimization by some church leaders. Too much opportunity is lost in a closed system and too much of basic value is a stake.

Towards the end of my trek around town I decided to hit up a local burger joint, but since none was to be found I went in my first Japanese restaurant and made the best of my non-existent language skills. After the basic hellos I managed to convince the owner to bring me whatever she saw fit, a bowl of oodong soup, which was wonderful. It consisted of spaghetti-like noodles, some sort of greens, and a square of fried tofu; all to be eaten with chopsticks. After a few minutes the owner had pity on me and brought a spoon, then after a while longer a fork. As fate would have it the place began to fill up and three monk pilgrims from a neighboring prefecture sat down and had their lunch with me. Two were elderly and spoke no English, but the one in charge began talking to the others about the merits of my camera, at which point I attempted to join the conversation. The head monk asked where I was from (standard answer: Pennsylvania; second answer if nodding: Pittsburgh; third answer if the person spent time in the states: Erie). He proceeded to tell me about every Japanese who ever played for the Pirates. I had no idea about any of them, at which point he asked for my credentials. After blessing himself spot on, we had a short conversation about priesthood, specifically about when and how we prepared for ministry. Nice guy. That's him in the above picture with one of his group.

I have noticed a more pronounced interplay between prayer and a feeling of desolation. In the days leading up to this trip, in addition to formulating a list of topics upon which to reflect, I also tried to lay a groundwork for prayer. It's not that I attempted to formulate something but to be more deliberate than usual. I wanted to be able to more easily enter into prayer while in a foreign environment or while with others who are praying in a different mode. While praying in Japan I have been more spontaneously aware of the subtelties of God's presence (for example through strangers I meet or my perception of their needs), and a feeling of emptiness or desolation in certain situations. The plot stones in the cemetery in Koya include five distinct shapes representing five elements of creation: earth, air, wind, fire, and nothingness. I need to reflect on these feelings of desolation and the creative power of the element of nothingness.

Looking back over the trip it is becoming obvious how the images and experiences laid a groundwork for the uncovering of subconscious material. I may have been too busy enjoying experiences and taking it all in to realize that this might be awakening something new or providing some confirmation of personal work I have begun in recent years.