More Shugendo and Reiki
“Tokyo, Japan—Urban dwellers, looking for something missing from the day-to-day grind of their working lives, are literally heading to the mountains to reconnect with nature and find spiritual fulfillment.
They are devotees of Shugendo, a religion based on ancient Japanese mountain worship that incorporates aspects of Buddhism, Shinto and other faiths.
Among the followers is a 33-year-old man from Tokyo who works weekdays as a sales representative. On his days off, he heads for the mountains, donning a traditional outfit, complete with a conch-shell horn and straw sandals.
He is a yamabushi, a mountain priest trainee. His grueling training regime includes a discipline called nyubu, which involves walking steep mountain paths for a few days while visiting sacred sites and worshipping gods and Buddha. He has a religious name: Shinanobo Zuiryu.
Shinanobo belongs to a group called Nikko-Shugendo in Tochigi Prefecture.
Through strict training, Shugendo followers try to experience what Gautama Siddhartha underwent before attaining enlightenment.
Trainees are called yamabushi or shugenja and undergo various types of training.
Shinanobo first became interested in “mountain religion” while studying history in college. As he deepened his study, he ended up becoming a yamabushi at Nikko-Shugendo.”
You can read this complete article here.
As Reiki practitioners it is an excellent idea for us to delve deeper into our knowledge of the system of Reiki from its Japanese roots. It will help us to focus our intention more clearly and to remain motivated understanding why we are practicing the techniques that we are. It is said that Mikao Usui was a Shugendo practitioner.
Can you see any similarities between Shugendo and your Reiki practice? We know that there is a Shugendo practice that takes 21 days to complete, for example. Could this be the 21 day practice that represents for many one of the catalysts in Usui’s energetic experience?
