Monaci corridori
In Giappone esiste un monastero
buddista, dove i monaci si sottopongono ad un programma di
allenamento atletico con l'obbiettivo di raggiungere una meta
spirituale. Questi incredibili monaci corrono una maratona al
giorno per 100 giorni consecutivi, indossando sandali ed una
veste fatta a mano.
Invito tutti a leggere questo
esauriente scritto di Holly A Schmid che descrive questa
pratica. Cerchiamo poi di ricordarci di questi umili monaci
buddisti quando durante una delle nostre brevi corse ci
troviamo in crisi!
__________________________________________________________________
The Spiritual Athlete's Path to
Enlightenment
Holly A. Schmid
Ultra Marathon Running
December 11, 1996
Marathon Monks
of Mount Hiei
Throughout this world, there are
many mysterious and amazing feats that can be found. People are
capable of doing most incredible things that we have never
deemed possible. Only by truly believing in ourselves can we
accomplish what were thought as impossible goals.
In Mount Hiei of Japan, there can
be found a small group of monks who live in a monastery and can
accomplish many remarkable challenges. This mountain had been a
main attraction in Japan of Buddhism. "The Marathon Monks of
Mount Hiei" by John Stevens says that it "offers the seeker
every type of religious experience--sacred scholarship, grand
ritual, austere meditation, heartfelt repentance, heroic
asceticism, mystical flight, miraculous cures, ceaseless
devotion, divine joy, and nature worship-while promising
enlightenment in this very body."
This mountain monastery began in
1787 and the monks feel that Hiei still flourishes today. It is
a beautiful place populated with all types of animals. No
hunting is allowed. There is lots of rain in Japan and many tall
trees which block the sun so it can get very cold there; snow
covers the ground far into April. At the base of Hiei, there is
a cute little temple-town where most of the retired priests go
to live.
The Tendai priests generally marry
and raise families. Many of the trainees at Mount Hiei who hope
to qualify for priesthood are their children. There are many who
just appear from the general public though such as college
drop-outs searching for the meaning of life, retired military
men, reformed drunks, and a few women.
These fascinating marathon monks
began their story in the year 831 with a boy named So-o. He came
to Hiei at age 15. An abbot called Ennin noticed this boy and
initiated him into the mysteries of Tendai. He named him So-o
which meant "one who serves for others."
The legend is that the God, Fudo
Myo-o, appeared before So-o by a waterfall. So-o was overwhelmed
and jumped into the falls. He collided with a large log which he
was able to drag out of the water. He then carved the image of
Fudo Myo-o into the log . The temple was then built in this area
for the God Fudo Myo-o and named Myo-o-in.
So-o was an amazing monk who
traveled around using his prayers which could accomplish many
things such an curing people from terminal illnesses, difficult
child births, demon possessions and much more. He believed in a
type of practice where every stone and blade of grass were
venerable and all things were seen as a manifestation of Buddha.
This meant he worshipped nature with one's entire mind and body.
He kept returning to Hiei where he
would build another hall to house images of Fudo Myo-o. This
became the home base of the Hiei "kaihogyo" monks. To become a
monk here, it became a common practice to complete a term of
100, 700, and 1000 days of chanting, visiting stations of
worship, and other special experiences where all you needed were
your two feet.
A gyoja is what one is called when
he/she is accomplishing these terms. A gyoja is a "spiritual
athlete who practices gyo with a mind set of the Path of Buddha."
This is a positive term meaning that one is "moving" along the
path of awakening, for both oneself and others. There are many
disciplines that are practiced in Hiei but the mountain marathon,
called kaihogyo, is the greatest. To become an abbot at Hiei,
you must go through a 100-day term of kaihogyo. Kaihogyo is the
"practice of circling the mountains" and gives them an
appreciation of the respective stations of worship. If you
receive permission, then the gyoja is given a special handbook
which describes everything they need to know for the marathon.
This includes course maps, stations they must visit and pray at,
proper prayers and chants, and other important information. The
candidate then has one week of training before their term begins.
During this first week, the ground
is cleared of glass, sharp rocks, sticks and other things that
would hurt the feet of the gyoja. A pure white outfit is given
to the gyoja to wear. A rope is tied around the waist which
holds a knife within the cord of the rope. These two items
remind the gyoja that they should take their life by hanging
themselves or by using the knife if they can't complete the term.
For their feet, 80 pairs of straw
sandals are woven together to be used for the 100-day term. In
rainy weather, these sandals evaporate within hours so many
spares have to be carried. During dry weather, they usually last
a few days though. A special all-white hat is also given to the
gyoja for the journey.
The basic rules of kaihogyo are
very important and must be followed. They are:
During the run the robe and hat may not be removed.
No deviation from the appointed course.
No stopping for rest of refreshment.
All required services, prayers, and chants must be correctly performed.
No smoking of drinking.
Then the running begins. Each day,
the gyoja begins at midnight. They are given a small meal and
around 1:30, they start the running of 40 kilometers each day.
There are many stations that they must stop by often. They are
able to sit only once during the entire course.
They return to Hiei between about
7 and 9am where they attend a service, bathe, and eat a midday
meal. During the afternoon, they attend more services, rest for
an hour and attend to chores. They go to bed around 8 or 9pm and
the day begins again at midnight. This is repeated 100 times to
finish the first term.
Some time in this term, they must
perform the kirimawari, which is a 54- kilometer run. A senior
marathon monk accompanies the gyoja on this. To accomplish this,
they usually lose a whole day of sleep but must just keep right
on with their 100-day schedule.
These 100 days are very difficult.
Their feet and legs begin to throb and often get cuts and
infections. Being so cold in Japan, they often get frostbite and
very sick during the first weeks of the run. They also
experience many problems such an pains in their back and hips,
diarrhea and hemorrhoids. By the 70th day, the gyoja has finally
“acquired the marathon monk stride: eyes focused about 100 feet
ahead while moving along is a steady rhythm, keeping the head
level, the shoulders relaxed, the back straight, and the nose
and navel aligned.
If the gyoja successfully
completes the 100-day term, he can petition to try the 1000-day
term. This term will take seven years to complete.
The first 300 days of this are
basic training days where they continue to run for 40 kilometers
per day. In the 4th and 5th year, the pace quickens where they
run for 200 executive days. After accomplishing this, they are
allowed to use a walking stick and where a special tabi hat.
After completing the 700th day,
the gyoja faces their most difficult feat. They must survive
nine days without food, water, sleep, or rest. This period of
time is called the doiri. Several weeks before hand, they
prepare for this event by limiting themselves to small amounts
of food so they will be ready when the time comes. When the
doiri period begins, they spend their days reciting chants that
they repeat 100,000 times. By the fifth day, they are dehydrated
and are allowed to rinse their mouths with water but must spit
out every last drop that enters their mouth. They usually go
outside and take in the fresh mountain air where they are able
to absorb moisture from the rain and dew through their skin.
Usually what the gyoja finds most difficult is not the lack of
food and water, but keeping awake and keeping the proper posture
at all times of the day.
The doiri is purposely made to let
the gyoja face death. After this period of time, they have come
so close to death that they develop a sensitivity to life. They
"can hear ashes fall form incense sticks, smell and identify
foods from miles away and see the sun and moonlight seep into
the interior of the temple." Psychologists who examined the
bodies at the end of the seven day period found that the gyojas
had many symptoms of a dead person. The gyoja are now able to
experience a feeling of transparency. Everything exits their
bodies-good, bad, and neutral.
One relative of a gyoja remarked,
"I always dismissed Buddhism as superstitious nonsense until I
saw my brother step out of Myo-o-do after doiri. He was really a
living Buddha."
It has been reported that the
doiri used to last 10 days but almost all the monks died during
this period of time. So, they shorted the doiri to seven days.
The doiri is also too dangerous to be held during the summer
because the bodies were found to rot internally due to all the
heat and lack of water in the body.
The final year of the 1000-day
term consists of two 100-day terms. These consist of daily
84-kilometer runs. They complete the run within 16 to 18 hours
and repeat again each day. During this time of visiting stations
of worship and running, they also must bless hundreds of people
a day along the road. People flock to these gyojas because they
are considered special and people feel that many of their
abilities can be transferred into the people by being near them.
The final 100-day term is much
like the first one they did long ago and is usually quickly and
easily finished. They are now declared to be a Daigyoman Ajari
which is a "Saintly Master of the Highest Practice."
The final initiation is a 100,000
prayer fast and fire ceremony which takes place two or three
years after the finish of the 1000-day marathon.
Since 1885, there have been 46 of
these marathon monks. It is amazing how they accomplish these
1000 days of strenuous activities. They must get by on a minimum
of sleep through those years so they learn to be excellent
cat-nappers, catching a little sleep while doing things like
stopping at stop-lights or other slight moments. While running,
they learn to rest sections of their bodies as they run such as
their shoulders or arms, etc.
Lung-gom-pa Runners of Tibet
The Marathon monks of Japan are
quite similar to the Lung-gom-pa runners of old Tibet. There
have been many records kept of these amazing running monks who
appear to fly when they run. Across grassy plains, they seem to
float apparently in a trance. They are said to travel nonstop
for forty-eight hours or more and can cover more than 200 miles
a day. Many are said to be faster than horses and at times they
were used to convey messages across a country.
In order to qualify as a
lung-gom-pa runner, the trainee must first learn to master
seated meditation. They had lots of emphasis on breath control
and visualization techniques. They had to be able to imagine
their own bodies as being light as a feather.
Other techniques they had to
master required them to watch a single star in the sky intently
for days, never allowing themselves to be distracted. When they
have attained this ability of moving meditation, they are able
to fly like the wind.
The term "lung-gom" is used for
the kind of training that develops uncommon nimbleness and gives
them the ability to make extraordinarily long tramps with
amazing rapidity. They run at a rapid pace without ever having
to stop for days. They do not run short, quick races but have
the ability to go far distances in a quick amount of time.
"The Way of the White Clouds" by
Lama Anagarika Govinda explains that the word Lung, pronounced
rlun, signifies the state of air as well as vital energy or
psychic force. Gom means meditation, contemplation,
concentration of mind and soul upon a certain subject. It has to
do with the emptying of one’s mind of all subject-object
relationships. This means that a lung-gom-pa runner is not a man
who has the ability to fly through air, but one who can control
his energy, re-channel and concentrate it in a new direction.
These lung-gom-pa runners follow the ancient practice of
pranayama. They follow the idea of completely anonymity and
therefore no one is allowed to talk to them or see any part of
their bodies.
True lung-gom-pa runners are very
rare for it is very difficult to really master their skills. In
the book, "Magic and Mystery in Tibet" the author, Alexandra
David_Neel, mentions how she encountered her first lung-gom-pa
runner in Northern Tibet. This is a wild, grassy region where a
few tribes live in tents. There are few people in this area, and
when they spotted the lung-gom- pa runner, he was alone in a
plain and was the first person they had spotted in more than ten
days of traveling. Thinking the man to be lost and wandering on
the plain, they were going to go retrieve him and take him with
them. As they grew closer they realized he was traveling at a
remarkably swift speed and was one of the so-called lung-gom-pa
runners. David_Neel was told not to speak to the runner because
they were not allowed to break their meditation while running.
The God that lives within him would then escape and the runner
would die. Just witnessing this was enough to amaze her though.
"By that time he had nearly
reached us; I could clearly see his perfectly calm impassive
face and wide-open eyes with their gaze fixed on some
invisible far distant object situated somewhere high up in
space. The man did not run. He seemed to lift himself from the
ground, proceeding by leaps. It look as if he had been endowed
with the elasticity of a ball and rebounded each time his feet
touched the ground."
The lung-gom-pa runner can also be
called a Maheketang. The word "mahe" is from the fearless
buffalo, which they had been know to ride. To aspire to be a
part of Maheketang, there is a lot of training. This includes
breathing exercises that are practiced during a seclusion period
in complete darkness, which lasts three years and three months.
The student must sit cross-legged
on a large cushion. He inhales and allows his body to fill with
air. Then holding his breath, he jumps up with legs still
crossed using no hands to support him. He repeats this always
remaining in the same position. This method enables them to
become extremely light, almost weightless. "The lung-gom method
does not aim at training the disciple by strengthening his
muscles, but by developing in him psychic states that make these
extraordinary marches possible."
Only after years of drilling
oneself with different types of breathing exercises are they
permitted to attempt the actual racing performance itself. When
he finally reaches this point in time, he must completely
concentrate on the walk, the in and out breathing rhythm, always
looking ahead, never speaking. He can not be distracted by
anything and must keep his eyes fixed on a single object.
The best conditions for their runs
are flat plains, desert spaces, and evening twilight. Even after
walking for miles or days, when the evening has been reached,
the tiredness of the run subsides and the lung-gom-pa runner and
continue on for miles more. During their runs, they are
continually told to keep their eyes fixed on a particular star.
Some float through the air so much, that they wear heavy chains
around their bodies so that he is not in danger of floating in
the air.
After having performed all these
feats, the lung-gom-pa usually finds a quiet place to retreat to
where they spend the rest of their lives teaching, meditating,
and pursuing various religious duties. Those who come to him, he
will heal or bless and console those who are upset.
"The Zen of Running" is a book
written by Fred Rohe which states, "Whatever you do with your
running, you only cheat yourself by pushing, pressing, competing.
There are no standards and no possible victories except the joy
you are living while dancing your run." This statement is a
perfect way to describe the lung- gom-pa runners of Tibet and
the Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei. They do not run to simply be
quick or to win. They are in a way dancing when they run. They
are to totally focus on running and let the running take them
away. Their trance-like movements show that they are completely
focusing and are at peace. Rohe goes on to say that "our spirit
is not separate from our body anymore than the water is separate
from the stream. The water is the stream." This has to do with
the fact that running is dancing. Their spirit is with the
runners when they are moving.
At the end of running, the
marathon monk has "become one with the mountain, flying along a
path that is free of obstruction. The joy of practice has been
discovered and all things are made new each day. The stars and
sky, the stones, the plants, and the trees, have become the
monk's trusted companions; he can predict the week's weather by
the shape of the clouds, the direction of the wind, and the
smell of the air; he knows the exact times each species of bird
and insect begin to sing; and he takes special delight in that
magic moment of the day when the moon sets and the sun rises,
poised in the center of creation." To experience this and have
these feelings would be the most remarkable thing, unbeatable by
anything. I would love to see as these monks are able to see and
live. They worked so incredibly hard those 1000 days to get to
this point. For them, the work is not even over yet. For them
the "real practice soon begins."
These amazing runners have for
years been impressing others with their skills. The fact that
they can accomplish all this simply to receive enlightenment is
such a nice thought. Ultra Marathon Runners are provided with
drinks, foods and other things that help them to run and keep
their energy up. The marathon monks have only a few small meals
a day consisting of some rice, soup and other vegetarian foods.
They have proven that when we are
running and think we can go no farther, this just is not quite
true. Just to remember these runners should help us quicken our
pace. They have gone to extraordinary limits in their runs and
maybe someday the rest of the world will be able to come across
the wonderful talents of these people. These "spiritual athletes"
intrigue me and I look forward to finding out new, interesting
information about their lives.
http://www.lehigh.edu/~dmd1/holly.html
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