MZC HERE-NOW

The Navajo Indian tribe is the largest tribe in the US with nearly 400 000 people belonging to this nation. They live on their native land, as it was considered useless by former US government officials. As a nation, they are partially independent from the US with their own police force and their own rules – which have to be followed. Their land spans over areas of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado. As a Christmas present, David organised a six day long tour in Northern Arizona with the emphasis on the Vermillion Cliffs and the area around Lake Powell. Most of it was on Navajo Land.

The trip from Phoenix to Page normally takes a bit over five hours – but we needed more than 9 hours. A severe forest fire north of Flagstaff forced us to take a detour. The navigator led us to an unmarked dirt road, which we followed for several miles. The road deteriorated continuously, leading into an area blanketed by black volcanic rocks. The snow capped mountains of San Francisco Peaks and the black smoke of the forest fire in the far distance together with the black volcanic rocks created a dramatic atmosphere.

Snow capped San Francisco Peaks in the distance

Clouds of dust indicated that a few cars were behind us.  At one point, a car which originally past us, came back, stopped with the driver shouting nervously: “You must turn around, the road becomes impassable!” We believed him and drove back to the main road which took us through Navajo and Hopi Land to Page. In Page, we heard that on the first day of the fire, a truck driver wanting to reach Page had to take a 40 miles long detour on dirt roads – we were lucky!

Nearly impassable dirt road covered with sharp lava rocks

When driving through Hopi land, we stopped at a private house selling Indian art. I especially loved the Kachina doll above – it represents the mother of all Kachina dolls. Kachinas are spirits who express the presence of life in all objects in the universe. According to Hopi belief, they are supernatural beings who visit the Hopi villages during the first half of the year and live on the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff the rest of the time.

When we arrived in Page, a town founded in 1957 by workers building the Glen Canyon Dam, we were welcomed by my sister in law and brother in law, Billie and Ron, and Billie’s brother Scott, who lives and works in Page. His knowledge of the area was extremely helpful!

Damned up Colorado River

Very close to Page near the Glen Canyon Dam, two iron bridges span over the Colorado River. The space underneath the bridge is the favorite place for Condors to rest. The Condors were successfully bread after nearly becoming extinct in the beginning of the 20th century. In 1904, only 22 Condors existed in California. Now the Vermillion Cliffs counts 111. All Condors are marked and registered. The breading success is especially remarkable because a female Condor only lays one egg every two years.

Navajo Bridge on the left side

Colorado River

Male Condor attracting a female

Successful attraction

With wings spreading wide

the Condor soars in the sky –

Vermillion Cliffs

Horseshoe Bend

Scott took us onto the Vermillion Cliffs where only a four wheel drive can go. He showed us foundations of former Pueblo settlements and Indian graves. Pieces of Indian pottery were scattered over the ground. He found little white stones with a specific pattern, probably carved by Indian boys learning to make arrowheads.

Scott’s truck on the Vermillion Cliffs plateau

Looking for arrowheads

I am fascinated by the crisp shadows on the red sand

 Many pieces of Indian pottery collected on rocks by former visitors

Interesting rock formation

Many bigger and smaller slot canyons can be found in the area of Page. Some of them are marked as official trails. We decided to hike the 9 mile long Wire Pass Trail to Buckskin Gulch. In order to preserve the nature and keep masses of tourists out, one has to acquire a parking permit the day before the hike.

Wire Pass trail to Buckskin Gulch

Climbing through the narrow canyon on ladders

Breathtaking!

Balancing on sometimes wiggling rocks over knee-deep water

Strange, white formation over a resting group of people

More stunning impressions with Billie walking in the front

Climbing up the slippery sandstone and having fun

Stone formation beside Highway 89A

Toadstool Hoodoo

Interesting circles on the bottom of the Hoodoo

I called this rock formation “Laughing Buddha”

Rock formation beside the road – I called it 3 sisters

When I lived in Arizona, I always wanted to visit Antelope Canyon in Northern Arizona (1993 – 1999). At this time, the slot canyons were not considered a major tourist attraction and one had to rappel into the canyons. Then a terrible tragedy made the news around the world. 11 international tourists where trapped and drowned by a flash flood in Lower Antelope Canyon on August 12, 1997. Now, the Lower and Upper Antelope Canyons are run by the Navajo nation who manage the access to the canyons and make sure that the Canyon is safe to enter.

We visited the Lower and the Upper Antelope Canyons, each time with different Navajo tour company. Wearing masks was required, as the Navajo suffered from a lot of Covid deaths. Both slot canyons are spectacular and the photos do not even remotely represent the beauty of colour, light and shade and especially the formations. It is very difficult to take good photos in the canyon, as the difference between the bright sky above and the darkness in the narrow canyon is extreme – so you only get a taste of the beauty.

The waves in the Navajo sandstone were formed by million of years of flooding.

Signs of past floods could be seen either on the ground or high above. The force of the water rushing through the narrows is unimaginable.

A powerful tree trunk at the bottom

A former wooden gate in between the narrow rock walls

Looking up to the sky where only a sliver of light can be seen

Sometimes the wind blows fine sand into the canyon and settles everywhere

Every corner is a miracle of the forces of water, wind and light 

Often the guide pointed out specific formations, like a bear or the head of Abraham Lincoln. The formation above is like a woman’s head.

Stairways lead into the canyon and later up again.

This narrow slot is the exit of the Lower Antelope Canyon

When returning to Phoenix, we took a little detour and visited the Grand Canyon. I had not been there for over 20 years.

A row of mailboxes, typical for the countryside in the West

Beside the road, a trading company where tourists can buy native American jewellery and other things of the Wild West.

 When we arrived at the Grand Canyon, we stopped at some viewpoints and looked down into the breathtaking canyon carved out by the Colorado River over millions of years.

Huge parking lots created for the masses of tourists visiting the Grand Canyon every year could not ruin the beauty of the canyon – but it was disappointing to see how mass tourism is changing the pristine character in some spots.

Today, April 8, is the Buddha’s birthday, called Flower Festival in Japan. On this day we bathe his baby figure with amacha, sweet tea, representing kanro, sweet dew, amrita, ambrosia of immortality, nirvana, and awakening, which he later attained. Any buddha, awakened one, can attain this by practicing Zazen, Sitting Meditation, culminating in nir–vāṇa, no-wind of karma containing the Triple Poisons of desire, divisiveness, and delusion (of self-same, self-sovereign self-substance).

The Buddha found that all living beings are karma-born, -heirs, -owners, -machines, and -refuged. Humans have evolved 4 billion years’ of heredity since life started, developing their brains and hands, languages and arts, sciences and technologies. They have now become the most dangerous animals and can terminate the global life system by nukes, wars, global warming, pollution, etc., as we witness the Russian war on Ukraine, the attacking of nuclear power plants, and the threat of using nuclear weapons.

War is the worst crime, negating the most important value for any living being, life, thus negating its life rights – freedom, autonomy, peace, equality, families, friendship, etc., and thus ignoring all values endowed by limitless time and space. This crime is committed by the sin (meaning “separation,” selfishness and sickness) of dictators and their puppets, and comes from the delusion of a separate self, ignoring all ancestors, relatives, animals, plants, the earth, the sun, air, etc.

The solution lies in sitting still, stilling karma, seeing the Dharma (of Dependent Co-origination of all dharmas, phenomena, on causes and conditions), serving and saving all, in unconditioned peace and unsurpassed awakening, replacing bad karmas with good ones. If everyone does so, the whole world can cooperate to concentrate on stopping wars, stopping idle talk according to the Buddha’s advice of first pulling out a poisoned arrow, and then creating a new wholly wholesome world.

The Buddha attained nirvana and awakening in the Dharma (Truth/Ethic), and devoted his whole life to saving the world from destruction, urged by Brahma (Dharma). Everyone has the duty to do so, making “vox populi vox dei.” Religion (Latin, religare) means reunion with holiness (wholly wholesomeness, making all harmonious, healthy, and happy) from sin.  Supramundane truth and prognosis transcend the “Mythology of State,” making the world of all beings without war, nuclear holocaust, global warming, etc.

Note1. There are legends that the Buddha, sitting under a dead tree, stopped the marching army of Viḍudhabha of Kosala to destroy his native country repeatedly, telling him, “The shade is superior to the others,” upon the latter’s question, “Why are you sitting under the dead tree, while there are a lot of big trees with abundant leaves?”

2. Ernst Cassirer defined humans as “symbolic animals” writing “Philosophy of Symbolic Form,” “An Essay on Man,” “The Myth of the State,” etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Cassirer

今日四月八日は仏陀の誕生日で、日本では花祭りと呼ばれています。この日私達はその赤ん坊の像に甘露、不死、即ち涅槃と悟り、の神饌、を表す甘茶で沐浴させますが、それを後に達成したのです。誰でも坐禅により究極的に涅槃、即ち貪瞋痴（自己同一の自己主宰の、自己実体という無明）の三毒を含む業の無風、に達しそれを得ることが出来、仏陀、覚者、になれるのです。

仏陀は一切の生き物は業‐相続者、‐誕生者、‐所有者、‐機械、‐依拠者であることを発見しました。人間は生命誕生以来四十億年の遺伝で新化し、脳と手、言語と諸芸、科学と技術を発展させて来ました。彼らは今や最も危険な動物となり、原発の攻撃、原爆使用の威嚇などのロシアのウクライナへの戦争で目の当たりにしているように核、戦争、地球温暖化、汚染などで地球の生命系を終わらせることが出来ます。

戦争は生き物の最も重要な価値である生命否定し、それで生命の権利である自由、自治、平和、平等、家族、友人等を否定し、こうして無限の時間と空間の賜物である一切の価値を無視するのです。この犯罪は独裁者達とその操り人形達の罪（「分離」と言う意味で利己主義と疾患）によって犯され、一切の祖先、演者、動物、植物、地球、太陽、空気などを無視して、分離された自我という迷妄に由来しているのです。

その解決は静かに坐り、業を静め、（一切の法、現象、は原因と条件によって因縁生起するという）法を見て、悪業を善業に変えて条件付けられない平和（涅槃）とそれを超えることが出来ない覚醒（悟り）の内に、一切に奉仕し救済することでできます。誰もがそうすることで世界全体が、なによりも最初に毒矢を抜き、その後で新しい全体健全な世界を創造するべきであるという仏陀の忠告に従って戯論を止め、戦争を止めることに集中するよう協力することが出来ます。

仏陀は涅槃を達成して法（真理・倫理）に目覚め梵天（普遍法）に促されて世界を破滅から救うことにその一生を捧げました。誰でもが「民の声は神の声」を挙げてそうする義務があります。宗教（religionはラテン語の サイケ結合religareに由来）とは罪から聖（全体健全、一切を調和、健康、幸福にする）に再結合することです。超俗の真理と診断は「国家の神話」を超越して一切存在の世界を戦争、核のホロコースト、地球温暖化などの無い所にします。

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註　１．枯れ木の下に坐っていた仏陀にコーサラ国のヴィドゥダッタが故国を滅ぼす為に進軍して来たが、それを見て、”葉の茂った大木が沢山あるのに、どうして枯れ木の下に坐っているのですか」と尋ねたので、仏陀は「親族の陰は他の人にまさる」と言って繰り返し進軍を止めたという伝説があります。

2. エルンスト・アルフレッド・カッシラーは「象徴形式の哲学」、「人間」、「国家の神話」などを書いて、人間を「象徴の動物」と定義しました。

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A8%E3%83%AB%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AB%E3%83%83%E3%82%B7%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BC

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Photo taken by Rev. Shinko Daigen (Mr. Noriyuki Otsuka), Shimoda, Shizuoka, Japan

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Let’s All Raise “Vox Populi Vox Dei/Dharma!

1 From All:

https://chng.it/9kZwhfNN

2. 1 + Japanese Future

https://chng.it/wdK7YTPZ

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My 88-Temple-Hike in Shikoku

Though this hike was a secret wish deep in my heart for many years, I would not have thought that, one day, I would go this path alone. The country was foreign to me, I did not speak a single word of Japanese, and the 1,200 km route is very long. However, many different circumstances later, on March 1, 2016, I passed the temple gate of Ryōzenji (temple 1). I had dared to make the first step and was ready to take on the challenges of a 54-day hike.

When I prepared for the pilgrimage, I did not know that the 88-temple pilgrimage is based on Kukai or Kobo Daishi, who was born in Shikoku about 1 200 years ago. I was surprised to learn that the pilgrimage goes back to the time when Kukai still was alive and continued without interruption up to today. However, the most astonishing fact I found out that nearly all of the pilgrims today are bus pilgrims. Out of 200 000 pilgrims a year, only about 2000 take the hardship of walking the route.

For me, walking a pilgrimage is crucial. When walking in solitude, one can practice deep listening, which opens the heart to everything that is. It is a walk into the world of not knowing, which allows the world to come forward in every experience. One learns to trust in life. I think that a walking pilgrim is an adventurer ready to take risks. Taking risks and stepping out of the habitual life means to face one’s own vulnerability, which needs courage and endurance. By stepping out of the self-imposed limitations, it is possible to discover in depth the inner physical and mental landscape.

In general, by walking several days in solitude, the heart fills with joy and gratefulness. The beauty of the world steps forward and each moment becomes precious. The journey itself is the goal and not so much the sacred sites. However, in Shikoku, I experienced that doing the rituals at the temple sites became as important as the walk itself.

My first step through the temple gate of Ryōzenji was a step into a foreign world. I was wearing the typical pilgrim’s clothing – a white shirt without sleeves, a white pilgrim’s bag, the cone-shaped pilgrim’s hat and the pilgrim’s staff.  I had made the decision before the pilgrimage to respect and adapt to the Japanese culture and especially follow the rituals in the temples. I bowed before entering the gate and, when stepping over the wooden post [sic], I was careful not to touch the beam [sic]. After this I washed my hands and my mouth and followed the rules of washing. After the cleansing I went over to the big temple bell, pulled back the heavy wooden post [sic] and let it hit the bell – the sound announced my arrival to the main god of the temple. There was a vibration and I could feel the waves passing through my body like a shower of rain. (

The pilgrims’ protocol prescribes exactly each detail of the ritual that has to be performed in front of the main hall and the Daishido. In the beginning, I was completely overwhelmed; after all, most of it was foreign to me and I felt I was in the wrong place! At Jūrakuji (temple No. 7), my voice cracked when I was reciting the Heart sutra. I felt hopelessly lost and saw this as a sign not to follow the rituals anymore. At this moment, a pilgrim appeared next to me and began to recite the rest of the Heart sutra together with me. This event was a turning point in my pilgrimage. I felt better from day to day, the rituals became an important part of my trip and I began to really appreciate them.

Though I walked most of the path alone, I had big help from Tokyo. My friend Yuko Iwatani and her husband Shigeo, the former ambassador of Japan to Austria, took me to Ryōzenji and accompanied me until Shōsanji, temple No 12. Yuko gave me her old telephone, with which I could call her any time. A big help were the sentences in Japanese writing she sent me to the telephone. The most important sentence: “Could you please reserve an accommodation for me?” Yuko also established “Traude’s Support Group”. This group consisted of three friends whom I could contact any time. Though communication was difficult on the path, there were always possibilities to understand each other if needed.

But all this help could not prevent that I came into difficult situations again and again. One of my biggest fears was to get lost or go the wrong way. My guide was the pilgrim’s book with maps. However, I preferred to follow the markers. These markers were like good friends, nodding to me friendly and telling me: ” You are on the right path!” They gave me confidence. But sometimes these simple symbols were missing. So, one day, after a many-hours-long, lonesome mountain hike, I arrived at a crossroads without pilgrimage markers. Three wooden arrows with Japanese writing pointed in three different directions and I did not know where I was. Did I go the wrong way? Shortly before this, I climbed iron ladders over a nearly vertical rock. The feeling of deep insecurity grew in me, especially since I did not have any reception and could not reach Yuko. My heart started pounding when I was standing there, lost, when suddenly I heard a distant sweeping noise. I followed it and found a man who actually cleaned the path with a broom in the middle of the forest! I was in awe! He assured me I was on the right path.

They say that Kōbō Daishi is accompanying the pilgrim on this pilgrimage at all times. This is expressed through the sentence: “dōgyō ninin”. I could replace Kōbō Daishi with “Inner Trust in that what just is”. By trusting life, each moment was filled with vitality and joy despite difficulties and times of feeling lost, helpless, fearful or tired.

Aside from the 88 temples, I also visited many Shintō shrines and bangais, which are temples that do not belong to the group of 88 temples. I also stayed at the Zen temple Zuiōji in the prefect of Ehime. I have been a practitioner of Soto Zen for a long time. The recommendation to spend a few days there came from my Zen teacher, Rosan Yoshida Rōshi. Zuiōji was his training monastery. It is one of the most traditional Sōtō Zen training monasteries in Japan. As it happened, it was situated on my route and I obtained permission to practice there with the monks.

Heavy rain was falling when I entered the monastery district. The dense fog above the top of the trees mirrored my inner feelings. I had great doubts, if the decision to come here had been the right one. The straight lines of the big stone garden in front of the building with the green copper roof seemed to be threatening and unfriendly. I did not know where to go and followed a path that led me directly into the kitchen. There, the cook (tenzo) received me with a big smile and said: ” You must be Garyō-san. Welcome to Zuiōji!” These words chased away all my doubts. It was like coming home.

I stayed in Zuioji for 8 days, including Buddha’s birthday on April 8. Daikai-san (tenzo) was the only person who spoke English and also knew German. After showing me my room, he introduced me to the schedule and rules. He explained how to enter the sodo, how to walk, how to get on the tan (platform) for zazen, how to eat the traditional way of oryoki, where to change slippers, go barefoot or wear white socks, when to sit in seiza. He gave me the schedule of the day starting at 3:50 am in the morning and ending at 8:55 pm with zazen. Soon, I was overwhelmed and expressed my feelings to him. He answered “do not worry! I will be here to help!” And this was right! It was not only him who helped me but I felt the support of the whole community of monks. In addition, buildings, timing and rules support the practice of the Buddha mind and create a flow which feels like a strong current carrying one forward. I just had to follow this flow and do my best. It was very interesting that the greeting of the monks “otsukaresamadesu” (thank you for your effort) expressed the energy I felt in Zuioji. Despite my many mistakes, I felt included and part of the whole.

I especially appreciated meeting the over 90-year-old abbot Tsugen Narasaki Roshi, who was for me the living Dharma. When I left Zuioji to continue my pilgrimage, he suggested a goodbye photo in front of the white elephant placed before the hatto at Buddha’s birthday. I value this photo very much!

The Shikoku pilgrimage was a wonderful experience where I could witness the tremendous kindness of Japanese people, the beauty of the country and the richness of the culture. However, by walking I also saw huge problems in the countryside. Especially in the prefecture of Kochi, the countryside looked abandoned and full of poverty. I saw trash piled up beside the street, crammed into abandoned houses or broken-down cars. Still full furnished houses collapsed with nature taking over the site because nobody cared after the last resident died. Walking on many asphalt roads and especially through tunnels without a pedestrian walkway made the pilgrimage exhausting and sometimes dangerous. In addition, bus tourists often occupy the shukubos and a singular pilgrim does not have much chance to stay in the temple, which is a pity!

As pilgrimages by foot become more and more popular in Europe as well in the US, the old Japanese pilgrimage routes of Shikoku und Kumano Kodo have tremendous potential to attract people coming to Japan. The focus, however, needs to shift more towards people who walk than towards bus pilgrims.

I am very grateful that I could walk the pilgrimage and experience Japanese life and culture in such an authentic way! More information about the pilgrimage and my experiences can be found in my book. A shorter version of the path is on my blog:

Simplyjustwalking.com

Japanese version at the end of the following newsletter (former half: latter half will be posted later).

日本語翻訳は下をクリックして読んでください（最後の欄です、日本語後半は発行次第転載します）。

日墺協会会報2021_12

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The following picture was taken on March 16, 2022, two days before the full moon, from her window:

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Please use this for Yoshida’s presentation:

paradigm shift, karma to dharma

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Experiences in the Peruvian jungle

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Daily life in Otorongo

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In Otorongo, one should always expect the unexpected. I thought I would end my diet with a ceremony like in the beginning of my diet, but I was wrong! The ceremony consisted of a plate of raw onion rings mixed with raw garlic in a spicy sauce. Judith served it at 7 am on a little plate with the word “comer!”

“No comer” I answered, as I did not want to eat yet. She strongly insisted and only then I saw what was on the plate! The ending of my diet consisted of a bombshell and it catapulted me immediately back into the social environment and everyday life of Otorongo.

I had lost my appetite for black tea or coffee, but was looking forward to all the other delicious dishes Judith prepared for us.

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Finally, I could eat fresh pineapple from the pineapple field

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At least every second day, somebody had to bring food from the market of Tamshiyaku. Most of the time, Dr. Himmelbauer brought everything in his big basket.

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Judith prepared a chocolate cake for me after I finished the diet and I was fascinated how she made it. She mixed all the ingredients in a bowl using only her hands, put it into a kettle and the kettle in a steam bath heated by a charcoal fired stove. The cake was delicious.

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The charcoal was produced outside of the camp using a charcoal kiln made out of wood from collapsed trees and stored in a cabin near the kitchen. This storage place was a favorite place for scorpions who like it warm and dry. One time, Dr. Himmelbauer found a scorpion in his bed – the charcoal hut is located just beside his cabin.

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                          Charcoal kiln in the making

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A spring near my diet hut provided fresh and clear water for drinking and cooking.

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                             Stalin getting water from the spring

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In Peru, names are often given according to the power the parents wanted for the baby. A baby boy can even get the name Hitler.

Just three meters away of the pond, there was a well. The water of the well was used for washing laundry. Also, all the workers were washing themselves with water from the well.

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                                                    Place of the well

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                       Milton cleaning the really not very deep well

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                                     Laundry dried in the sun

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Otorongo needs constant care and repair. Besides Milton and Luis, who are longtime workers in Otorongo, often other workers from the village come to the camp to help.

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Raking the dead leaves from the camp ground was a daily activity and very important, as they could be hiding places for poisonous animals.

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                      Dead leaves were always burned.

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Chicken in Otorongo were not kept for eggs but for roaming the ground for snakes, scorpions and other poisonous animals. One time I saw a black hen with a black snake in its beak. Eggs were always left in the nest for breeding. However, sometimes a boa came during the night to steal them all.

In the center of the camp stands the octagonal temple building. It is there where the healing ceremonies are performed. The roof of the temple and other cabins are made of palm leaves and need to be repaired constantly.

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                  Palm leaves dried in the sun for roof repair

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                         Milton artistically weaving the palm leaves together

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                          Pattern of woven palm leaves

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Healing ceremonies take place during the night in a pitch-dark room and last up to three hours. Dr. Himmelbauer, a curandero, starts the ceremony a bit like a Catholic mass, asking for divine presence and protection. Then he offers the healing medicine called Ayahuasca, a plant essence made from the vine Ayahuasca, also called Madre or the vine of the dead. It takes one down to the unconscious mind and reveals suppressed and not healed topics in one’s personal life. The plant spirit is called up by songs (icaros) sung by the curandero. The participant stays conscious all the time.

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                                               Inside the temple

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I was already familiar with Ayahuasca, but did not drink it during my diet. Also, due to the sickness of one visitor and Dr. Himmelbauer in addition to the volatile weather conditions with many thunderstorms, only a few ceremonies were performed during my diet time. I was fully participating after my three weeks of isolation.  One time, I had a very strong vision of my ego cut into nonexistence and only pure awareness survived. I tried to be an observer, telling myself “I am love”, but it did not help. The I was still a hindrance to pure love.

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                                   Wooden ceiling of the temple

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People often asked me after my return from the jungle – “what did you get out of it?” This question is not so easy to answer. After my Shikoku pilgrimage, I was asked the same question. There is usually not an immediate answer.  Everything is a process and reveals itself later.

However, I realized some benefits of three weeks in the diet even during the diet. For example, my handwriting became even, small and precise when I wrote in my diary. In addition, nothing could disturb my equanimity after a while. I especially loved the simplicity of life and the joy and gratefulness for the essential things. I do not know yet what the long-term effects will be, if any. Time will reveal it.

At the end of my diet, Dr. Himmelbauer told me that during the last 20 years, twenty-five people had stayed in the diet hut. Five of them were women. Most of the women left early. I stayed the longest of the twenty-five people. It showed me that I have become fairly resilient, probably due to the pilgrimages I have done in the past.

Thank you so much, dear reader, for walking with me into the jungle and staying with me all the time.

Gassho,

Garyo

 Experiences in the Peruvian jungle

Simplicity

Otorongo is like an organic being and the opposite of a Buddhist temple, where time is structured up to the minute. Especially in the diet hut, there was nothing I had to do. I could create and spend my time however I wanted. The only structure I had was the morning bath around 6 am and the two meals. These three things served as a flexible reference point for how I wanted to spend the day. After a while, my own schedule and structure crystallized and it seemed that I had created my own sesshin.

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                                                                   The diet hut

Barefoot and still in my pajamas, my day started with a short walk to the pond of Otorongo.

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                                        Barefoot on my way to the pond

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.Every morning, a heated discussion took place on the top of nearby trees, the home of the very social Baucar weavers. They were frantically flying from treetop to treetop, screeching and screaming, sometimes in a crescendo as if they all agreed on one topic with only one voice expressing a different opinion. It was courting season when I was there. They showed off their artistic nests hanging from the tree branches like woven tubes. The nests on one specific palm tree were especially intriguing. It was a tree putting its entire energy into growing to the light, with only three palm leaves on the top. The two longer ones were totally covered by nests. I called it “Bodhisattva tree”.

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Before washing and swimming, I watched the life around me in the reflection of the calm and black surface of the water. The locals would not swim or even wash in this water – they were afraid of creatures living in this unknown darkness. I loved to look out for turtles rising up from the depth with their golden colored shells due to the minerals in the water. Later in the day they rested on the wooden deck.

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There are at least 30 turtles or more in the little pond. You see the tallest and oldest turtle in the photo above. Many of the turtles were rescued by Dr. Himmelbauer, who bought them at the fish market and rescued them before being killed for food.

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                              Gateway to the diet hut and spring

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After cleansing my body, I went back to the hut to make the bed, sweep the floor and prepare everything for zazen. The feeling of time changed tremendously during meditation in the jungle, especially in the beginning of my diet. After 15 minutes sitting, I thought that an hour had passed already. During the first days, my breathing was fast and shallow and in the shortest time I was totally wet from sweating. After several days, however, my body adjusted to the food and climate and started to relax. I especially became aware that deep relaxation took place, as I needed to yawn constantly during meditation and tears ran down my cheeks without me being sad.

After meditation, I usually continued with the practice of 108 prostrations. A group of Buddhist friends in Austria started this practice combined with phrases of self-love and self-acceptance (I believe that self-acceptance is one of the major hindrances for the Western mind in developing wisdom and compassion). I brought the phrases with me to integrate it into my daily life in the diet hut.  In the beginning of my diet, severe weakness forced me to stop just after 37 prostrations and I immediately was falling into deep sleep when I rested on the bed.  At the end of the first week, however, it was not a problem anymore and I added my own phrases which came up during my stay.

Quite often, my practice was interrupted by the delivery of food. Whoever entered the clearing always made a noise to announce the coming. I appreciated this warning very much.

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Milton, one of the workers of Otorongo, was the only person in the camp over the weekend one time and cooked this meal for me – red beet, carrot, potato and two eggs. I was touched by his efforts.

Meals in the morning and afternoon were always the same food. However, the afternoon meal was served cold. The meal consisted mainly of steamed vegetables, rice and sometimes fish. The simplicity of the food reinforced the gratitude I felt for the nourishment of body and soul.

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A cricket landed on the wooden railing

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After eating, I often went outside to read. I brought the translation of Fukanzazengi-no-hanashi by Rosan to refresh the proper pose of zazen. Kaz Tanahashi allowed me to read his latest manuscript about the Indra-net. I brought about five poetry books, my favorite one was the Book of Hours by Rainer Maria Rilke. Often, I recited Rilke’s poems in a loud voice into the jungle, sharing his words with every creature around me.

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Another beautiful creature

Late morning was usually my time of sewing the zagu. Every stitch was accompanied with the words of the three treasures. I felt I was cleansing my mind with this recitation, walking step by step, stitch by stitch, to the completion. I finished the zagu in about 15 days.

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                                                Zagu almost finished 

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However, I brought some more white fabric with me just in case I wanted to sew more. At this time, a visitor living in the camp became very ill with pneumonia and Dengue fever. I was told that she was close to death and I decided to sew a cloth for her, using the words “may you become healthy and happy”.  Modern medicine and traditional plant medicine helped her to heal.  I was very pleased to be able to hand the finished cloth over to her after my diet.

Early afternoon was my time for the jungle walk.  “You will soon be like in a trance” Dr. Himmelbauer said to me when he encouraged me to walk in the jungle. It did not happen. Instead, I became more and more sensitive to the world around me. I felt the fine vibrations of the jungle floor whenever I was sitting in the hut. “The floor of the jungle is like a pudding” I was told. The hut standing on stilts was a perfect transmitter of this fine movement. And I was in awe of the beauty of the rain forest, which nourished me like a mother.

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Heavy rain might have killed a big black bug beside my wooden stairs. I honored it by placing the wilted blossoms of my flower bouquet beside it.

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                                   A little red seed on the wilted leaves

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The jungle itself was a wonderful teacher and showed me that life and death are not separate. Every plant in the rainforest depends on the death of other plants, as the soil itself is not nutritious. I could see that clearly in front of my hut were an old, dead tree trunk served as a nourishing ground for young plants.

About 4 pm, I was usually back from my jungle walk to eat my second meal. One time, I needed my medicine box (scratched my foot a little bit), which I had put on my wooden shelf. I did not look at it for two weeks. During this time, maggots found their way inside and ate everything they could. It looked disgusting! Except for the disinfection spray and some pills, I had to throw everything away.

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Medicine bag

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Another time, I watched a butterfly coming into the hut and not finding the way out. It did not realize that it had to fly down first and always tried to escape through the ceiling net. For three days, I watched and tried to help with no avail. Then I had an idea! I took my orange night pot, climbed over the table and bed to rest my one foot on the horizontal wooden wall beam, caught the butterfly and with a swift movement took it down to find its freedom.  I was very happy. “The Shipibo Indians would have laughed at you” Dr. Himmelbauer said to me when I told him about it. “This was the fate of the butterfly! It was choosing to be over your bed and probably die there – or not! Only a gringo would do that!” I still was glad that I could help it to survive.

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Butterfly over my bed

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Around 5 pm, I started with Yoga and was very surprised how balanced and flexible my body had become within just a few days of the diet. After Yoga, I prepared for evening zazen, lighting a candle and incense on my altar. Having one single candle to illuminate the darkness around me always filled me with deep gratitude. It is this simplicity which brings richness of life and I really felt it in my little hut.

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                                              Play of light and dark

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Before I went to bed around 7 pm, I brushed my teeth outside on the porch and often took my flashlight with me to illuminate the jungle floor. Hundreds and hundreds of little glittering sapphire points (the bodies of little flies) were scattered on innumerable blades of grass. When the night was clear, Venus appeared over the top of the Humari tree and I was in awe of the beauty on the ground and above.

Every night I was looking forward to crawling into my “bed of heaven” surrounded by the white mosquito net. The night was my time to read. My favorite book was “Inside Vasubandhu’s Yogacara” by Ben Connelly, which I read almost three times. I also had my diary book with pen in my bed to write down my vivid dreams.

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                                     Roots of a Chullachaqui-caspi tree

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Otorongo is a place of “thin air”, a portal between the seen and unseen world. On the last day of my visit, I walked to the Chullachaqui-caspi tree, the home of the Lord of the Forest.

I wanted to give thanks to the jungle for my health, safety and the deep connection I felt.  No other place seemed to be more fitting than this special tree. I had seen this tree many times and also did several drawings of it. However, when I stepped in front this time, suddenly a face looked at me from inside the legged tree. It seemed that the Lord of the Forest materialized in order to tell me “I really do exist!”

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The following pictures were sent by Mr. Noriyuki Otsuka

from Shimoda, Shizuoka, Japan:

Kawazu Cherry is blooming now!

河津桜が咲きました！

Plum flowers are blooming.

梅も咲いています。

Daffodils are also blooming.

水仙も咲いています。

Praecox

蝋梅

Rape flowers are visited by a bee.

菜の花に蜂が訪れています。