Photo of Kakushin Baba (c. 1930s)
I returned to the tea room with Baba-san and we sat in companionable silence just listening to the burble of the creek that flowed from the waterfall into the pond full of colourful koi and the twittering of the little forest birds. When Mrs Baba joined us with a fresh pot of green tea, she asked me what school of Buddhism I had been ordained in, and when I told them it was the Shingon tradition they both exclaimed together – “Ah! The same as our temple here!” I thought what a lovely coincidence it was that my Kannon statue had been carved by a priest belonging to the same tradition that I also belonged to. It was heart-warming for me to know that the familiar rituals would have been practiced with my Ishin Kannon all those years ago.
They then began telling me about their own son Shingu who had recently been ordained as a monk and was currently training at a remote mountain temple about a thousand kilometres away. I asked them why their son was so far away, to which they replied that the family had been associated with this faraway temple since the time of Kakushin, who was also ordained at that temple, as had Baba-san’s father, and also himself. Mrs Baba then went to the desk and brought back a framed photo of their son on the day of his ordination: he was kneeling formally in front of an altar inside a temple and seated beside Shingu was his teacher. I let out a gasp of surprise… for the man sitting beside Shingu was Zengan-sama, my very own teacher who had ordained me!
At that moment I honestly felt that I must be having a very vivid dream – it was such an impossible coincidence! How could it be possible that this journey, which had started on eBay of all places – a 21st century symbol of modern technology and consumerism, and had then led me half way round the world to this temple (which didn’t even have a television!) to reveal such a profound and sacred connection! I was simply in awe of the amazing synchronicity.
Baba-san and his wife were also absolutely speechless with surprise and just kept repeating that this event was “go-en”. “Go-en” means fate or destiny in English, but the meaning is much deeper than that – “go-en” refers to a sacred relationship between people that has been tied since the dawn of time and now comes to fruition. The Baba family and my teacher and me, although our lives were quite different and remote from one another, were nonetheless deeply connected through this sacred image of Ishin Kannon. In that moment, this did indeed seem to me to be a miracle – an awe-inspiring mysterious unfolding of fate.
Amid fond farewells and promises to remain in touch, I returned to Kyoto and completed the pilgrimage, arriving back at my home temple on Mt Koya on the last day. I immediately went to find young Shingu Baba to tell him about my meeting with his parents, but they had already telephoned him! Together we visited Zengan-sama and excitedly told him our story. Although his eyebrows did seem to rise a little as we gushed about coincidence and serendipity and synchronicity and “go-en”, Zengan-sama just smiled his gentle knowing smile, sat us down at the low lacquer table, and quietly poured us each a cup of tea – which we then shared in silence. For what else was there to say?
Coming up…
The pilgrimage of a thousand prayers begins
I returned to the tea room with Baba-san and we sat in companionable silence just listening to the burble of the creek that flowed from the waterfall into the pond full of colourful koi and the twittering of the little forest birds. When Mrs Baba joined us with a fresh pot of green tea, she asked me what school of Buddhism I had been ordained in, and when I told them it was the Shingon tradition they both exclaimed together – “Ah! The same as our temple here!” I thought what a lovely coincidence it was that my Kannon statue had been carved by a priest belonging to the same tradition that I also belonged to. It was heart-warming for me to know that the familiar rituals would have been practiced with my Ishin Kannon all those years ago.
They then began telling me about their own son Shingu who had recently been ordained as a monk and was currently training at a remote mountain temple about a thousand kilometres away. I asked them why their son was so far away, to which they replied that the family had been associated with this faraway temple since the time of Kakushin, who was also ordained at that temple, as had Baba-san’s father, and also himself. Mrs Baba then went to the desk and brought back a framed photo of their son on the day of his ordination: he was kneeling formally in front of an altar inside a temple and seated beside Shingu was his teacher. I let out a gasp of surprise… for the man sitting beside Shingu was Zengan-sama, my very own teacher who had ordained me!
At that moment I honestly felt that I must be having a very vivid dream – it was such an impossible coincidence! How could it be possible that this journey, which had started on eBay of all places – a 21st century symbol of modern technology and consumerism, and had then led me half way round the world to this temple (which didn’t even have a television!) to reveal such a profound and sacred connection! I was simply in awe of the amazing synchronicity.
Baba-san and his wife were also absolutely speechless with surprise and just kept repeating that this event was “go-en”. “Go-en” means fate or destiny in English, but the meaning is much deeper than that – “go-en” refers to a sacred relationship between people that has been tied since the dawn of time and now comes to fruition. The Baba family and my teacher and me, although our lives were quite different and remote from one another, were nonetheless deeply connected through this sacred image of Ishin Kannon. In that moment, this did indeed seem to me to be a miracle – an awe-inspiring mysterious unfolding of fate.
Amid fond farewells and promises to remain in touch, I returned to Kyoto and completed the pilgrimage, arriving back at my home temple on Mt Koya on the last day. I immediately went to find young Shingu Baba to tell him about my meeting with his parents, but they had already telephoned him! Together we visited Zengan-sama and excitedly told him our story. Although his eyebrows did seem to rise a little as we gushed about coincidence and serendipity and synchronicity and “go-en”, Zengan-sama just smiled his gentle knowing smile, sat us down at the low lacquer table, and quietly poured us each a cup of tea – which we then shared in silence. For what else was there to say?
Coming up…
The pilgrimage of a thousand prayers begins
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