Mirror of Tomorrow :: At Akakura—the Mother’s entry in her Prayers and Meditations

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At Akakura—the Mother’s entry in her Prayers and Meditations

by RY Deshpande on Mon 16 Nov 2009 03:30 AM IST | Permanent Link | Cosmos

Prayers and Meditations by the Mother

Akakura: 13 July 1917

One day I wrote: “My heart has fallen asleep down to the very depths of my being.”

Merely asleep? I cannot believe it. I think it is completely hushed, perhaps for ever. From sleep one awakes, from this quietness there is no falling back. And since that day I have not observed any relapse. In place of something very intensely concentrated which for a long while was intermittently tumultuous, has come an immensity so vast and calm and untroubled, filling my being; or rather my being has melted into that; for how could that which is limitless be contained in a form?

And these great mountains with their serene contours which I see from my window, range after majestic range up to the very horizon, are in perfect harmony with the rhythm of this being, filled with an infinite peace. Lord, couldst Thou have taken possession of Thy kingdom? Or rather of this part of the kingdom, for the body is still obscure and ignorant, slow to respond, without plasticity. Will it be purified one day like the rest? And will Thy victory then be total? It matters little. This instrument is what Thou wantest it to be and its bliss is unalloyed.

The following are from Internet postings

Akakura Mountain Shrine

Immortal Wishes is based on Dr Ellen Schattschneider's field research at Akakura Mountain Shrine (Akakurayama Jinja) on the lower slope of Akakura Mountain, at the southern end of the Tusgaru Plain, in Aomori Prefecture, northern Tohoku, Japan.

Akakura Mountain Gorge

Akakura Mountain Gorge, looms large in the iconography and ritual practice of the shrine. It is characterized by many dramatic volcanic and geological features, and is compared by many worshippers to a woman's genitalia, "the thing of a woman". Through it runs Akakura river, the source of the life-giving water of the gods. The gorge also spatially orients those undertaking mountain asceticism (shugyo).

Mount Myōkō

Mount Myōkō was constructed beginning about 300,000 years ago, in a series of eruptions producing a broad spectrum of lava types including basalt, andesite, and dacite. Its maximum height is estimated to have been between 2,800 metres (9,200 ft) and 2,900 metres (9,500 ft), but it presently reaches only 2,454 metres (8,051 ft). Around 19,000 years ago, the top was blown off in a major eruption, forming a 3 km (2 mi) wide caldera. About 6,000 years ago, the central crater developed and assumed its present shape. A lava dome forms the volcano's present summit. The most recent eruptions about 4,300 years ago produced pyoclastic flows down the eastern flanks. Present activity is solfataric from fumaroles near the lava dome, where sulfur was once mined.

Courtesy Google Images

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Re: At Akakura—the Mother’s entry in the Prayers and Meditations

by RY Deshpande on Mon 16 Nov 2009 06:04 AM IST | Profile | Permanent Link

Here is an excerpt from Immortal Wishes:

My Mother's Garden: Ascetic Discipline on the Mountain

"The gray sky seemed to be enveloping us, as cold wet wind beat our exposed faces. Fumiko careened down the mountain ahead of me half flying, sometimes disappearing altogether around a curve in the path. Her eyes never seemed to glance down; it began to seem to me as if she were moving on the wind itself. As before, Fumiko stopped occasionally to allow me to catch up. I would arrive panting, out of breath, always more awkward in my negotiation of the slippery rocks, marveling aloud that Fumiko managed to make it look so easy.

As we set off again after one of these catch-up stops, Fumiko began to reassure me that I too would learn how to walk on the mountain the way she did, without ever letting her feet rest on the ground for more than the slightest instant. She said, "The mountain will teach [you] through your body" (yama ga karada de oshiete).

With that she leaped effortlessly over the boulders and turned back, demonstrating how easy it would become for me. Just at that moment it began to snow. As the snowflakes swirled around us, the clouds above us shifted rapidly in the wind, casting alternating patterns of darkness and brightness on the rockface. In spite of the bitter cold it was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. Fumiko suddenly became very still. Looking back at me, she declared solemnly, "Always remember this moment, all right?" (ima itsumo oboete, ne?) She gestured skyward to the falling snow and shifting rays of light. Once more looking back at me she said: "I hope you will never forget."

Re: Re: At Akakura—the Mother’s entry in the Prayers and Meditations

by RY Deshpande on Mon 16 Nov 2009 06:14 AM IST | Profile | Permanent Link

"The mountain will teach you through your body." (yama ga karada de oshiete). It seems so appropriate in the context of the Mother’s prayer. Will the body be purified one day like the rest? And the mountains say, "Yes".

~ RYD

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