Kurume is not too far way from where I am staying here in Japan. It is an easy one and a half hour train ride, with on transfer in Tosu. Once there, I was greeted at the tourist office by a fluent English speaking lady who had lived in Berkeley for many years. She was delighted to share a common connection and reminisce about the time she spent living there. She told me Kurume was a small town, which at first when researching it I had thought otherwise, so I was surprised to hear this. After leaving the train station it indeed appeared to be a small town, however after getting on the Nishitetsu city bus, realized it was exactly what I had thought, a rather large city which was easy to navigate as most of my experiences of cities in Japan have been. Not being a fan of big cities, I rode across town and walked around in attempt to find a quiet place off the beaten path which I was able to find at a variety of gardens, temples, and even a river. One rather interesting surprise, was a 300 foot tall Kannon and Hindu Indian Village where I met a traveler living in Japan who had been going to mountain temples to see Buddhist fire festivals for some time. He was excited to hear of my purpose in Japan. He was not a sadhu, even though he sported the look and considering we were standing next to an Indian Temple the experience made me feel like I was in India, rather than Japan. Then again, Huis Ten Bosch makes me feel like I’m in Amsterdam, rather than Japan. The experience at the Kannon was interesting. After climbing a series of steps to get to the temple grounds, I passed through a large white gate, and then through another gate where stood the Kannon that could be seen towering over Kurume high up in the sky. Next to her, stood the Indian Temple. Inside the Indian Temple was a collection of Buddhist art, a sign that said the ashes of Buddha (which I will say I have seen at numerous Buddhist sites in Japan), and a rather interesting light fixture worthy of noting. The Kannon was so large she was hard to photograph and after wandering around her lotus base, I discovered that inside of her was a spiral staircase that allowed people to climb over 300 steps to her crown where a look out window opened to a view of Kurume, Mt. Unzen, and just about as far as the eye could see on a bright blue cloudless day. After ascending to her crown, the descent went all the way into a cave like catacomb under her lotus base where Buddhist art depicted the story of the wheel of life. The cave descended into the Buddhist hells. The Buddhist hells were a dark walk through experience that upon entering triggered a rather elaborate animatronix display to begin chopping people in half, boiling brains, the sound of cries, moans, strange lights, smells, skulls, beasts, ghosts, fires, snakes, and just about all of the hell like experiences one would have when travelling through that realm. It made for a wonderful opportunity to meditate on the Buddhist hell realm in an almost to real kind of way. Being that is not my normal kind of scene to hang out in, I was a bit creeped out by it and did not linger in this area for too long. Upon leaving the hells, I ran into another English speaker and I was surprised to find that Kurume had such a strong English speaking presence. On the bus ride back across town at the end of my day I began to notice that a lot of the signs on buildings and establishments were in English. I saw a Chinese Food Restaurant (that was actually the name of the restaurant), a used clothing store called Ocean Spinach, a Health Food Store called Joint, and my favorite – the Center for Dramatic Communication. As the bus rolled past the Center for Dramatic Communication, I began to notice the bus driver was overly breathy as he announced stops in Japanese. The last syllable of each stop would fade out int a long bereathy moan as he pressed his mouth against the mouth piece he was talking into. This continued until I got off the bus 20 stops later. Arriving back to the train station I made my journey back toward Haenosaki on a slightly longer train ride that required a few more transfers. Once I had navigated successfully onto the main train that would carry me the bulk of the distance, I drifted into a series of reflections. The first was how much I learned and how much more confident I am travelling through the bus and train network then I was the last time I was here. Last time, when I was going to go somewhere I would have Kanji written out, time schedules, transfers, track umbers, and put a fair amount of preparation into the planning of my train travel. This time, I left with a vague idea that I was going to Kurume on a train that left at a certain time. I had no idea when the return trains came or what transfers I needed to make. I found myself able to get on and off trains, recognize necessary Kanji, and not even have to ask conductors if I was on the right train. I found myself having a peaceful confidence that I was headed in the right direction. As I sat on the cushy Midori watching the sun go down over the mountains of Takeo, Arita, Imari, and Okawachiyama I felt a wave of gratitude to have had a chance once again to experience some of the beauty that is Japan. The next reflection began to surface as I found myself submerged in a twilight dream about the majestic mountains of that area which captivated me the last time I was here and I’m eagerly waiting to return to. As my thoughts wandered into the forest, I was greeted by visions of Kannon, the being of love and compassion. She was seated in the lotus of my heart, and guided me to reflect on the experience of climbing through her body earlier in the day. The climb allowed me to peer out into the world from her belly, then her heart, then her eye, and I thought how often do we go inside the body of a sacred being and attempt to experience the world from their perspective. I recalled that as I peered out from within her eye into the vast atmosphere around me, I felt a wellspring of love and compassion begin to grow from within me. I felt both a deep longing for something, and a peaceful acceptance for what is. I felt myself gazing into the hearts of beings and loving them, like a mother loves a child. With acceptance I cherished them. From a high point 300 feet above, upon a mound overlooking a city, the view was truly astonishing as it allowed me to take in the vastness of it all and consider countless beings. As the sun dropped behind the mountains and the bright starry night sky rose, I found myself hypnotized by the steady rocking of the train. Feeling like I was being cradled in the arms of Kannon, I found an innumerable amount of love radiating from my heart into the universe. Talking about a high vibration, I left that morning in a state of curiosity, and returned in love. To dedicate, may all beings be free!
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