たった20分でお遍路完了!?@世田谷 玉川大師A full pilgrimage in only 20 minutes!? @Setagaya Tamagawa Daishi
1200年続く「お遍路」
日本の西側にある四国（香川県、徳島県、高知県、愛媛県）(En)
その讃岐（今の香川県）で西暦774年に生まれた「弘法大師（空海）（En）」ゆかりの88か所の寺院の総称を「四国八十八ヶ所」といい、その88の寺を巡礼することを「お遍路」という。
弘法大師 (空海) / Kōbō-Daishi (Kūkai)
四国八十八カ所(日/en)の霊場ができて今年で1200年。今までに数えきれない程の人が巡礼を繰り返して来た。
その道のりは1100〜1400km。
一巡するには自動車やバスで約10日間、徒歩の場合は約40日間かかる。
▼お遍路Map
より大きな地図で 四国お遍路マップ を表示
外国人観光客のほとんどが歩いて巡礼
本来「お遍路」は宗教的行為の修行だが、最近では信仰心の為だけではなく、健康のためや、「自分探し」のために巡礼に出かける人も増えている。
そのため、夏休みを利用して観光としてお遍路を経験する人も多い。
Henro reciting the Heart Sutra / Maarten1979
巡礼者数は年間30万人とも言われ、そのほとんどがバスやタクシーで移動する。
昔のように歩いて四国を一周する人は2500〜5000人程。
最近では外国人観光客も増え、年間50～100人が訪れるが、そのほとんどが歩いて巡るらしい。
歩く巡礼はまさに「修行」で険しい山道や標識も少ない中、途中であきらめて断念する人がいるのも事実だ。
なんと！そんな過酷なお遍路を一日でクリアしてしまうスポットが東京にある。
あっという間に 八十八カ所を巡る？
高級住宅地として有名な「二子玉川駅」は整備されたとてもにぎやかできれいな街だ。
その喧噪から抜け、10分程歩くと「玉川大師：たまがわたいし（玉真密院：ぎょくしんみついん）」に到着する。
一見、どこにでもある普通のお寺だが、
80年前、当時の住職が「八十八カ所巡りに行けない人が参拝できる場所を」という思いから作ったものだ。
このお寺一ヶ所をお参りすれば四国八十八カ所と西国三十三カ所(en)のお遍路をしたのと同じご利益があるという。
お賽銭を入れ、線香を焚き、お参りを済ませる。
お賽銭箱の横を通って本道へ入ってすぐ左側に暗闇に続く階段を発見。
本道へ入る時は帽子を脱ぎ、サングラスなどは外しておこう。
階段横にある、ノートに名前を書き、灯明料（とうみょうりょう）として1人100円を払う。
そして、階段の横のスリッパを履いたら準備完了。
その時々によるが、和尚さんが説法をしているときは正座をして話を聞こう。
私は説法のあと、塗香（ずこう）を体に塗って体を清めるということを初めて体験させてもらった。
続く暗闇
残念ながら、地下は神聖な場所なので撮影禁止。
木の階段を降りるといきなり真っ暗の中を進む。
右手で壁を探りながら前へ進むのがルール。（実際は片手ではとても不安なので両手を使ってしまう）
壁を伝う手の感覚だけを頼りに進む。前の人との距離感は音で測るしかない。
（同時に入った子供は、暗闇の恐怖から泣いていた）
暗く細く蛇行した通路を進んでいるせいで方向感覚がなくなる。
道がだんだん狭くなり不安が増す。
坂を下っていることは分かるのだが、どのくらい下っているのかわからない。
空気がだんだん冷たくなっていくのを感じた。
暗くて不安になったり、明るく安堵したと思ったら、迫力のある石仏を拝んだり…
お化け屋敷(En)にいるような、肝試し(test of courage?)をしているような感覚で前を進む。
そして、２つ目の暗闇を抜けた時、今までに見たことのない数の石仏（お地蔵さま）に囲まれた。
石仏の数は合わせて300体！
玉川大師のパンフレット
よく見ると「一番霊場、二番霊場、三番霊場…」、一体ずつに番号が彫ってある。
これを一つ一つ参拝すれば良いのだが、八十八回は無理！だろう。
そんな時は「数え年（自分の年齢＋1歳）」の石仏を拝むと良いとのこと。
四方を石仏に囲まれ、見下ろされることなどないので不思議な気持ちになる。
奥に進めば進むほど、空気も重く冷たくなって神聖な場所であることを改めて実感できる。
最後の暗闇を抜けほっとすると、同時に蒸し暑い現実に戻る。
正直に言うと、落ち着いて見学などできず「早くここから出たい」という思いで焦らされた。
実は体験できなかったことが3つある。
・石仏が多すぎて自分の年齢の石仏が見つけられなかった。
・お遍路をするときは「南無大師遍照金剛（なむだいしへんじょうこんごう）」と唱えなければならない。
・二つ目の暗闇で金剛杵（こんごうしょ）(En)が壁に埋め込まれていて、これに触れられれば幸運になると言われているが探せなかった。
ぜひもう一度やり直したい。
神聖な場所ではあるが、暑い夏ひんやりとした空間で肝試し気分を味わえることは間違いない。
| 住所 東京都世田谷区瀬田4-13-3
時間 9：00-17：00（地下霊場参拝時間） |
【Writer】Tokyo de Asobo:Yoshida
The 1,200 year old pilgrimage
The island of Shikoku can be found in the west part of Japan (prefectures: Kagawa, Tokushima, Kōchi, Ehime). In the year 774, In the area of Sanuki (now Kagawa prefecture), Kōbō-Daishi (Kūkai) was born. He is associated with having established many of the connected 88 Buddhist temples, generally known as the Shikoku Hachijyuuhakkasho, of which visiting all 88 makes up “The Shikoku Pilgrimage” (or “Ohenro” in Japanese).
弘法大師 (空海) / Kōbō-Daishi (Kūkai)
It has been 1200 year’s since the sacred ground of the Shikoku Pilgrimage’s 88 temples was completed and since then an incredible number of people have been coming to undertake this pilgrimage.
The tour comprises some 1,100 to 1,400 km, which takes around 10 days by car or bus, or 40 days on foot.
▼Map of the Shikoku Pilgrimage
より大きな地図で 四国お遍路マップ を表示
Most foreign travellers undertake the pilgrimage on foot
The Shikoku Pilgrimage was originally a religious rite, however as of late more and more people undertaking the pilgrimage for health reasons, or in order to “find oneself” as opposed to spiritual reasons. Because of this, there are also many people who utilise their summer holidays in order to experience the Shikoku Pilgrimage as a form of tourist travel.
Henro reciting the Heart Sutra / Maarten1979
Some 300,000 thousand people are undertaking the pilgrimage each year, with many of them travelling by bus or taxi. As opposed to this, the number of people who toured all of Shikoku traditionally by walking, was between 2,500 and 5,000 people.
Lately the number of foreign tourists has been increasing with annual visitors in the numbers of 50 to 100, most of who do so on foot.
Undertaking the pilgrimage on foot is a true test due to the craggy and steep mountain roads, as well as the lack of signage around. Because of this, it is not uncommon for people to give up on the way and abandon the pilgrimage.
Surprisingly, there is a place in Tokyo that lets you complete this harsh pilgrimage in just one day!
Visiting the 88 temples in a short space of time?
Known for its luxurious homes, the area around the Futako Tamagawa Station is a well maintained and lively suburb.
Once you’ve left the busy streets, walking for ten minutes takes you to Tamagawa Daishi (Gyokushin Mitsuin).
At first sight it is a buddhist temple like any other, except that 80 years ago the monk stationed there constructed it out of desire to create a sacred space for those unable to undertake the Shikoku Pilgrimage. It is said that visiting this one temple has the same benefit as undertaking both the Shikoku Pilgrimage and the Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage.
Put in your monetary offering, light up an incense stick and pay your respects to the shrine.
Go through the side of the offering box and enter the main hall, then walk straight to your left and you’ll see a set of stairs leading into darkness.
When entering the main hall, take off your hat, sunglasses and any other headgear.
Write your name on the notebook next to the stairs and pay 100 yen per person as the fee for offering the eternal flame.
Depending on the time, a priest might be giving a sermon. If that’s the case, be sure to sit in seiza when listening.
After the sermon, I was given the opportunity to have the powder “zukou”, which purifies the body, rubbed on me for the first time.
Enveloping darkness
Unfortunately photography is prohibited at the basement as it is a sacred location.
Going down the wooden stairs leads to a sudden pitch darkness. Here the rule is: move forward with your right arm searching for the wall. (In reality, it is very difficult to only use one arm so you end up using both). You then continue moving forward with only the feeling of your hands following the wall. In fact, you can only tell the distance between you and the person in front through sound alone. (Some children that came in together became scared of the dark and were crying).
Your sense of direction disappears eventually because of the dark and thin corridor in which you are moving. Then as the path gradually narrows more and more, your uneasiness increases. From there, I could tell the path was sloping down but had no clue by how much. What I could feel was that the air was becoming gradually colder.
The darkness had left me anxious, however when some light finally filtered through – bringing with it a sense of relief – we came upon an incredible stone Buddha and bowed in reverence.
It was as if being inside a haunted house, as if this whole ordeal was a test of courage.
Then, as we came out of the second dark area, we found ourselves surrounded by a previously unseen amount of stone Buddhas (Ksitigarbha to be precise).
300 stone Buddhas in total!
玉川大師のパンフレット
If you look closely, you’ll notice that the words “first sacred location, second sacred location, third sacred location…”, have been inscribed on each of the statues. Paying homeage one by one to each of these would be the correct thing to do but I thought there was no way that I could go do this to all 88 of them!
As I was thinking this, I was relieved to hear that the correct thing to do is to look for the stone Buddha with your “Kasoe Nen (your age plus 1)” and pay homage to it. Being surrounded by the stone Buddhas, leaves you with the strange feeling that there is no need to fear being judged by others here. Then, the deeper you move down the heavier and colder the air gets, and once more you are hit with the realisation that this is truly a sacred place.
As you break through the final stretch of darkness, you are brought back to the humid reality of this world.
Unfortunately, there are 3 things I was unable to try out:
・There were so many stone Buddhas that I could not find the one with my age.
・When making the pilgrimage, you must chant “Namu Daishi Henjyou Kongou” (meaning “I put my faith in Daishi, the Universal Adamantine Illuminator”.
・In the second section of darkness, Kongousho (Vajra in English) has been carved into the wall. It is said that if you are able to touch this you receive a blessing of good fortune but I was unable to find it.
I definitely wish to try this again one more time. Also while It is a sacred place, during the the heat of summer, the chilled air is an amazing feeling.
| Address: 4 Chome-13-3 Seta, Setagaya-ku, Tōkyō-to, Japan
Opening hours: 9am-5pm (Visiting hours for the sacred basement pilgrimage) |
【Writer】Tokyo de Asobo:Yoshida
【Translator】Juan D. Ospina Leon / twitter:@JuanDOspinaLeon
【Editor】Jo-Ann Breen / Yuka
