Japanese monk isolates until 2038 for rigorous training that has killed many in the past
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Japanese monk isolates until 2038 for rigorous training that has killed many in the past")
Sogaku Taguchi is only 31 years old and will not see any other person until 2038.
Sogaku Taguchi, a 31-year-old monk, has gone into isolation for 12 years at a Japanese temple, during which time he will not come into contact with anyone and will follow a rigorous schedule, even in the harsh winters. The practice has led to the death of many monks in the past.
A Japanese monk has gone into isolation for 12 years, during which time he will not meet even a single person as part of his rigorous training. The chief monk of Nanzambo Temple on Mount Hiei in Otsu, Sogaku Taguchi, began this period on September 11. The long isolation period means he will not leave the premises, know anything about the outside world, or come in contact with any other person until September 11, 2038.
Nanzambo Temple is part of the Enryakuji temple complex. Taguchi will stay within the complex’s Jodo-in hall dedicated to Saicho, the founder of the Tendai Buddhist sect that has its headquarters at the Otsu complex. Taguchi will follow a strictly regimented daily routine, including performing ascetic practices in the harsh winters. The arduous training has led to the death of many monks in the past who fell sick during the regimen. He will also clean the hall and cook meals, which will be presented before the tomb.
The 31-year-old is the 118th Jishin since 1699, according to Enryakuji Temple, and the eighth since the end of World War II. The journey of becoming a Jishin involves performing a practice called "Kosogyo." The monk must offer incense to each of the Buddhas 3,000 times a day, chant their names and repeatedly prostrate. The exhaustion of the practice reportedly leads the monk to see a vivid figure of the Buddha. Taguchi had been practising Kosogyo since the same time last year.
After completing the practice of Kosogyo, Taguchi attended a "Jisei Jukai" (self-avowed ordination) ceremony at the Kaidan-in hall. Before beginning his life in seclusion, he spoke to reporters and said he was "overflowing with joy to stand at its starting line."
“A desire to live according to the teachings of Dengyodaishi, [a title bestowed by the then emperor], has grown in my heart, and I have walked the path of a monk with that as my goal,” he said.
The gruelling practice of Kaihogyo on Mount Hiei
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Mount Hiei is also where the "kaihogyo" is practised, where monks walk around the mountain for 1,000 days across seven years. For three years, they must walk 30 kilometres every day for 100 consecutive days each year. In the fourth and fifth years, they must walk daily for 200 consecutive days each year. They then fast for nine days without food, water, sleep, or lying down, reciting mantras as other monks keep a watch. The next year, they walk 60 kms daily for 100 days, which then increases to 84 km the next year. In the final stage, they walk 30 km daily for 100 days.
