(Any of the following dialogue is paraphrased.)

From the very beginning Keikō-san was amazed at the spiritual twists and turns of our journey, such as always being in the right place at the right time. And it proved itself once again, on Kōyasan, when she approached me and said: “This trip is getting even stranger. There just happens to be an exorcist from Osaka that knew that he needed to come here to meet you, even though he has no formal connection with this temple. He wants to know if you would be interested in going to Kōbō Daishi’s mausoleum tonight at midnight for a special ceremony. And you may bring alone anyone that you choose." 

However, there was a problem with selecting a few people that I thought were worthy of the experience. The word had already spread throughout the group, courtesy of one of the participants who overheard our conversation. So selecting a few people was out of the question.

Approximately one hour before midnight, just about everyone on the journey was milling about the front courtyard ready to go. The one person I wanted with me, Sherry, however, wasn’t able to come with us. This was due to the fact that she needed to stay with our daughter, Jess (12), who was not feeling very well. (The next day we discovered why when she finally showed us her infected finger—swollen and not looking too good but that’s another whole story.)

Over the years I’ve been associated with many indigenous healers and teachers in very remote places. It is the student’s responsibility to listen, to watch and to learn. And if the shaman is taking you to an isolated site possibly at the end of a jungle trail, or as in this case, at the end of an approximate 3-mile journey to the Lantern Hall and the Daishi’s mausoleum, it is your responsibility to keep up with them. If you fall behind and get lost…well, that’s your fault, not theirs.

One time in the early nineties, an indigenous healer was taking a group of our students to an isolated lagoon to do ceremony. The lagoon was located deep within the Yucatan Jungles—the land of the jaguar. This sacred site was unknown to me as well as this part of the jungle. True to form he took off down a trail that was barely recognizable. If I was alone with him or if our group consisted of fit twenty year olds, it would not have been a problem. But, this was not the case. One of our students was in her seventies and couldn’t walk that fast. In fact, she was the one who felt that she had been cured of cancer on Kōyasan in 1987.

As the group gradually disappeared down the winding trail, I stayed behind and walked with Peanut (her nickname). It was late in the afternoon with dark only a few hours away. The jungle was waking up. Sounds of hidden things stirring were triggers to my mind as images of jaguars on the prowl filled my consciousness. The jungle after dark is not a place to be, but I would not let Peanut be alone nor would she have abandoned me if the roles were reversed. Slight of built and aged as she was, I would still choose her to be next to me in a life and death situation. She had an inner core of strength and determination.

It seemed that our only option was to keep following what I thought was the trail. The concept of time is interesting. Depending on circumstances, a minute may seem like an hour. This many times occurs when we are truly in the present moment without the typical distractions of life. It felt like we had been walking for at least an hour but I knew that possibly only fifteen minutes had passed. However, I was getting concerned. Having been a runner since college, I decided that the best solution to our dilemma was for me to run ahead to make sure we were on the right trail and possibly catch up with the others. I told Peanut to keep walking and that I would run ahead and then run back to check on her.

I wasn’t looking for any signs of passage of the group; I let my heart lead me down the right path. I could see the sun setting lower in the west. There was no wind and considering a jungle, there were few sounds as I ran hoping this was the direction that they had taken. Considering Peanut’s age, I was angry that no one had bothered to slow the group down or had backtracked to make sure that we were on the right trail and ok. I had worked with this healer before and I was the leader of the group but it seemed that everyone was into their own self-centeredness.  

Sweat began forming on my brow as I ran. Eventually, it began falling into my eyes blurring my vision as spotted green foliage took on the guise of green jaguars. Breathing deeply of the energetic essence of the pristine foliage, I relaxed into a pace that would allow me to cover miles without undo fatigue. The first time I turned to run back and check on Peanut, I began to wonder about my strategy. Doubt is insidious just like guilt.

After my third ‘foraging for the lagoon’ run, I found the lagoon and the group. I was none too happy, but relieved at the same time. I lectured the group and even the healer on the concept of ‘one for all and all for one.’ It was a great lesson for all. Even for myself as I looked back on the experience. I doubted myself even though my heart was saying that the path that I was on was the right and true one.

This exorcist didn’t break the typical shamanic pattern that it is your responsibility to follow and keep up with them. Hardly a word was spoken as he turned and started the approximate 3-mile journey to the Lantern Hall and the Daishi’s mausoleum. Even in his traditional Japanese wooden sandals, he was setting a pace that I knew few could maintain for three miles or even the mile and a half to the entrance of the cemetery. And I was right, many dropped by the wayside.

The clicking sound of his wooden sandals echoed off the many storefronts that lined the main street of Kōyasan. These stores contained all different forms of esoteric religious items ranging from incense and scrolls to esoteric deity statues—some as tall as a person. Along with the clicking of his sandals was added the piercing sound of the tiny magical rings of his shakujo staff. Both of these vibrating resonances only strengthened the sense of timelessness that I felt.

By the time we had reached the entrance to the cemetery, we had lost at least half of the people. The exorcist paused for a few minutes at the entrance. While he was possibly doing prayers, I was enchanted by the Otherworldly feeling that surrounded me. It was quiet, dark and foreboding but on other hand, it felt welcoming.

It had to have been close to midnight—the bewitching hour—as I followed the exorcist into the cemetery. The path in front of us would take us through the cemetery and to the Daishi’s mausoleum. Even during the day these sacred grounds full of gigantic cedar trees are dark and full of mystery. But at night the full impact of the mystical aura is felt to the core of ones soul. Walking on a bark path in the middle of a cemetery behind Keikō-san and the exorcist felt as if we were starring in a Japanese fantasy movie or had been transported to an alternative medieval universe.

After a few minutes had passed, the exorcist stopped turned to Keikō-san and spoke to her in a whisper. She then turned to me and the few that were left and said in a low voice, “There is a well across the path from here that has been used for hundreds of years to prophesize, a person’s death. If one looks in and sees their reflection, they can be assured of many more years of life. If, however, a reflection is not seen, then death is imminent. He asks if anyone would like to gaze in and see their future."       

For a moment, imagine a narrow path that is even dark during the day. But at night, it is as dark as a cavern being only lit with small stone lanterns. These are positioned low on the ground and spaced yards apart. Any light reflected is only on the immediate area of the path. Of course, there is very little light when you step off of the path. And the well; its location was deep within the cedar studded woods.

Everyone remained silent to the question except for me. In spite of my fears, I whispered to Keikō-san that I would volunteer to do it. Realizing that the majority of myths and legends have their foundations in truth or reality, I reluctantly walked over to the well. It was dark but not dark enough not to be able to see a few feet in front of me. 

To my ears the silence surrounding me was oppressive and only heightened my lack of enthusiasm and fear. After I reached the well, I hesitated a moment before bending over and discovering if I was to live or shortly die. Even though I was in excellent physical condition and health, my father had passed over at fifty-seven and his father had died in his forties. I realized that our minds are strong enough to take us down the path of self-fulfilling prophecies. Now or never I thought as I bent over the edge of the well and looked!

Eureka; I was never so happy to see my gray-bearded face. I smiled at myself and made faces. Relieved was I that death was not right around the corner. As I turned and happily walked back to the group, I realized the truth in this legend. In medieval Japan, a person with cataracts was on death’s doorstep. Looking within the well, the cataracts would prevent you from seeing your reflection. Of course, the mysterious unknown of legends makes our lives more alive and yes, even fun if you take chances. But knowing the reality or the truth behind the legend many times only makes life boring and predicable.

Shikin Haramitsu Daikomyo. This is a power shout or sacred phrase that I utilize during the bowing-in ceremony at my martial arts dojo. In esoteric Buddhism, Haramitsu refers to ‘arrival at the other shore.’ Daikomyo means ‘great light’ or enlightenment. Used together it conveys the meaning of ‘arriving at the other shore of enlightenment.’ Symbolically, water separates the realms of spirit and matter. Crossing a body of water from one shore to another shore implies a spiritual journey. This crossing may be accomplished in various ways such as by a bridge or by some type of boat such as the imagery of the boatman ‘ferrying’ souls across the river Styx. This ‘crossing the water’ metaphor is an ageless spiritual and religious philosophical concept found throughout the world.

Appropriately, after leaving the well we walked for just a few minutes until we reached a small bridge over a bubbling stream. This wooden bridge separated the rest of the cemetery from the realm and mausoleum of Kōbō Daishi. (A warning to heed; never cross a bridge such as this without prayers and permission asked… this bridge was a gateway separating sacred space, and permission to enter, must be granted.)

After a few moments had passed in silence, we slowly made our way across the bridge into the spiritual realm of the Daishi. Ahead of us was our destination—the Lantern Hall ablaze with hundreds of yellow tinged specks of light. It was if I was seeing a thousand lightening bugs all gathered together giving of their light to the tall cedars and to the Daishi.

Kōbō Daishi’s mausoleum was situated behind the Lantern Hall. But before continuing on to the rear of the Hall, the exorcist stopped in front, walked up the steps of the Hall and offered incense and prayers. We followed him and Keikō-san up the steps and waited until he was finished. Then they led us around the side and to the rear of the Lantern Hall—the location of the Daishi’s mausoleum. 

He positioned the seven of us, except for Keikō-san, in a straight-line horizontally facing the mausoleum and told us, through Keikō-san’s translation, to sit still and relax. I was last in the line with Keikō-san angled in front and to the side facing me. 

He began working on each one, chanting, toning and every so often, a kiai or spirit shout. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see him working rapidly, with mudra, up and down each person’s spine. The sounds coming out of the exorcist were eerily of another world and another time. Feeling as if I was in a dream, I closed my eyes. And in no time at all, I could feel the exorcist's presence, and was unafraid. And in the next moment what happened is difficult to put into words.

I could feel and sense my body moving in a circular motion and there was a sense of self interpenetrating with a Greater Self. I knew me but I was not me—I was the “I” in the “We” and the “We” in the “I.” Philosophically, the following is the best that I can do with words to express the spiritual/religious experience of the descending spirit exorcism:

“Floating in that space between heaven and earth, I have a knowing of both. My soul’s power suspends as a star in the luminous web of Oneness. I am divine and I am human, I am human and I am divine; a child of God and a brother/sister to all creatures of the earth. A moment is an eternity as this knowledge engulfs my heart. Is it a dream? But isn’t it all a dream? A scream and I awaken.”

As my eyes slowly opened, the portals to my soul gaze upon the surreal scene before me. Keikō-san’s face, beautiful as the dew glistening on a lily, was now frozen into a mask of terror. It had been her scream that had brought me back; on the other hand, had I ever left? This part of the cemetery contained few stone lanterns. The shadows, cased by what little light there was, only heightened the mystical sense of wonder for me as I felt incredibly powerful.

The visually shaken Keikō-san was stammering over her words to the exorcist. From a place of stillness, I silently watched the gestures and body language of the exorcist and Keikō-san; not knowing or in fact caring about the meaning of the words being exchanged. A moment ago, or was it an eternity ago? I was in a space of power. But no, I was the power. What does it all mean?

Keikō-san turned to face me and asked, “Are you all right; how do you feel?” 

“I feel awesome, powerful, but mystified,” I replied. “Was I transforming into one of the guardians that serve the Great One—the Daishi?”

“Well, yes… but no. You may look at it as a merging or interpenetration of energies. Energies that few humans could accept, much less survive. It is the first quickening of your Bodhicitta—your Divinity. The others who were here will deny what happened, out of fear and envy. We sent them back to the temple,” said Keikō-san.

She then explained to me that the descending spirit exorcism was way to discover a spiritually sensitive person. This is a spiritually evolved person able to tap into other realities. “He believes that you are one of the most sensitive people that he has ever experienced. He knew that he needed to come to Kōyasan to find you,” she explained. “But I had to stop him, because I could see that you were not yourself. Your features were changing… your face was so red and strange looking—like Fudo Myoo... you were starting to transform!”  Still a little shaken, she turned and spoke to the exorcist.

After a few minutes of a back and forth dialogue, she turned back to me and said, “The gateway between the worlds is still open. The energy of what just happened has vibrated through both worlds. The ones who still haunt this world may have been awakened. Their attachment to materialistic life has kept them trapped on earth in death. Some of these specters increase their attachment to the earth through feeding on the life-force of humans.”

She paused for a moment and once again spoke to the exorcist. Keikō-san then turned back to me and continuing on, “There are many spirits here. I was afraid for your safety. That is the reason why I stopped the exorcism. The exorcist is also concerned about your safety. There are many samurai in this cemetery. It is their last resting place. But many are not at rest or at peace. Since you are an accomplished martial artist, they would be attracted to your life-force. Because of this, the exorcist is going to give you a secret teaching. Right now you are very ‘open’ and this will help guard you against any unheeded intrusions by these spirits.”

To this day, the exorcism in 1987 was the first of many powerful, transformational, profound firsthand religious experiences. Besides the exorcism there were two other extremely divine firsthand experiences—my vision in 1993 and the visitation in 1997. The visitation occurred ten years after the exorcism and completed a cycle—Alpha and Omega…. AUM, beginning, middle, end. As we departed the sacred mountain of Kōyasan, Keikō-san presented to me the following words:

"I always remember your sensitive, strong, sacred spirit.   It was a great experience for me, too."