I visited Hakuro Mountain.

It took about an hour to climb the stone steps from the foot of the mountain to Hakuro Shrine at the summit of Hakuro Mountain.

From beyond the first torii gate, a quiet pressure emanates, giving a sense of the sacred mountain where figures like En no Gyoja practiced. This is not the end of it; from around the time you pass the National Treasure, the five-storied pagoda, you enter what seems to be a sacred area. Even though I didn't do anything myself, there seems to be an influence from the other side, and the boundary between the surrounding nature and myself disappears, leading to a state of self and other becoming one. Nature itself doesn't distinguish between self and other. And there is a sense of quietness, gratitude, and love everywhere. The divine power that allows such a state to occur simply by entering the area is rare in Japan. This state continued even after I reached the top of the stairs. Such a divine power that continues to have an effect for a long time is also rare.

At Ise Shrine, for example, the sacred area is a place that is normally not accessible, and you can only view it from the outside and participate in the worship. I have never heard of a place where almost the entire mountain is a sacred area and you can freely enter it. Usually, sacred areas are off-limits.

The solemn atmosphere that you feel from the outside is something that you can feel as a sense of solemnity because there is a distinction between self and other. However, if there is no distinction between self and other, there is nothing like that, and you only feel the divine. As an interpretation, perhaps when you feel the sacred area from the outside, it becomes a sense of solemnity, but when you enter the sacred area, you only feel the divine that fills everything, without any distinction between self and other. It is a small difference, but it is a big difference. There are barriers and sacred areas in manga, anime, or Onmyoji, but this is a real sacred area.

This is my first time visiting Hakuro Mountain, and I am surprised that such a place exists in Japan. Here, I also applied for a prayer that I don't usually do. I imitated the procedures of other people, but it has been a long time since I did that, so I felt that it would be good to learn more about it as general knowledge. The prayer had the effect of relieving the heaviness in various parts of my body. In reality, most prayers throughout the country have almost no effect and are just donations, but it is amazing that they are normally performing prayers that actually have an effect. It seems that the Shugendo magic still remains in Japan.

Moreover, here, they offer it at a normal price of around 5,000 yen nationwide. For this price, you also get some souvenirs, and while wooden ema are common everywhere, they have wooden plaques made from cut pieces of sacred trees, and in addition to that, you also get 180ml of the local sake "Hakuro" and a small Japanese sweet. Is it okay to receive so much for this amount? It is not only effective but also has a strong sense of service. It is an amazing place.

Not only here, but throughout Japan, there are remnants of the culture of sorcery, and sometimes you can encounter the real thing. I was able to experience it here as well.

There are various types of sorcery, and Shingon Buddhism and other Buddhist-related practices have a somewhat heavy, ki-like energy that feels very human. However, here, the energy feels lighter, less human, and closer to pure divine energy. Shugendo is said to involve tengu, and there is a rumor that tengu are a mixture of gods and humans. In contrast to Shingon Buddhism and other forms of sorcery, which are essentially about humans, Shugendo may be a mixture of gods and humans. (Of course, neither side would openly say such things. I just had that feeling.)

According to the museum, Mount Haguro and Mount Yudono (south of Mount Tsukuba) were apparently rivals, with Shugendo and Shingon Buddhism vying for dominance. The Mount Haguro that I visited was a Shugendo mountain. It's interesting that both exist in such a small area.

When you think of Shugendo, you imagine training in the deep mountains. However, in reality, it requires conditions such as being close to the village and easily accessible to the rugged mountains. Mount Haguro has good conditions in that it can be reached relatively quickly from the foot of the mountain, while those who want to further train can climb the more rugged mountains in the distance (such as Mount Tsukuba).

After that, the state of self-identity continued even when I returned home. I can also enter a state similar to samadhi in my own home after meditating for a while, but being able to quickly enter the same state of samadhi just by going up a mountain is, I think, a testament to Mount Haguro being a truly sacred mountain.

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