Mountain Training

 

Ajari Tanaka has shared many forms of spiritual training with his students over the years.  Meditation, recitation, sadhana, shodo, shomyo, mudra and pilgrimage to name most.  Some have been enthusiastically taken up, while others are less commonly practiced among the small group of active students here in the states and Canada.  

One of my favorites of these lesser methods is what Ajari sometimes called "mountain practice."  On other occasions he called it "yamabushi training", elaborating that his maternal grandparents were part of a long line of yamabushi.  This type of practice for us takes two forms, one is a very simple waterfall practice and the other is just hiking in the Vermont hills and mountains.

Less than five miles from my house is the trail head for Buck Mountain.  It's not a big mountain, to be fair when compared to the bigger mountain in Vermont like Came's Hump or Mount Abe, it's just a good sized hill.  Be that as it may, it has a wonderful trail that passes though some beautiful forest and at the rocky summit one finds a gorgeous view of the Central Champlain Valley, Otter Creek, Lake Champlain and the High Peaks of New York's Adirondacks.  So well worth the forty-five or so minutes to the summit.

This summer we have had a ton of rain and so hiking took a back burner.  Muddy trails and mosquitoes make the adventure much less alluring.  But we are in a nice spell of dry weather and the trails are firmed up and the cooler temperatures have sent the bugs to their hiding places.   So at quarter to seven this morning I was walking from my car to the trail head.

The walk was as lovely as I remembered it, not too steep but with enough rise to get the heart going.  The leaves, viewed from the forest floor, showed their yellowing as autumn asserts itself.  But mostly it was quiet.  My car was the first in the parking lot and there was not a soul in sight.  Cool fresh air, chipmunks, birds, squirrels, and me.  It was fantastic.

At the summit I lingered longer than I usually do.  There was some cloud cover that got thicker to the south, that put some surreal distance between me and the High Peaks, turning their silhouettes to dark blue shadows.  The sky was slowly brightening, back lighting the mountains while the valley is still showing its late summer lush green.  I sat for a long time, enjoying the quiet and remembering some hikes we took with Ajari Tanaka, back in the day.  But mostly the tangible, quiet, the real relaxation from the effort, the spectacular view and all that space, that wide open space were the morning's reward.

My walk out was slow but very enjoyable.  I'm not as spry as I used to be, so I pick my way down hiking trails these days.  And truth be told, I was happy to drag out the walk.  The peaceful quiet was palpable and most enjoyable.  I was in no hurry for it to end.