Jigenji Temple Sendai
Head Priest, Fukuju-san Jigenji Temple
Daiajari Ryojun Shionuma
History
1987
Ordained as a monk at Kinpusen-ji Temple in Yoshino, Nara
1968
Born in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture
1991
Began the Omine Sennichi Kaihogyo
1999
Completed the Omine Sennichi Kaihogyo
2000
Completed the Shimugyo
2003
Founded Jigenji Temple in Akiu, Sendai
2006
Completed the Hassenmai Daigomaku
2021
Established the Daiajari Ryojun Shionuma Foundation
Omine Sennichi Kaihogyo
A 1,000-day practice of walking 48 km a day in the mountains of Nara Prefecture.
Omine Sennichi Kaihogyo
The 1,000-day mountain pilgrimage
The Omine Sennichi Kaihogyo is a practice of walking a 48 km mountain trail for 1,000 days. The route runs from the Zao-do Hall of Kinpusen-ji on Mount Yoshino to the Ominesan-ji Hall at the summit of Mount Sanjogatake, 24 km away, and back, climbing and descending 1,355 meters each day.
The practice is carried out for four months each year, from May 3 to September 3, so completing it takes nine years. During this period the practitioner goes to bed at 7 p.m., rises at 11:30 p.m., purifies himself under a waterfall, and sets out at 12:30 a.m. Along the way he recites the Heart Sutra at 118 shrines and sacred sites, carrying only two rice balls and 500 ml of water. He reaches the summit at 8:30 a.m. and returns at 3:30 p.m.
After 16 hours of walking, the practitioner handles all his own cleaning, laundry and preparations for the next day, leaving about four and a half hours of sleep.
Within a month, his nails crack from malnutrition; by the third month, he is weak enough to pass blood in his urine. Yet once the practice begins, it may never be abandoned. The practitioner carries a short sword, and a strict rule holds that if he cannot continue, he must take his own life.
The practitioner wears pure white robes called shide shozoku, the garments of one prepared for death. Every moment is lived at the edge of physical and mental endurance.
Beginning on May 3, 1991, Daiajari Shionuma walked a total of 48,000 km and completed the Omine Sennichi Kaihogyo on September 3, 1999.
Shimugyo
Going without food, water, sleep or lying down for nine days.
Shimugyo
Nine days without food, water, sleep or lying down
The Shimugyo is a nine-day practice of going without food, water, sleep, or lying down. It is so dangerous that only half of those who undertake it are said to survive. Before entering the hall, the practitioner holds a jousai no gi, known as a “living funeral,” sharing a last meal with those close to him. He goes through the motions of eating but does not actually eat.
Throughout the nine days, he walks to a well about 200 meters away at 2 a.m. each day to draw water offered to the Buddha. Three times a day he performs esoteric rites and chants sutras before the principal image. The rest of the time he recites 100,000 mantras of Fudo Myoo and 100,000 of Zao Gongen — 200,000 in all — counting them with prayer beads and stones.
From around the third day, the practitioner’s feet turn purple and his body begins to give off the smell of death. His senses become so sharp that he can smell people far away and hear the faint sound of incense ash falling, which he sees as if in slow motion. From the fifth day he may rinse his mouth once a day but must not swallow. Two identical bowls are prepared, one full and one empty; he rinses and spits into the empty bowl, and if it does not hold the same amount of water as before, the practice is deemed a failure.
He loses about 1 kg a day, and his blood thickens from dehydration. His pulse exceeds 90 while sitting and reaches about 120 after a few steps. At 2 a.m. on the ninth day he leaves the hall: he circles the great altar three times, drinks hoo no yu, a tea of magnolia leaves, and completes a memorial service. Finally, before the Tenman-gu shrine, he performs a ceremonial meal — again only in gesture.
Daiajari Shionuma completed the Shimugyo from September 28 to October 6, 2000, the year after the Kaihogyo.
Hassenmai Daigomaku
Offering 8,000 prayer sticks to the fire for 24 hours without food, water, sleep or lying down.
Hassenmai Daigomaku
The 8,000-stick fire ritual
After 100 days of preliminary practice abstaining from the five grains (rice, barley, wheat, adzuki beans and soybeans) and salt, the practitioner spends 24 hours without food, water, sleep or lying down, offering 8,000 prayer sticks to the sacred fire. Daiajari Shionuma completed the Hassenmai Daigomaku on March 15, 2006.