Kaihogyo

I am so weak. You are so weak. We are all so weak.

Endo Mitsunaga is the 13th Buddhist Tendai monk since World War II to complete the Sennichi Kaihogyo. This is a commitment that involves 1,000 days of walking meditation and prayer around Mount Hiei in Japan over a seven year period. In the past 400 plus years only 46 men have completed the challenge.

This is the program.

In years 1,2, and 3 the monk must walk a marathon every day for 100 straight days. In year four the monk must do this for 200 straight days.

In year five the monk must once again walk a marathon every day for 200 straight days. They then enter a hall and pray non stop for nine consecutive days. Without eating, drinking, sleeping or even lying down. Mitsunaga describes this as a near-death experience. Towards the end of the nine days the monk is so weak he needs to be supported by other monks.

This part of the ordeal is meant to result in the death of the old self so you are ready to inhabit the new self.

In year six the monk must walk 37 miles a day for 100 straight days, in year seven it's 52 miles for 100 straight days and then 26 miles for the final 100 days.

As they walk they are reciting prayers, repeating mantras and stopping along the way to give prayers at 260 places along the route.

The point is to fuse mind, body and spirit in pursuit of one goal, which is completion of the ordeal to achieve personal enlightenment.

Apparently Mount Hiei is a beautiful and a spiritual place. However it is decorated with unmarked graves. This is because the commitment to Kaihogyo is to complete the ritual or to commit suicide in failure.

James Clear describes himself as an entrepreneur, a weight lifter and a photographer. That kind of scares me regarding his credentials, but as I researched this discipline I came across an article he wrote that made points that made sense to me. So what the hell.............

Clear says this type of discipline takes the "complete or kill" philosophy to the max. The idea that if something is important to you complete it, or kill it. Rid your life of loose ends and focus only on those things important enough to complete. Eliminate everything else.

He emphasizes the dictum that if you commit to nothing, you are distracted by everything. You must commit fully to what you believe in, heart, mind and soul if you are to succeed.

Clear says it doesn't matter how long your goal will take, just get started. You cannot be intimidated by a goal that seems overwhelming. If you want it, put your head down and begin.

"Never give up on a dream just because of the length of time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." H. Jackson Brown (inspirational author).

All of that makes sense to me, as does the Kaihogyo itself. I did not know when I woke up this morning that I would be inspired by Tendai monks, an inspirational author and a weightlifter.

You never know do you?

When 64 year old Diana Nyad swam from Cuba to Florida I saw a number of people interviewed about what they thought about the accomplishment.

Many of them  said they were inspired by her and that they were going to use that inspiration to accomplish big things in their lives.

Bullshit. None of them will make any changes, none of them will accomplish anything.

We humans are big talkers and small do-ers, myself first among us. We are devoid of discipline and commitment.

That's what makes completing the Kaihogyo so impressive.

I have recently cut back on whiskey consumption, much to the dismay of the Seagrams family. I am focused and determined to take my best shot at what I have left and that seemed like a reasonable sacrifice to make.

I got a lot to learn about achieving enlightenment.