In April 2023, I had the great good fortune to visit Mt. Kurama with a group of 15 other beautiful people and our tour leader - Justin Stein. I am most grateful. 私は最も感謝しています
Watashi wa mottomo kansha shite imasu
The tour was wonderful, we saw so many cool temples, heard some amazing history and as I'm a history buff it was a balm to my soul.
Climbing Mt. Kurama is not for the faint hearted. The stairs in this picture do not disclose how deceptive they are. The pitch or incline is steep, and the terrain is not always even. Thank heavens for a walking stick, it made the ascent a little easier. Some of my fellow tour travelers brought portable walking sticks, very smart - indeed. It is nice to know that some young people (10 year olds) got out of breath too.
I first heard the word Kenyo Ku - or dry bathing way back in 1999. It is one of the many steps in the Hatsurei ho - energy raising/building technique. Intellectually I knew about it, but compartmentalized it in my brain. Over the years, I've taught my students this technique and had them practice it also. In our monthly online Komyo ReikiDo gatherings it is used at the beginning of our practice just before we do our hands-on self meditation. Twenty-three years this knowledge sat in my brain, and only now that one fateful day Friday April 14th, 2023 did I have my ah-ha moment.
My dear friend Yvonne Kato went to Japan in 2003. This is her picture of the water ladles at the Amida Temple - site 24 on your way to the top of Mt. Kurama. Yvonne had explained what these ladles meant and their significance to me back in 2014. But I didn't put two and two together. Sigh
It was precisely at this spot when my teacher INAMOTO, Hyakuten shared this valuable bit of information. We dip the ladle into the water and while holding it in our left hand we tilt the ladle so the water leaves the bowl, trickles down the handle and gets our left hand wet. We repeat this process with the right hand and once again on the left after taking a sip of water to cleanse our mouths. The water that is in our mouth is not put back in the ladle but spit on the ground and not in the fountain. The rest of the water in the ladle which is once again in our left hand, is tilled back to wash the handle of the ladle. The ladle is returned to the fountain. This ritual was more common before the Sars-CoV2 pandemic, but not while we were there. Inamoto-sensei said - "This is what we do when practicing Kenyo Ku - dry bathing." The light bulb came on, and thankfully somebody was home. Of Course, it 100% makes sense - we are cleaning/cleansing/clearing our energy circuits before offering Usui Reiki Ryoho to ourselves or our clients. Boom!!