A Japanese monk has begun an extraordinary 12-year period of isolation as part of a Buddhist training program at Mount Hiei in Otsu, Japan. Sogaku Taguchi (31) of the Nanzambo Temple, the chief monk of the temple, began his secluded training on 11 September and will be isolated until September 11, 2038.
In this period, Taguchi is expected to have no contact with other people and will be kept in the Jodo-in hall at the Enryakuji temple complex. The hall is dedicated to Saicho, the founder of the Tendai Buddhist sect whose headquarters are at the temple complex on Mount Hiei.
The training includes a daily routine of extremely disciplined Buddhist religious practices. Taguchi will be kept completely away from the outside world while he is doing his work on the temple premises. He also does cleaning the hall and cooking meals and serves them before the tomb as a part of the religious routine.
The isolation is only one aspect of the difficult path taken by monks who are taking this training. Taguchi is the 118th person to do this since 1699 and the eighth since World War II. The practice is long associated with the Tendai Buddhist tradition.
Before going into isolation, Taguchi had spent time preparing through a practice called Kosogyo. The monk is required to continuously offer incense to Buddhas, chant their names and perform prostrations thousands of times a day. The practice is to deepen religious discipline and devotion through repetition and physical stamina.
Taguchi had been practicing Kosogyo since the same period a year earlier. After completing the required practice he went to a Jisei Jukai, or self-avowed ordination ceremony, in the Kaidan-in hall. Before beginning his secluded life, Taguchi described himself as happy as he started the next stage of his religious journey.
He also spoke about his motivation, saying that his desire to live according to the teachings of Dengyodaishi had developed in him towards the monk and had guided his path.
The harsh nature of the training has also attracted attention because of its history. Previous monks on Mount Hiei were subject to grueling ascetic training and there have been deaths associated with the rigorous training. Thus the tradition is not only religious reflection but an extremely rigorous form of ascetic practice.
Mount Hiei is also famous for another extreme Buddhist discipline known as Kaihogyo. Unlike Taguchi’s period of isolation, Kaihogyo involves monks walking enormous distances around the mountain over a period of several years.
The practice is generally organized around increasingly demanding stages. For the first years monks are on long daily walks for consecutive periods. The distance and time become longer and longer in later years and eventually require extremely long walks on foot.
One of the most demanding stages is a nine-day period of fasting during which practitioners typically abstain from food and water and refrain from sleeping or lying down. Monks recite mantras while other monks remain nearby to monitor them.
The later stages involve walking around 60 kilometres a day for 100 days, followed by a further stage where distances up to 84 kilometres a day are covered. The last stage requires another period of daily walking.
Such practices underscore the special place Mount Hiei has in Japanese Buddhist history. For centuries, the mountain has been associated with demanding forms of religious discipline, meditation and asceticism.
Taguchi’s 12-year isolation is thus a continuation of an old religious tradition, not a traditional retreat. His journey will keep him far from daily life until 2038 and he will follow a very structured spiritual routine in the temple complex.
The unusual nature of the practice has attracted interest beyond Japan, because of the length of the isolation and the physical and spiritual demands associated with the larger training tradition. Taguchi's journey will be closely linked to Mount Hiei's religious customs for 12 years.
