Walking with Buddha: Pilgrimage on the Shikoku 88-Temple Trail

by C.W. Lockhart

Walking with Buddha is a moving-meditation set along Japan's stunning Shikoku 88-Temple Trail. The ancient 1,200-kilometer path around the island of Shikoku serves as a reflective backdrop for cultural immersion and introduction into the Buddha-Nature.

- Wearing her heart on her sleeve, Lockhart sets off on a walking-pilgrimage to nourish her soul and contemplate her next fifty years. While learning to embrace her own Buddha-nature, she discovers the wisdom, courage, and grace to accept change and re-create a life she truly desires.

Genres: Travel, Religion

379 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 20, 2021

Reviews

[Katie Allen]

DNF because sharing only the outer journey and skipping the inner one is kind of like eating chips without any salt on them. Or maybe that just makes it a travelogue/blog?

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was quite a different experience from the other Shikoku Pilgrimage book I read, Robert C. Sibley's The Way of the 88 Temples: Journeys on the Shikoku Pilgrimage. I originally had hoped I'd be able to walk some portion of this 1,200km pilgrimage route, but after a horrible experience walking the Via Francigena in Italy last summer, I decided I'm just getting too old (although I walked the 790-km Camino de Santiago in September-October of 2018). However, I am returning to Japan for the third time in September & October and I want to at least get a sample of the pilgrimage by walking the first 10 temples starting in Tokushima.

Christine's experience in this book is more lighthearted than Sibley's book. She knows her shortcomings and isn't afraid to call herself out on them. I like people who are self-deprecating, so this aspect of her writing was enjoyable to me. She went about the pilgrimage in her own way, often taking public transportation, taxis or rides from other henros (pilgrims), carrying a tent and sometimes camping outside overnight. She most often walked, carrying her fears of wild boars, vipers and strange hobos along with her. She found herself annoyed by people who she couldn't shake, and then came to appreciate them later (Kassy, for example). She reflected often on her own life dilemmas such as her career and her marriage, and left prayers for her loved ones along the way.

She also imparts knowledge about the pilgrimage route and how she announced her presence at each temple with a gong of the bell and by chanting sutras. She relays what a henro researcher tells her: "walking clockwise and visiting temples in sequential order ... is to walk Jun-chi. To walk jun-chi is to experience the four dojos in order. Dojos are the training periods of Awakening, Ascetic Training, Enlightenment, and Nirvana."

As I know from doing the Camino, a pilgrimage doesn't suddenly solve all your life problems. But it gives you plenty of time for reflection, self-awareness and compassion. I enjoyed reading of Christine's experience and look forward to walking my 10 temples in October.

[Venus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Journey with the author

This book was quite the journey. Having been to this very location, it was a really cool read.

I haven’t read the first book in these travel adventures, because this was the only one I was interested in, but the story is well written, engaging, and keeps you wondering what’s going to happen. Based on true adventures, it is ripe with history and mysticism. Really beautiful account.

[Stephen Sinclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent

Simply an excellent book! I bought it on a whim and then couldn't put it down. The author's description of the temples, while perhaps more brief than I would have liked, evoke a feeling of being there and I just can't praise this book enough. Enjoy!

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

This should be titled random stuff not related to temples and just enough temple information that it could have extracted from a google search.

[Beth Dewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect complement to your Tokyo Olympics viewing. Christine is a wonderful guide if you want a peak into traditional Japanese culture and the beauty of both the nature and architecture. She has such insight and affection for the people she meets, both her fellow pilgrims and the islanders of Shikoku. Because of her sincere desire to understand and honor the local culture, it is easy to extend her grace when she doesn’t get it quite right and to laugh with her at the awkwardness anyone who travels to new place experiences.

Beyond experiencing vicariously the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feels of the pilgrimage (without all the sore muscles and feet!), we also get to share in Christine’s emotional journey. She is authentic and generous with her own thoughts and life struggles. What I love most, and think is her particular gift both in this book and her first Blanket of Stars, is that in sharing her stumbles and progress she creates space for readers to explore their own personal quests for wisdom, courage, and grace.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Authors really shouldn’t give their books a five-star rating. Have some style.