A certain day in November. The first snow has fallen in Hakodate, and the trees, which had finished their autumnal foliage and were covered with dull-colored leaves, are now naked and enduring the winter cold.
Looking back, I started to write this article on March 16 of this year. It was about the time when the spring weather was finally beginning to show its face little by little.
Eight months have already passed since then.
Those days when I spent extraordinary time abroad now feel like they happened a long time ago.
Tanzania - Olduvai Valley.
This is where my journey began.
I would like to see the cradle of humanity. What exactly are the roots of human beings?
And when and how did religion come into being? No, why do religions exist in the first place?
This journey started to ask myself that question.
My journey took me from Tanzania, Africa to Turkey, Israel, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Vatican in Italy, Spain, the United States, and Cuba, traveling through 13 countries in about 80 days.
In Turkey, I was struck by the overwhelming power and beauty of Hagia Sophia, and in Israel, I was able to stay in Jerusalem, the holy city of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
The Jewish prayer I experienced at the Wall of Sorrows on Shabbat night left an indelible impact on me that I will never forget.
Faith is alive here.
It was a moment when I felt with all my being that religion still exists today with a powerful force.
Then, in the next country, Poland, I visited Auschwitz and saw the site of the Holocaust. The shock I felt was even greater because I had seen Jewish people in Israel right up to that point.
It was nothing like what I had seen in books and videos.
The image of Jews as flesh-and-blood human beings comes to my mind's eye.
It was such a big deal to go to Auschwitz after going to Israel.
In the Czech Republic, after Poland, I fell in love with the beauty of Prague...
Oh...! There would be not enough space to write about my impressions of all the countries!
It would be too much for me to describe this trip in a few words.
From now on, I will not talk about each country.
I have written about all of these things in my "Around the World" book.
More than that, there is one thing left that must inevitably be clarified at the end of this round-the-world diary.
Some of you who have read this far may have wondered this.
I was wondering if you could tell me why I didn't see any mention of Buddhism at all in a blog written by a Buddhist monk. For a blog that claims to be "from the perspective of a monk, Takahiro Ueda," all it talks about is Christianity and other religions and cultures, not Buddhism." And.
That's right. That's exactly right.
I have not talked much about Buddhism on this trip.
I was consciously avoiding it.
Why on earth?
The answer is, "I wanted to make sure that my worldview and knowledge could not be easily applied to the rest of the world.
For example, here's what I mean.
At the Wall of Lamentation in Jerusalem, which I mentioned earlier, I got to experience Jewish prayer up close and personal.
It is not impossible to connect this with Buddhist rituals and say, "This is how it is taught in Buddhism, so there must be a ~ point in Judaism as well," or "In Judaism we pray this way, but in Buddhism we pray ~ ...".
However, I was concerned that if I did this, the Jewish prayers I had experienced would become mere material for my Buddhist talk.
That would be a far cry from the kind of trip I am looking for.
I did not want to travel to strengthen my current ideas and apply them to my surroundings. Rather, I wanted to see how what I had learned so far would be felt and how it would change when I actually experienced it in the local environment.
I wanted to travel around the world because I wanted to ask myself what religion is. I wanted to learn more about Buddhism, which is my way of life.
As I mentioned at the beginning of my Round-the-World trip, to know this side of yourself, you need the other side, the presence of others.
That is why I wanted to know about other religions and see other worlds in person.
Of course, when Buddhism came to mind as a result, I wrote about it. The Olduvai Valley in Tanzania is a prime example.
Thus, I have tried to avoid as much as possible any attempt to override myself in other worlds and other cultures.
But even without talking about Buddhism, it is Takahiro Ueda himself who sees and feels the world as a "monk," a "Japanese," and an "individual.
No matter how much you research other cultures and learn about them locally, you will never know everything. And it is even more impossible to understand it in a stay of a few days.
Living in Japan, we have no idea about other people's lives or what they are thinking. No, in the first place, you don't even know anything about yourself.
Therefore, everything I have said here so far has been spun through my own subjective viewpoint.
We can only see the world through the filter of our worldview and values that we have formed as monks, as Japanese, and through the filter of the worldview and values that we have formed in our lives.
No matter how much I try to be fair, no matter how much I try to avoid overwriting, it does not exist apart from my subjectivity.
In other words, the very fact that he talks about Buddhism as little as possible is the very perspective of "Monk Takahiro Ueda.
Everything I have said is connected to the Buddhism of the monk Shaku Takahiro, even if I do not speak directly about Buddhism.
This is what I wanted to share with you at the end of my round-the-world trip.
thanks
Finally, I would like to thank all of you who have taken the time to read my round-the-world journey so far.
It is because of your reading and your encouragement that I have been able to write this far. I would like to express my deepest gratitude.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Hideyuki Asahi, a respected Buddhist monk, who encouraged me to write this round-the-world diary.
In fact, up until a few months before my departure, I had no idea that I would be writing a round-the-world trip report, and I had planned to keep the whole experience to myself.
But then Mr. Asahi, a senior monk at the temple where I was working at the time, said, "That's not good enough. You should definitely write about it! There will always be people who want to hear about your experiences." I am sure there will be people who want to hear about your experience.
It is because of his words that I am able to write this book. If it were not for Mr. Asahi's words, I do not think I would have seen the light of day.
Thank you again.
And I was able to complete this trip with the support and help of so many people.
I would like to thank Hiromi Saito, Emmanuelle, and Rama of "Everybody's Safari" for their help in Tanzania. Thanks to all of you, I was able to have various intense experiences in the completely different world of Africa in safety.
Mr. Mirza and Ms. Matsui of BEMI TOUR in Bosnia not only supported me on my trip, but also helped me complete this round-the-world trip after I returned home. They supported me when I was depressed after learning about the reality of the conflict and being robbed. I cannot thank them enough.
Kimiko Matsuo led us on a gospel tour in New York. It was very inspiring to have a glimpse into the world of black churches and gospel music, which I have never come in contact with before.
Daniel talked about the current situation in Cuba. I was able to learn about the problems faced by Cuba, a socialist country. I strongly felt that this is not only a problem in Cuba, and that Japan is no stranger to it.
I cannot name all the others, but with the help of many people I was able to complete my journey successfully.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation.
Finally, I would like to thank my family, especially my parents, who probably worried the most during the trip.
I wonder how my parents must have felt when I suddenly told them I wanted to go around the world, as I was frail and had never even been to Europe.
On the day of my departure, my mother was in tears as she saw me off.
I really did worry about you. But I am so grateful that you allowed me to make this trip. Thanks to you, I feel that I have made a treasure for life.
I would like to continue to devote myself to giving back to the people I meet in whatever way I can on my path from now on.
Please continue to support Takahiro Ueda.
Thank you all very much!
