A great priest KUKAI:KOBO-Daishi!!!

空海（弘法大師）は今から１２５０年程前に四国で生まれました。彼は日本の高僧の内でも最も偉大な人物だと私は思います。彼は地方の裕福な支配者の家に生まれて、出世も約束されていたのですが、仏教をもっと深く学びたくて唐の国に渡ります。当時の航海術だから生死を掛ける船旅でした。本来ならば２０年の留学であったのですが、恵果（けいか）という高僧に認められて２年でその教えを体得して帰国します。短期間で帰国したので法的に違反ですから数か月の間は謹慎しなくてはなりませんでした。しかし嵯峨天皇はご自身も筆の文字を書く技術が優れているので空海の

文字の美しさをご存じなのでやがて認可が下りて、空海の教えも天皇に認めらて、高野山（Kouyasan）という奈良の奥地の山奥に壮大な寺院の金剛峯寺（Kongoubuji）を建立して人々の苦しみを救おうとされました。やがて４０歳の頃に故郷の四国の幾つかに寺院を建立しました。　

「人々が自然との接点を通して多くの厳しい仏教の修行を積んでいくことで心身ともに癒されるので健全な人生が過ごせることが叶う。」というお考えからだろうと私は思います。

そうして空海を慕う多くの僧侶たちが四国をあちこちと巡る内に次第に寺院が建立されてやがて

８８もの巡礼箇所になったのです。初めから８８もの寺院が存在したのではありません。

そして、空海がどうしてこれほどに人気があるのかというと、それはやはり「密教」という

仏教の一つで、中でも特に祈りの力を大切にされたもので　不思議なことが多く起こったからです。

実際に遍路中に足腰が丈夫に成ってきたとか　目が見える様に成ったとか、辛い病が快復したなど不思議な体験者が続出しているからということもあります。ですから８８カ所の寺院には所々に　昔の木製の車いすやお礼状を多く見かけます。　また空海が日本中を巡って人々を救済されたという逸話は数えきれないほどに全国にあります。干ばつで苦しむ地域には「雨ごい」の祈祷をして雨を降らすこともしました。不漁に嘆く漁村では大漁の時を迎えました。また、水不足で悩む家では

持っていた杖でその地面を押すと水が脇き出てきました。

この事実はキリストやマリア様の逸話でも見聞きしますね。現実に人々を多く救っていらしたから多くの方々に敬愛されているのです。

Kukai (Kobo Daishi) was born in Shikoku about 1250 years ago. I believe he is the greatest of Japan's great priests. He was born into a wealthy local ruling family and was expected to advance in life, but he traveled to China to study Buddhism more deeply. Due to the navigation techniques of the time, it was a life-or-death voyage. He was originally scheduled to study abroad for 20 years, but he was recognized by a high priest named Keika and returned to Japan after mastering his teachings in two years.

Since he returned to Japan after such a short time, he was in violation of the law and had to be suspended for several months. However, Emperor Saga himself was skilled in calligraphy and knew the beauty of Kukai's calligraphy, so he eventually gave his approval and Kukai's teachings were recognized by the emperor. He built a magnificent temple, Kongobu-ji Temple, deep in the mountains of Koyasan, deep in Nara, to relieve the suffering of the people. Eventually, when he was about 40 years old, he built several temples in his hometown of Shikoku.

I believe this was based on the idea that "people can heal their mind and body by undergoing rigorous Buddhist training through contact with nature, and thus live healthy lives."

And as many monks who admired Kukai traveled around Shikoku, temples were gradually built, and eventually there were 88 pilgrimage sites.

There were not originally 88 temples.

And the reason why Kukai is so popular is because he is a type of Buddhism called "esoteric Buddhism," which places special importance on the power of prayer, and many miraculous things have happened to the people.

This is because many people have had miraculous experiences during the pilgrimage, such as their legs becoming stronger, their eyesight being restored, or even recovery from serious illnesses. That is why you can see many old wooden wheelchairs and thank-you letters at various points throughout the 88 temples. There are also countless anecdotes about Kukai saving people's lives as he traveled all over Japan. In areas suffering from drought, he would offer prayers for rain and bring rain. When a fishing village lamented a poor catch, he prayed and the catch was bountiful. And when a house was suffering from a water shortage, he would press the ground with his walking stick and water would gush out.

We also see this fact in the stories of Jesus Christ and Mary. They are loved and revered by many people because they actually saved many people.