Pages: 1 2

It was already evening by the time I arrived. People were streaming down the hill. Could the temple already be closed? This was my last chance, I knew, though also my second chance.

I should be chewing myself out for not coming earlier, but I could not afford the time nor mental capacity to do so, rushing against time, and trying to figure my way through the maze of roads, all lined with similar shops selling similar souvenirs. I could see the sun setting, and as I squeezed myself through the crowd, against the general flow of tourists, I could almost feel time similarly flowing past.

Tick tock tick tock tick tock.

But I made it. There it was, set against an orange sky and gentle sun. It took a 3-hour flight and a 1-hour bus ride, but I made it. The Rock of Love. A pair of rocks actually, aligned on a short 50 metre path, situated in a small corner of the Kiyomizu Dera compounds, one of the most popular temples in Kyoto.

Legend – or school girls’ tales, perhaps – has it that, if a person could walk from one rock to its counterpart at the end of the path with one’s eyes closed, he or she would find true love. Silly, one might think, but this test was what I had come for.

I had already visited the Rock of Love once, some 5 years ago. I was intrigued by the legend, but knew I was not ready to try. At that time, the turmoil and confusion in my heart, compounded by the throngs of tourists and New Year’s Day visitors to the temple, shook all possible temptation to try out of my mind. But now, five years older and wiser, I thought my heart had finally matured into a comfortable capacity, and that perhaps I was finally ready. Hence my journey.

“Are you serious? Do you even believe in God? Or whatever it is being idolized in those Japanese shrines.”
It’s not a shrine, it’s a temple.
“Whatever. Wait, are you serious??”

It perhaps seemed a little frivolous, and even crazy, that I held this pair of rocks so close to my conscience, I had to make this trip, solely for the purpose of verifying my answer to an even more important question. Do I believe in love?

Do you believe in love? If you do, I don’t suppose it would be hard for you to take that first step in walking the path to find the other rock at the end of the path. If you believe in love, you possess the very quality of faith that the Rock of Love test challenges.

That one could voluntarily close one’s eyes to potential obstacles ahead, and bravely step forth to seek one’s blinded adventure, because of a pure conviction of the reward at the end. Typically everyone who tries the test has his or her arms stretched out, perhaps to sweep disturbances aside or to feel for clues along the way, but I see it also as an indication of their anxious impatience for the cool touch of the rock when they do reach it. Without a doubt, they think they can. And without an exception, they always do.

Possibly because only those who dared would make the walk, and only those who dared could succeed.

The principle was simple, I suppose, which was why the Rock of Love so seared itself into my mind, that I was ashamed when I left without trying the first time I came. I had something to prove, that’s why I had to come back. I needed to prove that I could.

Do I believe in love? I Could. I Can. I Do.

Pages: 1 2

This entry was posted on Monday, August 1st, 2005 at 12:38 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.