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Article: Ordinary people caught in a world that's wicked, wondrous, weird and wild. (anecdotes on the ironies of people and their religious practices and beliefs)(Column)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- December 27, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Japanese island of Shikoku contains 88 Buddhist temples. The 750-mile route connecting them is called the Trail of Tears. Each year, about 100,000 pilgrims take to the trail - some 1,000 on foot - for an average 50-day walk. The idea of the journey is traced to a Buddhist priest, Kobo Daishi, who was born on the island in 774.
Pilgrims carry a walking stick representing Daishi. Priests take the trip backwards, hoping to run into Daishi. Pilgrims who die en route are hastily buried, and their stick becomes a grave marker. Some sick pilgrims come in order to die on the trail; they keep making the circuit until they collapse.
In August, in India, some ...