Croatian Nun Trains Her Mind in Shingon on Mount Koya

　It is 6 a.m. on a cold morning on Mount Koya in Wakayama Prefecture, and Croatian Sanja Jurkovic has already been sitting for an hour in the prayer hall of Muryokoin temple, preparing the goma (fire meditation).

　Now she reaches the third stage, where she is offering 108 wooden sticks to the deity Fudo-Myo-O, who is said to remove any obstacles to attaining enlightenment.

　The 108 sticks ― representing the 108 delusions of the mind ― will be consumed by this flame of wisdom.

　As soon as the first sticks start to burn, a bright flame as high as Jurkovic's upright, seated body shoots up brightly, illuminating the goma altar and sending sparks and smoke into the temple's dark ceiling.

　Later, the many pilgrims staying at the temple walk around the altar, offering prayers and tea to Kukai (Kobo Daishi), the ninth-century founder of the Mount Koya monastery and Shingon school of Buddhism, while Jurkovic still is immersed in her goma ritual.

　Jurkovic, 41, an ordained nun on Mount Koya, first learned about Buddhism in her native Croatia when she was 20.

　"I was always very interested in China, and in a club in the city of Zagreb I studied yoga, Buddhism and karate," Jurkovic says. "As a kid, my dream for the future was either going to China or becoming an astronaut.

　"But this was not possible back then, so I studied mathematics and later worked as a math high school teacher while continuing to study at the club."

　In 1996, she met her future husband, Matthias Schmidt, who was a member of a similar club in Ger-many.

　After staying in Croatia for a year, the couple moved to Germany, where Jurkovic enrolled in Chinese studies and Japanology at the University of Erlangen.

　"After two years, in September 2000, I was sent to Utsunomiya University in Tochigi Prefecture for one year as an exchange student," Jurkovic recalls. "In December, for the Christmas holidays, Matthias visited me in Japan and we made a trip south to Kyushu to a warmer climate."

真言宗に出会い、高野山へ

　At that time both were interested in Zen Buddhism, the branch of Buddhism most well-known in the West.

　"In Fukuoka we visited a Shingon temple, and I was deeply impressed with that place," Jurkovic says. "There was a ritual performed with drums, and when the monks were reciting the Hannya Shingyo (heart sutra), it touched me emotionally."

　So, she wanted to learn more about Shingon.

　"In Zen, the goal is to enter into an empty mind, while in Shingon we transform the mind, using the vibrant colors of mandalas, images of deities, hand positions (mudras) and reciting mantras," Jurkovic explains. "The head monk recommended to visit Koya-san for studies of Shingon, and so we traveled into the mountains of Koya-san. It was very cold there, and a thick carpet of white pure snow had covered the beautiful trees and nature."

　The couple went straight to the school's headquarters, Kongobu-ji temple, whose priest then sent them to Muryokoin, where foreign languages were spoken. The head priest, Habukawa sensei, heard that Jurkovic was very impressed with the six elements (earth, fire, water, space, air and consciousness).

　"He told me that these elements are the core of Shingon teachings." Then she and her husband were warmly accepted as students at the temple.

　"But first I had to go back to Utsunomiya and cancel all arrangements there and study for the entrance exam at Koyasan University in March, because I not only wanted to practice Shingon at the temple, but also academically study it," Jurkovic says.

　Jurkovic passed the exam, and on Buddha's birthday, April 8, 2001, started her tokudo initiation ceremony together with her husband.

　"I shaved my head, did not really know what to expect, but was very happy to be here."

　Seven years later, she is finishing her Ph.D. with a translation and commentary into English of the second part of Kukai's last work, "Mysterious Mandala of the Ten Abodes of Mind."

　Jurkovic says, "Buddhism teaches you to study and develop your own mind. People cannot control external factors to make them happy, but real happiness can only come from within yourself."