In conclusion, the pilgrimage that Basho goes on, becomes his way of life rather than a temporary journey. There is no radical change or numinous experience that Basho encounters on this journey, rather his maturing as a writer and spiritual growth develops over time through the changing seasons, the monumental moments of awe in nature, “mountains crumble, rivers changes courses, roadways are altered, stones are buried in the earth, trees grow old and are replaced by saplings” (The Narrow Road to the Deep North). These central aspects of nature are what his religious worldview encompasses, the idea of the ultimate reality of nature. His journeys are religious, in the sense that they are never ending and he practices them daily, and these journeys are the basis of his existence. Without these …show more content…
It is the way we do things, how we live, our moral compass and for Basho, going on these journeys are how he continues to live. Also, the fear of death plays an important role in his life, the same way that the idea of an afterlife or natural death plays in ours, the fear of the unknown. However, Basho knows with certainty that the journey he is on is home and home is where he wants to die, and thus the reader realizes that by the end, Basho comes to terms with the idea of death. When I analyzed the book from the perspective of how a pilgrimage is conducted or what entails, Basho did not fit into the description and it was hard to take the structure of pilgrimages and mold it around him because he defied every sense of going on a pilgrimage. However, when you cast aside the insider perspective and look at it from an outsider’s point of view, Basho encompasses what a pilgrimage is and goes beyond. He made the pilgrimage a part of his life rather than the liminal pilgrimage that society accepts. As a reader, it was difficult to exactly pinpoint why Basho went on these