Today's Meditation: Persistence

Source: Wikipedia

Aonodōmon (青の洞門, meaning "blue tunnel") is a tourist attraction located in the gorge of Yabakei, now part of Nakatsu City, in Ōita Prefecture, Japan.

Legend has it that before the tunnel was built, people had to climb over the cliffs through which the tunnel is built to reach an important local shrine. The path was very dangerous and people regularly fell to their deaths.

During the Edo period, a Buddhist monk named Zenkai (1691-1774), decided to build a safe passage for worshipers. Beginning at the age of 49, he dedicated 30 years of his life to digging the 185 meter tunnel by hand, using only a hammer and chisel.