Yamabushi is a lifestyle. It’s a set of guidelines for how to live well. One of those guidelines is to go into nature at least once a year during Yamabushi training. Other than that, everything else is up for interpretation. 

In previous times, the aim was to be at one with Dainichi Nyorai the Buddha of the Cosmos, meaning you too could reach Buddhahood. These days, depending on who you ask, the meaning for training is different. 

My interpretation comes straight from Master Hoshino, which is that we do the training to do the training. This is an annoying answer, I know, but from doing training there are a lot of lessons that you can use in your daily life. For example, I have an appreciation for the mundane, such as breathing, and that appreciation further makes me want to do stuff. 

This is just the result of having done training though. It was not the original reason why I did training. I did the training because I had heard it was good to do, and I was curious to see what it was all about.

That’s about it. Everyone’s interpretation is different. But what I can say for sure is that doing the training does change your life.