What a nice picture! I'm glad you both met. Have a lovely time in Japan!
Gassho
Washin
st-lah
Gassho
Washin
st-lah
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Kaidō (皆道) Every Way
Washin (和信) Harmony Trust
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I am a novice priest-in-training. Anything that I say must not be considered as teaching
and should be taken with a 'grain of salt'. -
Today, the plan was to keep Kyonin awake despite the jet lag. I have suggested that he try to awaken each day at 4am for the coming days, because the Antaiji Sesshin that he will sit next week will begin each morning from 4am, so he will be acclimated for that.
I also wanted to introduce Kyonin to some local Buddhist and other places that represent this part of Japan, old and new. beautiful and a little different. We were joined by Yaxkin, also a Mexican poet like Kyonin, and our regular member during our Treeleaf Zazenkais. You will see him here tomorrow, in fact.
After a Soba noodle lunch fix by my wife Mina at our house, we were off. Our first stop was the remains of a little temple in our neighborhood dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai, the medicine Buddha. In past centuries, the people living in our little village did not have access to modern doctors and hospitals. Sometimes praying to this Buddha was all they had.
Here is a little more about the Medicine Buddha ...
After that, for a taste of the modern, our stop was KEK (High Energy Accelerator Research Organization) ... our particle collider (located a mere 10 minutes by car from Treeleaf) that has won several Nobel Prizes, mostly related to "symmetry breaking" (why there is more matter in the universe than anti-matter) ...
After that, a drive into the countryside, about 40 minutes from here, to pay our respects to this 400 year old priest at a Tendai school temple, a Sokushinbutsu ( 即身仏), Buddhist priest who has been naturally mummified while sitting Zazen through the centuries. He died in 1686. The story goes that, about 100 years after his death, another priest at the temple had a dream in which this dead priest asked to be released from his tomb in order to continue to save the sentient beings. When they did so, they found him still sitting Zazen, and he has done so all these years. It is said that he was originally sitting with lovely posture but, through the centuries, has begun to lien forward.
That is someone dedicated to Zazen!
Next, a little bit of local history ... The Ishege Miso Soup Incident ... inside a full size recreation of Ishge castle in the town next to ours, Ishige ...
... there is a wax recreation of the scene when the Lord of Ishige, Lord Toyoda, killed a rival Samurai ... not in the "Honorable" way that one thinks of regarding Japanese Samurai ... but by secretly poisoning his dinner guest's Miso soup!! The town seems actually proud of this act of cunning, so has a wax recreation of the scene showing the Samurai lord of Ishige holding his sword gallantly while the other fellow chokes on his soup at the dinner tray! ... The poisoned fellow on the right, realizing the the soup was amiss, has a knowing look in his eyes, reaches for his sword but, alas, the soup does him in ...
... to be continued ...Last edited by Jundo; 06-03-2021, 06:38 AM.ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLEComment
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Interesting Bodhisattva vows this Yakushi Nyorai, the medicine Buddha, had... especially about not coming back as a woman..After a Soba noodle lunch fix by my wife Mina at our house, we were off. Our first stop was the remains of a little temple in our neighborhood dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai, the medicine Buddha. In past centuries, the people living in our little village did not have access to modern doctors and hospitals. Sometimes praying to this Buddha was all they had. Here is a little more about the Medicine Buddha ...
...
Gassho
Ishin
Sat Today/lahGrateful for your practiceComment
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This warms my heart to see that picture of Kyonin and Jundo!
I'm smiling ear to ear. More photos!
-Sara
STComment
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Very nice pictures! I am excited to follow along with your journey!
Gassho,
Junkyo
SATComment
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Thank you so much Jundo and Kyonin for sharing this! Kyonin, it must be a little surreal actually going to meet in person?
Gassho,
Brad
SatToday一 法
(One)(Dharma)
Everyday is a good day!
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Next, we visited a local war memorial that is said to contain actual ashes of the Buddha.
The Burmese style Buddhist pagoda stands almost hidden next to a river in our neighboring town. It is a memorial to the dozens and dozens of men just from this town and surrounding towns who died in WW2 in places like the Philippines, China and, most especially, Burma. The President of Burma, in conjunction with a famous temple there, donated what are said to be ashes of the Buddha for internment in this Pagoda. We paid our respects.
Finally, on Kyonin's first day, we visiting a Sri Lankan Theravadan temple built in a Japanese farmhouse a short drive from Treeleaf Tsukuba. Most notably is the the large seated Buddha in South Asian style built there, and the Sri Lankan monks who are very friendly to visitors, inviting us to offer incense.
Gassho, Jundo
STLahLast edited by Jundo; 03-24-2024, 12:25 AM.ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLEComment
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From Jundo’s first post
I’m not sure your wife would appreciate her soba noodles to be included in this.and eating some weird stuff to challenge his gut
Gassho
SatMarc Connery
明岩
Myo̅ Gan - Bright Cliff
I put the Monkey in Monkeymind
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Hello guys!
Today we had our monthly zazenkai. I hope you come and sit with us.
After tea and rice crackers we went to the Jaxa museum to see some rocket ships and some satellites. Afterwards we went to have lunch and then off to the giant Buddhs of Tsukuba!
It was a humbling experience because it's not an everyday thing you get to see such a magnificent monument.
Inside the Daibutsu there is a museum with some teachings about Pure Land Buddhism and a little museum with the story of the statue.
Tomorrow we will go to Tokyo and then I am off for sesshin at Antaji.
I guess I won't be posting for about 5 days. Wish me luck!
Gassho,
Kyonin
Enviado desde mi SNE-LX3 mediante TapatalkHondō Kyōnin
奔道 協忍Comment
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I hope your experience is very enriching even though you’ll end up with nothing. Great pictures!
Gassho
Ishin
Sat/lahGrateful for your practiceComment
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Wonderful photos! Thank you for posting more of them and more of your travels. /\ Jundo is giving you a great tour! Good luck with your sesshin!
Gassho
Kendrick
Sat/LAHComment
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Kyonin, you have to post the photo of you in the cut-out Buddha body, and the one I took lying on my back ...
After that, you forgot to mention how we got naked and sat in hot water.
Gassho, J
STLahALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLEComment
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Nice photos! Thank you Kyonin and Jundo. Loooking forward to some more..
Have a great time at sesshin in Antaiji!
Gassho,
Washin
sat/lahKaidō (皆道) Every Way
Washin (和信) Harmony Trust
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I am a novice priest-in-training. Anything that I say must not be considered as teaching
and should be taken with a 'grain of salt'.Comment
Comment