Showing posts with label bodhidharma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bodhidharma. Show all posts

Friday, July 25, 2025

Buttsuji Temple 12 Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage

 


Like many Zen temples and monasteries, Buttsuji displays a portrait of Bodhidharma, the legendary monk credited with introducing Zen.


Located in the mountains north of Mihara on the coast of Hiroshima, Buttsuji was a huge monastery complex in its heyday.


Though much reduced in size since then, there are still multiple structures on either side of the Buttsuji River.


It was founded in 1397 as a Rinzai sect Zen temple.


At its peak it had 88 sub temples and 3,000 branch temples.


On the narrow road approaching the temple are several of the former sub-temples, like Yotoku-in , the second photo of this post.


The temple suffered periodic declines and rebuilding during the long period of warfare among the various clans vying for power and other fires.


In 1795 a big fire destroyed many of the main buildings but they were rebuilt by 1805.


In 1905 it became the head temple of the Buttsuji branch of Rinzai, with currently 47 branch temples.


WhenI visited on this trip the leaves were only just beginning to turn, but later the temple will attract many visitors for the full autumn splendor.


Earlier I posted on the small pond garden and the large karesansui garden....


The Lecture Hall dates to 1805 and has a seated Shaka Nyorai flanked by Manjusri and Fugen. The two photos above and the one below.


On  the other side of the river steps lead up to the Pagoda.


Below the pagoda are several other statues









Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Introducing Daruma

Daruma


Daruma is the Japanese name for Bodhidharma, a legendary figure who is credited with transmitting Zen teachings from either India or Central Asia to China. In Japan he is nowadays most commoly associated with the Daruma Doll, a small figure one uses in making wishes. He has no arms or legs as they "fell off" after years of sedentary meditation.


Small dolls are the form of Daruma one most encounters in Japan. The top photo however is I believe a wooden "fish drum". The second photo is a painting of Daruma. These are found usually at Zen temples.


In Matsuyama I found this small Buddhist "chapel" in the shape of Daruma. The next photo is also from a Zen temple.


I'm sure there is a story behind the very long eyebrows and facial hair of this large Daruma doll found near Arashiyama.


Buy dokudami tea from Japan

Friday, September 12, 2014

Unju-ji

Unjuji


After leaving Kiyomizudera I headed for Unjuji, what I believed to be the next temple on the Izumo Kannon Pilgrimage. When I studied the route and guide I saw a temple marked at the approximate location of Unjuji, and as Unjuji was a pretty big temple and on the Chugoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage I didn't read closely enough. Temple 22 is actually a small temple about 600 meters away, so technically I have not yet finished the pilgrimage until I go back and visit the proper temple 22.


When I've been to Unjuji before I have seen pilgrims there, as can be attested by the photo above of the Kannon-do.


There are a lot of small statues scattered around the grounds, and a very fine gate. The temple was founded in 1322 and belongs to the Rinzai Zen sect.


The most interesting thing at the temple though is a bronze bell that is somewhere between 1000 to 1300 years old. Its a Korean bell, more specifically from Silla, the country that unified the Korean Peninsula in the late 7th Century. During the "colonial" period of Japanese rule over Korea in the first half of the 20th Century much was looted from there, and Korean bells were one of the objects apparently prized. Also, of course, much was looted from Korea by Hideyoshis armies in the 16th Century. Why the bell, and others like it throughout Japan, have not been returned is a mystery to me. Some historians believe this particular bell is one of the oldest of its style in existence.


There is a fascinating article here that discusses the meaning of Korean Bells, and the Unjuju Bell, in relation to a pre-Buddhist "Goddess" religion of East Asia. The author is also pretty scathing in her criticism of how Japan portrays Korean history.