Our neighbors, Bob and Sanae spent the day with us, and took us up to a big temple near our house to share with us a ritual that nearly all Japanese people partake in, to bring in the New Year.
This is Ishiyamadera Temple. It's gorgeous, and nearly 1500 years old.
This man is tying his written prayer to a tree. In this Buddhist sect, there are many gods, and the Japanese people go to the temples at the beginning the new year to pray and make "wishes" for the coming year. The temples are usually packed...
Each year, the head religious officials pick a random number to represent the number of times the ceremonial bell must be rung to clear one of their sins. This year, each individual must ring the bell 108 times, to repent of their 108 sins...
This is a statue of a god. The people are touching the statue, and then wiping their bodies with the "spirit" of the god...
In order to make a prayer, light a candle, or even enter the temple, one must pay. This was an interesting object of discussion for Ray and I. People were paying on average 12 yen, or around $10 for each written prayer or ceremonial bell ringing. These were coins stuck into the side of an old building...
Needless to say, the experience was very interesting, cultural and eye opening. It was so good for us to see and compare rituals from our own country to this one. The differences are countless, but some similarities still stand. It made for good, deep conversations and a bit of prayer and reflection of our own....
No comments:
Post a Comment