XI. justice.

blindness :

there's a couple different ways we can explain gyomei's blindness. personally for me, because i vibe with the tragedy of it, is that gyomei fell ill very young with a disease & it costed him his eyesight.

particularly, he contracted measles during early childhood. but luckily, he survived, as he was a reasonably healthy child otherwise for someone who was likely living in some degree of poverty. he survived the disease without any lasting effects outside the loss of his eyesight.

his parents :

so plain & simple, in my mind, gyomei's parents surrendered him to the local temple young, as a way to save him from poverty. they didn't consider him a burden or mistreat him in the slightest, they just couldn't afford the life they wanted for him so they offered him to the temple. they wanted gyomei to have food, shelter, & a spiritual "family." part of it was also worry in part due to his blindness. they didn't want him to struggle at home or / if he was put to work.

it doubles as religious devotion as well, since entrusting their child to the temple could be motivated by spirituality. they also saw the time as somewhere safe their son could be since he was already at a large disadvantage for even a normal life in poverty.

all in all they loved him & just wanted what was best for him, there was certain stigma given this time period in japan, but gyomei's parents did their best to ignore it. surrendering him to the temple at a young age was an act of love & protection, although a bittersweet one at that.

temple life :

the day begins with chanting sutras, ringing temple bells, incense offerings, etc. even the children would participate in this but repeating chants or sitting quietly during meditation. it was grounding for gyomei. he learned to navigate the temple by sound & touch.

gyomei personally wasn't responsible for field work in part due to his blindness but also his role as a caretaker. but he did manage chores with the children: prepping rice, tending to a small garden, collecting firewood, drawing water, etc . . . he taught the children cooperation & how to be responsible through these chores, supporting unity as well.

the temple didn't have access to written scripture so much of the techings, stories, sutras, etc was through oral tellings. it was through these that gyomei learned to respect life & community. he also taught the children manners: bowing, polite speech, & showing gratitude. this was the discipline he instilled in himself & passed down to the children.