#chion-in

-A few days later we visited Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple in Asakusa. The light snow that morning did not deter visitors from showing up in their kimonos to get the perfect photo. Or give their offerings. Or receive fortunes for the new year. If you don’t like your fortune, just tie it in a bow and leave it behind. So focus on the positive I guess?

-We were told that most people in Japan identify as both Shinto and Buddhist, often having a Shinto wedding and Buddhist funeral. The Shinto shrines are the ones with the famous tori gates, the most famous of which are the thousands of tori gates at the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine with about 10,000 red gates leading up Mount Inari. When walking through these portals, stopping to bow creates portals between the mundane and the divine. Shinto is centered around animism, the idea that everything has a spirit. The value of that is that locals respect things around them, from stones to wood to structures, valuing keeping things clean and tidy and in order. Respecting the rivers around us, the trees and plants that breathe life into our atmosphere, and the stones that provide solid ground, seems like a survival instinct our current society would be wise to follow. We don’t need to worship them, but respecting the natural world and products made from it would serve us well to avoid our own self-made destruction which currently seems inevitable if we don’t forget he political will to correct our ways. -On our last day in Kyoto we wandered around the park by our ryokan and were drawn in by the chants of monks at the Chion-in temple. This beautiful large complex is centered around an enormous central temple made of dark wood with painted white and gold features. The elegant soaring architecture is every bit as awe-inspiring as the cathedrals of Europe, but I found the gold accents against the almost black wood inside so much more focusing. It’s easy to see how it would be such a good place for prayers and meditation. I’m not sure I understand much about Buddhism, but meditation reminds one of the transient nature of life, that we leave everything behind when we die, and that charity to others is important, as well as being as kind of possible. If we all kept in mind that sharing with others is a virtue we should all embrace, perhaps we could all have health care and good education. I wish we structured our economy in a way that truly redistributed wealth for the common good. Maybe fewer golden ballrooms and more feeding the poor.

Chion-in Temple in Kyoto, Japan