Another 2 shrines and one temple today. In the temple was the biggest Buddha in Japan. The surrounding “garden” was all pea gravel that is raked every day. They say it is a mystery that there is never any mud or spider webs in the garden. Not so mysterious to me. Anyhow, right on the sacred path up to the temple were hundreds of tame deer that could be fed a special treat if you purchased it. They are considered messengers of the gods.
One of the shrines had only a thousand year old tree to worship. Praying involves tossing a coin into the offering box, bowing at the shrine twice, clapping hands twice to let gods know you are going to pray, saying your prayer and bowing one more time.
Evidently you can rent a kimono before making the holy walk to the shrine, so we saw lots of ladies dressed up. We were there on the weekend, so it was pretty crowded.
Today’s bento box lunch was slightly better than yesterday’s. We each had our own individual fondu pot with broth, pork, onion and cabbage to bring to a boil, and then I added some of the raw fish and rice. The rest was the usual bland indescribable.
Our weather is very cold, but it has been very sunny making it pleasant. As our ship pulled out of port there was a big send off party on the dock with a full band, balloons and about a hundred waving people. I guess they were happy to have us visit them.
l'm very interested in Buddhism!
ReplyDeleteHow Did u heat the pot to a boil?
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