At Hannya-ji Temple, Stone
Buddhist statues and Cosmoses welcome visitors
nearby the entrance as well as in the precinct.
nearby the entrance as well as in the precinct.
Cosmoses play around the Buddha image or Bodhisattva images.
I like it when the effect of front bokeh added the lovely colors to the sober-colored stone statues
and made them look wearing translucent pink cosmos-veil or feathery green veil.
The
origin of the temple’s name “Hannya” is from“般若波羅蜜多心經/Hannya-kyo",
or The Heart Sutra.
or The Heart Sutra.
The Heart
Sutra is the most frequently used and recited text
in the entire Mahayana Buddhist tradition including Japan.
in the entire Mahayana Buddhist tradition including Japan.
The text
is short, a tip for anyone to live happy, to break through our fundamental delusion,
or to remove all egos completely which prevent us from waking up to our true heart.
or to remove all egos completely which prevent us from waking up to our true heart.
It's not easy to understand because it is about the "emptiness" in a nutshell.
Neither to practice it, because human species have not only sentience but also reason.
I don't try to understand hard
as the last words say, "Don't worry, everything will be fine."
as the last words say, "Don't worry, everything will be fine."
Instead, I try to keep a soft and flexible mind without rigidity, compassion, and attitude of "letting go",
which I have perceived from the teachings.
which I have perceived from the teachings.
That way, I would be able to live positive.
 |
| The Thirteen-story Stone Pagoda (13th Century) |
Look
around the pastel flowers floating in the light or dancing in the breeze!
The ephemeral, wispy cosmoses look free and comfortable from the buds to the withering.
According to the Kegon Sect of Buddhism (like Todaiji- Temple), each of us has a seed within us.
What we are supposed to do is to grow the seed to bloom beautifully someday.
What we are supposed to do is to grow the seed to bloom beautifully someday.
No comparison, you don't have to be Number One because you are already Only One.
This flower has the same name with the Universe.
Origin is "Kosmos", the Greek word for harmony or ordered universe.
 |
| Evenly placed petals, Cosmic beauty |
Hannya-ji is a small temple located at the top of Nara-zaka (Nara slope), part of the old highway connecting Kyoto and Nara. It has prospered as a study temple of the Heart Sutra repeating prosperity and declines including the catastrophes of being burnt down in 1180, 1490, 1567 and severe damages caused by the anti Buddhism movement in the early Meiji Period (1868-1912).
The precinct of the Hannya-ji Temple is transformed into right yellow color in spring.
