- The first picture is of Kiyomizu temple from afar. If you look to the right you can see a little of smoke coming from the incense people were lighting.
- The Second is of Kara and I at Kiyomizu temple. We tried to capture the cool skyline in the background as best we could, but did not do it justice in this picture.
- The third picture is of Kara at the opening gate to the Kiyomizu temple after walking so far to get there.
-The fourth and last is of me standing in front of the rock garden at Tofuku-Ji temple.
As promised Kara and I returned to Kyoto for another day of craziness. I woke up early and we left at least an hour early. We could have left sooner, but even Kara was a bit slow this morning. It also helped that I skipped breakfast and Kara simply ate yogurt. When we arrived in Kyoto it was about 1115, so we decided to get me some lunch at McDonalds because it is cheap as is usual. We had a nice long lunch at the golden arches and then after eating planned our day. Kara really wanted to go to Nijo Castle, in order to compare it to Osaka Castle, but I suggested that it wouldn't be wise. From my perspective this choice didn't seem practical because we could both go to other temples for half the cost of going to that castle...after I explained my rationale Kara agreed. So, instead of going to Nijo Castle which costs 600yen a person or 1200 for the two of us (to figure out American equivalent do 1200 yen div. 80 yen= American $$ approx.) we decided to do Kiyomizu-dera temple for 300 yen per person and visit Tofuku-Ji Temple for $400 yen a person. Originally we were also going to see Kodai-ji Temple but Kara was getting templed out so we didn't go to it. So, to the meat of our temple visits and further exploration of Kyoto...
Our first stop was finding Tofuku-Ji Temple. It was really, really, confusing because the temple was on a zig zag road between residential and commercial property, but we eventually found it and on our way back were able to help other confused tourists like ourselves, I believe they were from England. Tofuku-Ji Temple
is like all other temples, very beautiful as it has many bridges and beautiful trees and flower gardens... It would be really beautiful at the peak of autumn. Its name was actually taken from two other temples in the Osaka area. At the time of its creation it was the newest temple in Japan and because of that they made a hall named "Butsuden" that houses a 15 meter tall standing statue of Buddha, if your metric skills aren't great, I'll do the math... that is approx 50ft tall. We would have loved to see this statue but in order to have the chance at a photo opportunity we would have had to pay an extra $400 yen each...so we left somewhat frustrated. The priest who started the temple was an important figure in Japan's Zen past because he was the first priest to be given the title of "Kokushi" by the emperor himself which means that he became the "nation's" priest. Our second stop was Kiyomizu Temple.
Kiyomizu temple is perhaps the largest and most visited temple by foreigners and Japanese residents. This temple was large and very active. All of the other temples we had visited were not active, this temple had gongs, incense, prayer paper, and shrines to pray in front of! So the air was thick with incense, prayers, and camera clicks. The view from the Kiyomizu temple is spectacular and is probably the best view of Kyoto one may find as a tourist. In the fall the view of the leaves would be amazing and in the spring the view of Cherry Blossoms would be picture perfect. This temple was founded by a great Buddhist priest named Enchin in the year 778 A.D.. In the main sanctuary is an image of "Kannon" (the God of Mercy & Benevolence). As a tourist I noticed that there were many newly weds visiting this temple dressed in their Kimonos and I have a feeling it is in order to pay homage to this shrine and pray for a blessed marriage. There were many interesting things going on at this temple that I did not understand, but what I did understand gave Kara and I a sense of sadness and maybe even anger. I apologize to anyone who reads this and is offended, but I cannot hide the truth of what I feel as a Christian. I couldn't help but feel saddened by so many people I feel are on the wrong path. I do not claim to know everything about Buddhism or Christianity, but I do know what Christ did for me. He took away sin and freed me from my suffering by shedding his blood, not by teaching me 4 Noble Truths. I also have a hard time understanding how someone can believe they may be reincarnated as a god, demigod, human, animal, ghost, or hell. In Buddhism it seems to me that people are trying to live a right life by following rules set before them similar to the "law," for Jews, but the problem for me is that I believe we can be good people, but still have the mark of original sin on us. Until we accept Christ and enter the gates of St. Peter, I do not believe we can be "free" of suffering and Christ in the Bible reminds us that through accepting belief in him we will have added persecution. That is all I can say...it just doesn't make sense to me...sorry. If you want to know more about Buddhism I believe PBS is a good source to follow a link to a simplified break down of Buddhism is found at: http://www.pbs.org/edens/thailand/buddhism.htm
On our way back from that temple we stopped at some of the local shops and bought gifts for Kara's sister Amy and one of her friends and bought Christmas presents for Gwen and Meredyth for next year, planning ahead since Saipan does not have many good local shops with stuff relevant to people in the states... I did not find a coffee cup from Japan yet but may find one tomorrow on our "chill" day. Tomorrow we plan on relaxing most of the afternoon maybe walking around and shopping more and at night going to the top of these two towers that have a "floating garden" between the two and looking out over the city at night. Then on our last full day after that we plan on going to Spa world for the day to relax as it is only a couple blocks away and they are having a deal right now that we can use to go for less than the normal price. We will keep you updated once again tomorrow! This is Grant Signing off at 1030pm Osaka time.
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