yeah, so i’m a bad blogger, i havent really blogged at all lately, and i’ll be honest, i’ve kinda lost the desire to and replaced that desire with something more productive, like programming games.  So whether my winter road trip series gets completed or not is a mystery to the universe.

However, I DO have something for you guys.  Before last Sunday, I actually hadn’t even been to Nara yet, and I had a Field Report to write for my Professor Kenney for her Religion in Japan class.  So I decided to base my report on the Todaiji (Todai Buddhist Temple), home of the laaaargest Buddha in Japan! (According to somewhere on the internet that might actually be wikipedia).

Prof. Kenney asked for a “Field Report” so I wrote a “Blog Post”, which i’ll print out and hand in as a “Field Report” then she’ll tell me “Jace, this is shit, this is a ‘Blog Post’” and I’ll be all like “Yo waaaaaat?” and she’ll be like “yo i’m-an-easy-marker-so-have-an-’A'-even-though-you-didn’t-do-what-I-asked” and i’ll be like “kthxbai”.

Here it is, my “Blog Po”- i mean “Field Report”:

Todaiji Field Report(“Blog Post”)

Religion in Japan

Jason Varlet

“My area of choice to study for this report was the Todaiji Buddhist Temple in Nara and so last weekend a friend and I went and checked it out.  Todaiji is home to the world’s largest wooden building, the Great Buddha Hall, which houses the world’s largest statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known as the Daibutsu to the Japanese.

It was a clear spring Sunday and a lot of people had decided have a relaxing day in and around the Todaiji.  Everywhere you looked on the strip leading up to the temple were families relaxing and eating ice cream, deer, children running from deer and street vendors.  I would in fact describe the vibe of the outer temple grounds as lively and energetic.  There was also a musical performance happening nearby.

I also noticed a lot of school groups were at the temple on a field trip, I could have counted 5 different groups at least, as well as many tour groups.

After feeding the deer (a lot of) sembei, which I thought was the most fun on Earth, I proceeded down the path leading towards the temple.  On the way to the temple was a large gate, called Niomon with 2 giant statues, Nio, one on each side.  The Nio are wrath-filled manifestations whose job is to guard the temple.
Just inside the temple entrance was a large bowl like object filled with what seemed to be ash.  Next to this bowl was a box with incense sticks in it and a slit to put money into for a donation.  There were a lot of people taking part in this activity and for the purpose of making my trip more fulfilling I decided to give it a shot as well.  I also asked a Chinese lady (who I thought was Japanese) why they do this.  She told me that this is a thing to do to ask for help, make a wish or ask for protection.  It is also the place where you can thank the “God” (this is the word she used) for the help you received.  She described this ritual of burning incense as making a connection with “God”.

From the incense bowl, there is a path that leads up to the front doors of the Great Hall.  On this path there is something that looks like it could be a prayer wheel, with images of Kannon on the sides.  At the end of the path, at the entrance to the Great Hall, was another incense bowl.

Upon entering the Great Hall you are immediately faced with the Daibutsu, elevated on a platform.  On either side of the Daibutsu were 2 more large statues.  My understanding was that they were bodhisattvas.  However, I did notice something strange sitting in front of the Buddha, down on the level of the people: Candles.  These were found in other places inside the great hall.  The thing I thought to be strange about these candles is that they remind of the Catholic Prayer Candles in the rear of my Catholic church I used to attend as a child, and were used in the same way, but for a different purpose.  One would take a candle, light it, and place it on an empty spot on a candle stand.  In the Catholic church, this symbolizes a connection with God or a Saint.  However this is in fact a Buddhist tradition too, to show respect.  I just found the similarities in not only the practice, but the appearance of the ritual surprising.

This wasn’t the only cross-religious similarity I came across.  Inside the great hall were ema.  All the common wishes were written on this such as passing a test, health etc.  Each ema had one side painted, just like the Shinto ones, and were all hanging on a wall.  It was most interesting to see this, as this seems to me like a blatant borrowing of another religion’s practices.  It wasn’t even disguised at all, there were signs informing the visitors that “Ema” were for sale.  I’m not entirely sure why they would do this.  The only conclusion I can come to is that one thing I noticed was that there was a lot of merchandise for sale, and this temple was very much after money from the visitors.  So making ema available could possible draw in some money from potential Shinto visitors.  Either that or adding another product might mean another avenue to make money.

There were many ways that the temple could earn some money and/or these may also be ways for Buddhists to earn merit.  Donations from activities such as burning incense or lighting candles, as well as the vast variety of merchandise such as a banner with Nara’s mascot, Sento-kun, on it.  Another activity they had available was, for ¥200 or ¥300 you could have your fortune told by a stick in a box.  I decided I’d give it a go.  Now, contrary to 1 of the 4 noble truths: “Life is Suffering”, I lucked out and got good luck.  Which got me thinking… Perhaps in Buddhism, my future doesn’t have good luck, instead it has less bad luck.  However, interesting none the less, after having my fortune told, I exited the Great Hall.

Just outside the great hall, to the right of the entrance is another wooden statue.  The seated figure is Binzuru.  The sign next to it said that if one rubs a specific body part of the statue, then rubs the same body part on their own body, any ailments will be healed.  I had a sore leg from all the walking that day, so I thought I’d give it a shot.  Needless to say, my leg didn’t actually get better.

My trip to Todaiji was more or less exactly what I hoped it to be.  Me jumping up and down at the sight of something I’d learned in class, deer, a big Buddha, Buddhism itself, and the clashing of religious practices.  All in all it was a very interesting experience, more so than had I gone before studying this topic.”

“Blog Post”

Ciao for Now!