I’ve been scarce because of deadline and a book that won’t quit giving me a hard time. I love the characters…it’s just that they’re not cooperating. So I went in search of some zen on my last trip.
On my last trip to Narita, I took the bus into town as soon as I arrived at the hotel and changed. My favorite place to go on layovers there that isn’t a bar or restaurant is a beautiful temple. Far from being a mecca for bored airline pilots from all over the world, Narita is actually a tourist town built around the Narita-san Shinsho-ji temple that brings in visitors from all over the country. An official description that I found says: The Naritasan-Shinshoji Temple is dedicated to the light god Fudo and was founded in 939, during a rising instigated by Taira Masakado in the area of the present day prefectures of Chiba and Ibakari. The Emperor Sujaku had the statue of Fudo in the Jingoji Temple at Kyoto brought to Kozugahara (to the west of the Shinshoji) in order to secure the god’s help in defeating the rebels. When the rebellion came to an end in 940 with the death of Masakado, a temple was built in Kozugahara to house the statue, and in 1705 this was moved to its present site.
Many of the buildings and pagodas are in fact centuries old. An incense pot scents the grounds and calms me the moment I set foot through the gates. After a long flight it’s utter zen for me. The park is huge and amazingly beautiful. Ponds with big, plump koi. winding paths. Statues of gods and priests with prayers taped to them by worshippers and visitors. (A friend told me once the monks collect the pieces of paper periodically to send the prayers to heaven. Are they burned? Is that correct? If anyone knows, please post.) I love the colors of the leaves in the fall, the dusting of snow in winter, the color of the plum and cherry blossom trees in spring, and especially the richness of the summer with the heavy humidity and lazy singing of the cicadas. I want to remember to bring a pad and sketch or paint one of these days.
Have you ever visited a place of religion at home or around the world that imparted such a feeling of spirituality and tranquility that it’s tangible? Where was it?
Here are some of the pictures of the surrounding park I took a few of weeks ago…
I love the way visitors dress up the gods with little hats and scarves so they don’t get cold. Those papers are the prayers/requests people leave.
The light looked so pretty coming through the trees. I need to get a better camera. This one’s 5 years old and only 3 megapixels. Oh, Santaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
I just received another new book cover & would love your comments! I’ll post it next–promise.
