Big Buddha Field Trip

Jonas and the 6th graders at our school were heading on a field trip to Aomori to see the Showa Diabutsu aka the Big Buddha and I was lucky enough to get to be a chaperone.  When Jonas' teacher was making the assignments for chaperones she was worried about putting me with 7 boys, but Jonas just looked at her and said, "She has 6 kids!  So I'm sure seven 6th grad boys will be fine!"  And (thankfully) it was fine--and fun!

Here's our group.

Getting our tickets, we were excited to get going!

When this monk walked out I tried to nonchalantly get his photo.  Jonas was totally reminded up Avatar, the Last Airbender and wanted to show his brothers.

The Seiryu-ji Buddhist temple.  Inside there is a place for people to sit, an alter type thing for burning incense, and a little gift shop.  You have to take your shoes off before entering-and the floor is COLD!

The five storied pagoda on the temple grounds.  It is the highest wooden pagoda to the north of Kyoto.  The central pillar is hanging from the top.  This is an architectural style which helps a pagoda be resistant to earthquakes.  It absorbs the tremors by swinging like a pendulum.  It seems to work well because although pagodas have been destroyed by fire and typhoons, no pagoda has collapsed because of earthquakes.

The zen garden directly to the side of the pagoda.  I need to find a way to photograph something like this to do it justice.  It was really neat in person.

All the white on the pagoda kind of looks like paper hanging from it (which is very common at shrines) but it is actually the ends of wooden beams painted bright white in contrast to the dark wood.  It was beautiful.

The cleansing area.  I loved the look of this dragon fountain.

I think this is Jizo Bosatsu who is the guardian deity of deceased children.  This area of the grounds is  dedicated to unborn children and is a place where mothers can come and seek consolation for their souls.

Then we turned a bend and saw the thing we'd come for...

The Showa Daibutsu serves as a place for the Japanese to express their gratitude for their war dead.  They seek comfort for their souls and pray for peace.  But it is also a symbolic figure which sends the teachings of the Buddha to lead the people in the right direction.

I was lucky enough to get the English self-guided tour info and was so inspired by what this temple stands for.  In the pamphlet it talks about how religion is no longer taught in schools and how it has lead to the decline in ethical and moral behaviour in the Japanese people.  It says that despite success in the economy, that if they don't "cultivate richness of mind, Japan will be in ruins someday."  Apparently this temple was built because they wanted Buddhist priests to do more than just funeral and memorial services,  they wanted them to teach Buddha's teaching to make the people better.  It states, "A temple should not only be place where we go after death but a place to listen to the Buddhist teaching for a better life and reflect on ourselves and whether we cling to worldly desires.  A temple soothes our restless minds...When we look up at the sacred Daibutsu with a backdrop of a natural halo of trees, we are wrapped in ineffable peace and tranquility."

I think this is the Ichigan Kannon which will accept one wish of worshipers.

Here is the Fudo Myooh.  He severs people's bad thought with the sword and forcefully brings those who are taking the wrong path back to the right path with his rope.  Because of this he is a welcome deity.

This pond is in honour of Kobo Daishi, the founder of the Shingon sect (one of many sects in Japanese Buddhism).  Daishi did many great things and is revered by the Japanese in both religious and non-religious views.  There are temples throughout Japan where he trained himself in Buddhist practices and many people make the pilgrimage to all 88 temples associated with him.  The pond has sand from each of these temples around it, with footprint shaped stepping stones and visitors are encouraged to follow in Daishi's footsteps and chant his "honorific name."

It was a great field trip!  I had so much fun and learned so much!  The bus ride was pretty wild, but I somehow managed to fall asleep (I'm pretty good).  I also read a book for book club while we drove, so that was fun.  This day happened to be the same day as Eliza's heritage lunch where she had to share some food from her culture.  AND it was the middle/high school big fund raiser concert and cake auction which I signed up to bring a cake to.

Frantically after the field trip I decorated this beauty and we eventually made our way to the concert only to discover that we missed Bryant's performance because we were late and they were the first to play!  Such a big bummer!  We ended up buying a cake for $60 and then this one sold for $90-$100 depending on who you ask. :)

Bryant ended up crying a little later in the evening and told us later that it was because there had been many things piling up to make for a bad day.  One of which was that he'd been persecuted for his faith.  It broke my heart to listen to him tell us about how he was treated, but we also felt so much admiration for his strength.  He told us that he felt like his faith was stronger because of the incident and I know that the Lord blessed him and will continue to bless him.