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I live in Kyoto By Mechtild Mertz |
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| Master Phan Hoang asked me to share with you what I told him in a mail, a piece of my life here in Japan: | ||
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Kyoto February 2004 I live in Kyoto, in fact about 25 minutes south from the main station, in the famous little town of Uji, which is famous for the Byoudou-in temple, with a beautiful Amida sculpture in the so-called Phoenix-Hall. Uji is also famous for the best (green) tea in Japan. And in Uji, I live close to the Uji-campus-branch of Kyoto university, in a village called Ohbaku. Ohbaku is also the name of a Chinese Zen-school, and the Temple, Manpuku-ji, is the main temple of this sect. Everyday I pass close by the temple and by a huge hall belonging to the temple. I always wanted to enter the hall in order to see if they teach Tai Chi or so, but I always hesitated to enter, as the building looked so austere. But yesterday I went in and discovered, that this Hall belongs to the temple and people can practice Zazen, Karate, Kendo, Judo, Teezeremonie and Kikou. I was happy to discover all that and will attend the Teezeremonie, discover Kikou (I don't know what it is, but I sense, that it might be a complement for Viet Tai Chi). I will also try Zazen, as it is practiced by monks of the Manpuku-ji. My research at the Wood Research Institute of Kyoto university goes well. I do wood identification (by microscope) on Japanese and Chinese Buddhist sculptures. In order to get wood samples of the Chinese Buddhist sculptures, I have to travel to different countries in Europe and probably USA (as I would not easily get samples in China or in Japan). But some European and American Museums are very happy to get some new information about their collections, some hesitate to let me take samples.
After the identification of a sufficient number of sculptures, I will compare and discuss the wood species used in Japan and China for Buddhist sculpture. Both countries used different wood species. But both must have referred to Buddhist scriptures, where the wood species of which a Buddhist sculpture has to be made was mentioned. This is very challenging, and of course this study should not be restricted to Japan and China, but to all Buddhist temples with ancient sculptures (especially Vietnam). To do this study in the environment of so many Buddhist temples hier in Kyoto (several hundreds), and especially so close to one of the very few Chinese temples is very touching. I often think of the quyen of the heart sutra, and the supplementary teachings. which master Phan Hoang taught us. I train some Viet Tai Chi at home, not as much as I wished but I always try to do more. I think to join a dojo and its atmosphere will help me a lot. Best wishes and thoughts from Kyoto, where it is not too cold any more (around 5 degre C) Mechtild
I send you two
more pictures taken by myself.
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Byodoin is an old temple founded by Yorimichi Fujiwara in 1052. The lost main Buddha statue in the main hall was said to be Dainichi Nyorai, a female Buddha. A high embankment blocks view to the clear waters of the river, but the Byodoin did not originally have this embankment.
The temple
buildings of Manpukuji Temple are laid out in a row in pairs. Manpukuji is
famous for its typical Zen Buddhism temple architecture.
In 1052, which was considered the first year of the latter days of the dharma (the last of the three periods after the Buddha's death), Yorimichi converted Uji-dono into a temple, known as Byodo-in. In 1053, Yorimichi constructed the Amida Hall. In later years the Amida Hall came to be called the Phoenix Hall, either because the hall's shape is reminiscent of the mythical bird or because a pair of phoenixes adorn each end of the roof.
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Heavenly Beings Associated with
