JapanDave.com » Buddhism http://japandave.com Daily HDR Photos from Japan! Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:26:03 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 ★ Six Little Monks http://japandave.com/2011/12/six-little-monks/ http://japandave.com/2011/12/six-little-monks/#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:51:45 +0000 JapanDave http://japandave.com/?p=8394 Posted in iPhoneographyShrine/temple

Six Little Monks

This is one of my favorite shots ever, and wouldn’t you know it… it was taken with the crappy 2MP camera of my iPhone 3G. Not the ideal camera to capture such a scene, but you make do with what you have (or as as Chase Jarvis puts it, “The best camera is the one [...]

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Six Little Monks

]]> This is one of my favorite shots ever, and wouldn’t you know it… it was taken with the crappy 2MP camera of my iPhone 3G. Not the ideal camera to capture such a scene, but you make do with what you have (or as as Chase Jarvis puts it, “The best camera is the one that’s with you”)

Not monks, rather these are all Jizō, or Ojizō-sama (Kṣitigarbha), one of the most popular bodhisattvas (Buddhist saints) in Japan. Jizō is thought to be the protective deity of many things, including of travel (somewhat similar to St Christopher), and so it is very common to find him along side roads, and it’s also very common to find 6 of them in a row.

Better Buddhist scholars than me can tell us the reason for 6, but to me it calls to mind the folk tale of Kasajizo, a really fun story. Fun enough that I tried my hand at translating it once a few years ago; go read my attempt.

borderless

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Six Little Monks

]]> http://japandave.com/2011/12/six-little-monks/feed/ 0 ★ Buddha's Angels http://japandave.com/2011/09/buddhas-angels/ http://japandave.com/2011/09/buddhas-angels/#comments Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:08:03 +0000 JapanDave http://japandave.com/?p=4080 Posted in Daily PhotoHDRShrine/temple

I can hear the opening in my head now: But I took them away from all that and now they work for me. Ah? My name is Siddhartha1. Ok, maybe not, but really, it couldn’t be any worse than the show. And I think one of those Angels up there looks just a little like [...]

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Buddha's Angels

]]> I can hear the opening in my head now: But I took them away from all that and now they work for me. Ah? My name is Siddhartha1. Ok, maybe not, but really, it couldn’t be any worse than the show. And I think one of those Angels up there looks just a little like Farrah.

I’m actually not sure whats going on here. Sometimes Buddhist imagery is a bit strange.

Buddha's Angels

  1. Buddha is only a title, Siddhartha is his name.  ↩

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Buddha's Angels

]]> http://japandave.com/2011/09/buddhas-angels/feed/ 1 ★ Osu Kannon http://japandave.com/2011/07/osu-kannon/ http://japandave.com/2011/07/osu-kannon/#comments Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:38:09 +0000 JapanDave http://japandave.com/?p=3940 Posted in buildingsDaily PhotoHDRShrine/temple

A look at Osu Kannon, one of the more famous temples in Nagoya.

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Osu Kannon

]]> Osu Kannon is one of the more famous temples in Nagoya. It’s real name is Kitanosan Shinpuku-ji Hōshō-in, but everyone knows it as Osu Kannon. It is dedicated to the Boddhisatva Kannon, also known as Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion.

The temple was originally built further north, but due to flooding in the area, Ieyasu had it moved to Nagoya in 1612. Among the treasures currently at the temple is the oldest hand-written copy of the Kojiki, the book that tells the ancient mythological history of Japan.

Yes, and the camera company was named after the Boddhisatva. Before changing it in 1947, they spelled their company Kwanon.

Daily_Photo

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Osu Kannon

]]> http://japandave.com/2011/07/osu-kannon/feed/ 10 ★ Temple Window http://japandave.com/2011/05/temple-window/ http://japandave.com/2011/05/temple-window/#comments Sun, 29 May 2011 05:33:13 +0000 JapanDave http://japandave.com/?p=3795 Posted in Daily PhotoHDRObjectsShrine/temple

Temple Window

A bell shaped window at a Buddhist temple, Manshouji Temple (満性寺) to be exact, in Okazaki.

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Temple Window

]]> This bell shape is a common design to find at temples. Nice looking. This was taken at a small temple called Manshouji (満性寺), but that isn’t so important as this is a common design at all temples.

dailypic

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Temple Window

]]> http://japandave.com/2011/05/temple-window/feed/ 0 ★ Daily Photo: Signs of the Buddha - Lion and Elephant [133/365] http://japandave.com/2011/05/signs-of-the-buddha-lion-and-elephant/ http://japandave.com/2011/05/signs-of-the-buddha-lion-and-elephant/#comments Fri, 13 May 2011 05:17:41 +0000 JapanDave http://japandave.com/?p=3742 Posted in Daily PhotoHDRShrine/temple

A photo of two different animals used to represent the Buddha at both Temples and Shrines. Also a bit of history as to why this is.

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Daily Photo: Signs of the Buddha - Lion and Elephant [133/365]

]]> A few days ago I showed the photo of a shrine lion, the symbol of the Buddha, or his teachings anyways. Here is another shrine lion (獅子 / shishi), along with an elephant. Unlikely friends, eh?

The elephant represents the spread of Buddhism. In India back in the day, elephants were the main way to get around, therefore they are used to represent the spreading of the Buddha’s teaching.

I took this at a tiny Shinto shrine outside of a zen temple (this one). Seems weird, right? Why Buddhist stuff on a Shinto building?

It’s a long story, but basically sometime after Buddhism was introduced in Japan, it completely took over as the main religion and more or less absorbed Shinto. At this time, shishi started showing up at Shinto Shrines to show that they were being protected by the teachings of Buddhism.

The two religions are officially separate these days, but the signs from when they were one and the same remain.

Signs of the Buddha: Lion and Elephant

The above post was republished from JapanDave.com, home of the most beautiful daily photos of Japan on the Internet. See the original post: Daily Photo: Signs of the Buddha - Lion and Elephant [133/365]

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