Sunday, November 23, 2003
Kyoto, part 2
As promised... more pics from my Kyoto adventure this past Wednesday. The view on an island of a gate on the grounds of Ryuanji (Dragon Peace) temple. The island was pretty cool... stone bridge and everything. Ryuanji, like Kinkakuji, is also the former residence of a wealthy aristocrat that was transformed into a Buddhist temple after the death of the owner. Ryoanji temple's most famous feature - a simple Zen rock garden that is considered by culture experts to be both a masterpiece and epitome of Zen design. It's said that the longer one mediates and looks at the garden, the more your imagination allows you see things. Since it wasn't crowded, I sat down for awhile and just watched... Other folks mediating on the garden. Another famous feature of Ryoanji temple - a water basin with a simple inscription: "I have learned to be content". Quite profound. Statue of Buddha holding a lotus blossom in the outer courtyards of Ninnaji temple - the temple used to be the residence of an emperor after he had retired from the throne. It was later converted into a temple / monastery. The great southern gate to Ninnaji. Note the size. Courtyard and walkway. The inner courtyard that surrounded the ex-emperor's residence. One of the emperor's rooms, with screens painted with a Japanese pine motif. The outside of the ex-emperor's phat pad. It's good to be the emperor, eh? |
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in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
the facts.
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