Temple #3 of the Izumo 33 Kannon Pilgrimage is the Tendai mountain temple of Gakuenji, a place I have visited many times and still one of my favorite temples. earlier posts can be found here.
To my great surprise there was for the first time an entrance fee!!!!.... that included a cup of green tea, and once I got over my initial shock I decided that maybe its a good idea. With no parish to provide funerary expenses the temple needs funds to maintain the buildings.
When i first came here many years ago there was a wonderful thatched-roof nunnery. Without maintenance it collapsed and was torn down. Maybe with the income from the thousands who come here in the Fall for the colors and the increasing number of pilgrims who come here can provide some protection for the place.
The Chugoku Nature Trail runs through the temple, and while car pilgrims have to drive back down the mountain and around I can take the trail straight up and over the mountains....
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Can't wait to read about what you find on the other side...
ReplyDeleteHi Jake,
ReplyDeleteI went to Gakuenji while riding the Chugoku pilgrimage trail in April 2012, A very lovely temple and, like you, I noticed the rustic water ladles in the temizuya. It was late spring and the young woman with the tea spent some time extolling the beauty of the momiji at that time when the new foliage was just appearing.
One of my own faves. I'm shocked that the nunnery is gone. When I was last there (10 years ago?), there were many downed trees, so perhaps that storm was the cause. I had a great (unsanctioned) meditation session up behind the falls.
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