Trip to

Buddhist temple visit

As soon as I walked in the temple I was greeted by a member of the temple. This man was very welcoming and assisted us with any questions that I might have had before the services started. To my amazement the majority of the temples guest, were all fairly young (mid twenties to late thirties). This was a relief for me, only because the churches I have attended in the past, the crowds have been a little more ancient. As soon as I walked in, the aroma of burning incense instantly brought me to a calming and warm state. I grabbed the book they used for worship, found a seat five rows from the front and began to read some of the scriptures. It was all very new to me since it was in Japanese they did have English translations at the bottom of the pages. Thank god! Before the services did actually start the main monk would come out and meticulously inspect the display or shrine to insure all the pieces where in their proper places. He would look at the items from a little distance, nod his head in thought, then walk up to the shrine and move the piece very cautiously ensuring it is perfect, taking a step back for one last check and moving on. As I watched the movements of the monk and his assistants I noticed before even stepping foot on the stage they would bow before walking up the stairs and bow before taking their seats. To me it seemed like there is a lot of structure and respect for their Buddha and that if they did anything to ever disrespect him it would be a sin. Once the services started you could feel an overwhelming calm in the room and it was super contagious. I instantly felt it and once they started the Sutra chanting: San Butsu Ge, it had this way of almost putting you in a hypnotic state, very calming and relaxing. This whole experience was very welcoming and an eye opener for me. This wasn’t my typical experience of attending worship services, it was very interesting and refreshing which has kept me even more curious and...