Jizos
Everywhere in Japan--by the side of the road, tucked into a cemetery, or next to a tunnel--are Jizos, small stone statues. These bodhisattvas devote themselves to freeing others from suffering and protecting those making transitions into and out of life. They are special guardians of the aborted and miscarried, children, women, and travellers.
In Nara, a boatload of Jizos is ready to assist the souls of children who have pre-deceased their parents. Without the Jizos' intercession, these souls will suffer in hell. Their red bibs carry the names of the dead.
At the temple of Okunoin on Koyasan, Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism, has been meditating for 1,000 years. Monks continue to feed him twice a day. The woods surrounding the temple are filled with hundreds of thousands of monuments for the dead. Here, a single scapegoat Jizo absorbs the suffering of others.
Elsewhere at Okunoin, a mountain of red-bibbed Jizos stand silently.
In Nara, a boatload of Jizos is ready to assist the souls of children who have pre-deceased their parents. Without the Jizos' intercession, these souls will suffer in hell. Their red bibs carry the names of the dead.
At the temple of Okunoin on Koyasan, Kobo Daishi, the founder of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism, has been meditating for 1,000 years. Monks continue to feed him twice a day. The woods surrounding the temple are filled with hundreds of thousands of monuments for the dead. Here, a single scapegoat Jizo absorbs the suffering of others.
Elsewhere at Okunoin, a mountain of red-bibbed Jizos stand silently.
# posted by Doctor Mom : 7:41 PM
