Clean Religion
Japan’s official religion is Shintoism, but Buddhism comes in second in big ways. They have some of the largest Buddha statues in the world. Originally some of the statues were made of wood, but they get bigger and heavier so some are carved from stone and the biggest are usually carved from or covered in bronze to resist corrosion. The biggest statue is in Nara’s Todaiji Temple soon, it’s important for the building’s most prominent resident to look his best. However the Daibutsu, or Great Buddha statue, which is a towering 49 feet tall. This giant figure was created in the hope the people of Japan would learn peaceful values and no longer suffer from wars, earthquakes, and other damage-causing events. As the principal image of Todaiji Temple, the construction of the world largest gilt bronze statue of Vairocana was started. In 752, the ceremony for opening the eyes of a newly-constructed image was conducted with great celebration. These iconographic representations of the Buddha are usually sculpted to bring out and represent the Buddha’s immense ability and the size of the statues are used to represent the vast knowledge he has as the awakened one. The hope was that by erecting this Buddha, the people of Japan would no longer suffer from wars, earthquakes, and other damage-causing events.
Having a giant statue and keeping it presentable for worshippers and visitors requires a lot of cleaning. White-cloaked monks and temple employees use dusters and rags to remove a year’s worth of dirt and dust in the annual cleaning of the national treasure Great Buddha statue in the Great Buddha Hall of Todaiji temple in this west Japan city on Aug. 7, 2024. Around 170 people participate, including some in three chairs suspended from the ceiling, to clean the statue and the entire hall. The participants, who wore traditional white clothes after taking a purifying bath at the temple, attended a 7 a.m. ritual to temporarily remove the spirit from the Buddha statue before commencing cleaning. Because of how tall the statue is, an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys is used to lift cleaners up and suspend them in mid-air to dust and wipe off the Great Buddha’s face, forehead, and complexly contoured hairdo. Head priest Koei Hashimura said, “Many visitors come to the temple even in hot weather. I hope you feel refreshed and purified when you see the Great Buddha being cleaned.” The annual event is called ominugui, literally “wiping the body.” It takes place every year on the morning of August 7, and begins with a ritual of purification for the participants, plus a ceremony to symbolically and temporarily remove the soul of the Daibutsu, so as not to desecrate it by climbing and stepping all over it while cleaning.
Roughly 170 people took part in this year’s event, with both monks and non-monk volunteers grabbing brooms and dusters to get the job doneBoth the Buddha statue and the building are designated national treasures. Norikatsu Moriyama, 40, a resident of the city of Nara, who cleaned the statue’s left hand, said, “The cleaning is a milestone for the year. I feel good, like I’m brushing away a year’s worth of dust from myself, too.”
Buddhist Banter
They just opened a new Buddhist restaurant in my city…
It’s called Karma. The thing is, they don’t have a menu,
Instead, you get what you deserve.
Why did the Buddhist coroner get fired?
He kept listing the cause of death as birth.
My Buddhist friend was stopped by a Christian.
They asked if she would consider following the word of Jesus Christ. She replied, “No thanks, but maybe next time around.”
Says the Master to his pupil: “Do you understand that you don’t really exist?”
Upon which the pupil replies: “Who are you telling that?”
August 21st Birthdays
1975 – Alicia Witt, 1950 – Loretta Devine, 1990 – Hayden Panettiere, 1956 – Kim Cattrall
1981 – Jonathan Brotherton, 1938 – Kenny Rogers, 1987 – Usain Boldt, 1936 – Wilt Chamberlain,