The Hongwanji, then and now

As I write this, we are preparing to go visit the ancient capitol of Kyoto, Japan, and as part of our tour there we are hoping to visit the famous Hongwanji temples. As I reflect upon that, I am reminded of something Lafcadio Hearn wrote about the Higashi (East) Hongwanji temple in particular when he visited there in 1895, more than 115 years ago when he attended the inauguration of the new Mie-dō Hall (emphasis added by me):

But the gift of the people to Kyō is still grander. It is represented by the glorious Higashi Hongwanji, or eastern Hongwanji temple (Shinshū). Western readers may form some idea of its character from the simple statement that it cost eight millions of dollars and required seventeen years to build.. In mere dimension it is largely exceeded by other Japanese buildings of cheaper construction; but anybody familiar with the Buddhist temple architecture of Japan can readily perceive the difficulty of building a temple one hundred and twenty-seven feet high, one hundred and ninety-two feed deep, and more than two hundred feet long. Because of its peculiar form, and especially because of the vast sweeping lines of its roof, the Hongwanji looks even far larger than it is, — looks mountainous. But in any country it would be deemed a wonderful structure. There are beams forty-two feet long and four feet thick; and there are pillars nine feet in circumference. One may guess the character of the interior decoration from the statement that the mere painting of the lotos-flowers [sic] on the screens behind the main altar cost ten thousand dollars. Nearly all this wonderful work was done with the money contributed in coppers by hard-working peasants. And yet there are people who think that Buddhism is dying!

Hearn goes on to describe the vast attendance of followers, and volunteer nurses who stayed on to help anyone who got too tired or fell ill. Then Hearn offers another point:

I admired the patience and the faith. But those peasants might well love the magnificent temple, — their own creation in very truth, both directly and indirectly. For no small part of the actual labor of building was done for love only; and the mighty beams for the roof had been hauled to Kyōto from far-away mountain slopes, with cables made of the hair of Buddhist wives and daughters. One such cable, preserved in the temple, is more than three hundred and sixty feet long, and nearly three inches in diameter.

That same rope is still preserved in the Higashi Hongwanji temple today, as I saw it featured on the Japanese temple series hyakuji junrei. That rope made of hair, and the contributions of so many peasants to building the magnificent structure is a real testament to the faith and devoutness of the Buddhist community there, and people today still benefit from their past labors.

Pure Land Buddhism may lack the institutionalized monastic structure of other Buddhist sects, but one should not be fooled into believing the community there is any less devout or selfless in their efforts.

Namu Amida Butsu

P.S. Dedicated to “Kyoushin” and Three Wheels Sangha in the UK.