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发表于 2011-11-11 14:42:29
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VOX POPULI: Exhibition offers hope at a time of trial
Although I am not the religious type, there are times when I turn to things that are believed to exist beyond human understanding. This must be a role expected of all religions.
Numerous Buddhist sects emerged in the latter part of the Heian Period (794-1185) and the Kamakura Period (1192-1333), an era that was plagued by recurrent wars and natural disasters.
I visited the "Honen and Shinran: Treasures related to the Great Masters of the Kamakura Buddhism" exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum in Ueno. Honen (1133-1212) is the founder of the Jodo sect and Shinran (1173-1262), who studied under him, founded the Jodo Shin sect.
The many national treasures and important cultural assets featured in the exhibition shed light on the road taken by the master and his disciple, who popularized Buddhism by engaging the masses' dreams of a hereafter.
The exhibition runs through Dec. 4.
Back then, paradise was thought to be accessible only to a select group of people. It was open only to those who entered the priesthood and underwent rigorous ascetic training or people who made generous donations to temples.
That is why the teachings of Honen and Shinran, who preached that anyone could go to heaven as long as they chanted "Namu Amida Butsu," were revolutionary. They gave a ray of hope to common people struggling through life.
The national treasure from Chion-in Temple in Kyoto "Descent of Amitabha and Twenty-five Attendants," which is on show through Nov. 13, shows Amitabha coming to meet a person nearing death. They slide down a mountain, riding a cloud at speed from the top left to the bottom right of the painting. That depiction must have offered salvation to its original viewers.
The exhibition commemorates the 800th and the 750th anniversaries of Honen's and Shinran's deaths. By curious coincidence, it falls in a year when Japan badly needs salvation.
Struck by unprecedented natural and man-made disasters, many people are struggling, unable to envision their futures. The idea of offering salvation to all is timeless.
It would not be a bad idea to visit the museum in search of peace of mind. Visitors to Ueno, where the leaves have changed color, will be greeted by artifacts that hold the spirits of seekers going back centuries. I found myself feeling as if I had been relieved of a burden as I followed Shinran's neat handwriting, looked at the brushstrokes of "Tannisho" (A Record in Lament of Divergences) and came face to face with a statue of Amitabha.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 10 |
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