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Mt. Hiei, the sacred mountain known as the mother of Japanese Buddhism has emitted the light of Dharma for
the world for over 1200 years.
In December 1994, Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei was registered by UNESCO as a World Cultural Asset. Since being
built as a monastery by Saicho Dengyo Daishi in the 8th Century, this sacred mountain has produced many of the most important
priests in Japanese history. As the birthplace of a great human culture, it has sent out a brilliant light for
over 1200 years. There is no particular temple building named "Enryaku-ji" on Mt. Hiei. Rather, the mountain as
a whole is a temple called "Enryaku-ji." Nature, the temple complexes scattered around the mountain, those doing ascetic
practices, the visiors, all together compose the Buddhist community at Mount Hiei. As Buddha taught that everything
on earth has buddha nature, here, religion, the natural environment, culture, and human beings are all iintegrated into an
indivisible unity.
Ancient people admired the mountain and composed poems about it, calling it "Mt. Fuji of Kyoto." Embraced by an
old forest, Mount Hiei has continued as of old to impress visitors.
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| Mount Hiei. Lake Biwa in the distance. |
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| A Kodak Moment |
| Lunch at Mount Hiei |
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| This was all vegetarian. |
| Market place |
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| On the way to Kiyomizu |
Hiking up the hill to Kiyomizu. The most wonderful crafts shops and no time to shop. I will come back to this place to buy
a handpainted silk fan and some pottery, I hope.
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| Kiyomizu |
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| Sorry, am I boring you with temple shots? |
| Kiyomizu Temple |
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| Sunset and moon, wow. |
Our last visit of the day was Kiyomizu Temple. (mizu means water). Legend says that there are 3 springs. One spring grants
beauty to anyone who drinks. One grants wealth and the other health, so of course we all had to drink at every water fountain
that we came to, just in case!
The sun was going down and we couldn't take enough photos.
CLICK HERE FOR JOURNAL
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