Tag Archives: Kyoto

The temple on the cliff – Kiyomizu-dera

Temples are to Kyoto as castles are to Germany. They’re everywhere. Big and small, seemingly around street corner, you’ll find a temple in Kyoto. Needless to say, while my group was in Kyoto, we ran around endlessly visiting tons and tons of temples and shrines.

Nijo Castle.

Heian Palace.

Tenryuji.

Kinkakuji. The temple is covered with a very thin gold leafing.

On our last day in Kyoto, my group actually had half the day free. But instead of going home and sleeping as we all desperately needed to do, we opted to visit yet another temple.
Hey. Might as well keep the streak going.
The Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺, literally clear water temple) is a temple literally built into a mountainside, a little ways up from the city itself. As a result, the temple offers amazing views of the city, which are especially popular during the cherry blossom season and autumn. Still, visitors flock to Kiyomizu-dera at all times of the year. Three other students and I decided to join the fray.

Kiyomizu-dera is definitely a tourist attraction, and we could tell. The street leading up to the temple was lined with stores selling everything from sweets to food to fans to the area’s famous Kiyomizu-yaki pottery.

The Kiyomizu-dera was as awesome as rumored. It was raining by the time we got there, but the view was still incredible:

And it turns out that the Kiyomizu-dera was not the only shrine there. My group stopped by the Jishu Shrine, devoted to the god of love and matchmaking.

The most famous attractions at the Jishu Shrine are the love stones. These two stones are placed about 20 feet apart. It is rumored that if one can walk safely, with their eyes closed, from one stone to the other, the person will soon find true love. If assistance is given, however, a go-between will be needed. Thus the area was crowded with schoolgirls trying to find their love:

And of course I had to try it as well.

I walked forward, bumping into the dozens and dozens of people swarming the shrine…

I’m rather unbalanced, so I walked slowly. Very slowly. To the point where people started becoming impatient…


And then I started going off track…

I reached out with my hands, frantically searching. And then… finally…

Apparently, I will find my true love—but only with the assistance of, oh, a dozen or so people. Figures.
Still, Kiyomizu-dera was gorgeous. The temple was full of shops selling charms and fortunes. There were numerous shrines to make an offering at (usually spare change) to make a wish for the gods. Kiyomizu also features the famous Otowa waterfall, which is divided into three streams for visitors to drink from. Drinking the water also apparently grants your wishes.

These temples are just full of superstition. But, hey. I might need twelve people to find my true love—but I will find it in the end, right?

And then this bald old man whacked me with a stick

This trip has been nuts. Every day has been packed. We get up early and come back late. As a result, it’s been impossible to blog about all the places we been to– so I’ve been trying to pick out the better stories.

Here’s one:

My group is in Kyoto now. And I have to admit, I might be liking it more than Tokyo. While Tokyo is big and wonderful and busy, it really has that western, New York City feel. Not Kyoto. Kyoto is nestled in the mountains, full of old-style Japanese houses and shrines and temples and just beautiful, beautiful Asian architecture.

So we’ve been running back and forth from shrine to castle to palace to temple. And one of these temples was the Tenryu-ji Zen Temple, World Heritage site and popular tourist destination. We weren’t here just to look, though– our sensei somehow got us in with an American monk to try out a little meditation.

For those who aren’t familiar with Buddhist meditation– it’s all about, as far as I could tell from the guy’s explanation, emptying the mind. To release all thoughts, and simply exist. To go beyond what we think defines us– our life, our background, our memories, opinions– and find our true inner self, the one not defined by external influences. Buddhist monks go to some crazy extents to find enlightenment. They’ll sit for days, weeks, even, letting their mind go free.

Or, oftentimes, not.

It’s easy to lose focus during meditation. So, Zen Buddhism utilizes something called a keisaku, which is basically a big wooden stick, to help the monks along. When the monks meditate, there will be one dude walking around and looking for sleepy or distracted monks. And when this dude finds one, he will hit the mediator on the back.

He will hit you with a stick. 

I was a little nervous about Zen mediation.

But our monk, who often receives groups like us was very understanding. He declared that, during our 30-minute period of meditation, he would only hit us if we wanted him to. We’d signal him by clasping our hands together as he walked by.

And with that explained, we entered the temple and started the meditation.

No, Vy! Physical pain is not the issue! Empty your mind! Empty your mind! 

My mediation was not going so well. And then the monk walked by…

I opted out. I opted out! But getting hit is part of the Zen experience! How could I?! I resolved that, if he walked by again, I would volunteer to get hit. Which didn’t help my concentration at all, due to the fact that I’m a massive pansy when it comes to physical pain.

And finally, he walked by. I bowed, and allowed him to hit me with his stick…

The hits barely stung. And the monk hit exactly on some pressure points on my back, so when I sat back up, I actually felt more relaxed. Other students who got hit agreed with me.

Before I knew it, our Zen meditation ended. I didn’t reach nirvana, to be sure– but it was very relaxing. It definitely didn’t feel like a half hour. We also got a tour of the temple, and a special guest meal– as shown in the photos below!

So in my opinion? I’d gladly get hit by a stick again.