The Temples of Kyoto by Donald Richie

Author:Donald Richie
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4629-0857-8
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Sennyu-ji

Many temples are on heights. Some, like the Chion-in, require a degree of perseverance to reach. These, like the Parthenon, demand an effort: you are expected to deserve, you earn your exhilaration.

Sennyu-ji, however, is in a valley and from the gate one strolls down the graveled incline to the main hall below. Above is Mount Tsukinowa in the Higashiyama hills, and beyond are the slopes which lead to the Uji River. The pilgrim is in a valley and rolls naturally as ball to stop in front of the great Buddha hall.

The descent into Sennyu-ji seems to fit the secluded nature of the place. It is certainly not a temple like Enryaku-ji which one associates with strenuous heights. Rather, it is a place of quiet contemplation and of rest.

Imperial rest—for emperors are entombed here. Several have left behind a poem or two which reflect the sad history of the later imperial house. The emperor Go-Mizunoo expressed his indignation toward the Kamakura shogunate which so abrogated his authority, comparing the government to those common reeds which impeded the river's natural flow.

Some centuries later the emperor Komei felt the same way about a new set of shoguns, those in Edo (now Tokyo) on the plain of Musashi. Like the useless reeds upon this plain, the rulers up in Edo bowed this way and that, strong but showing how little this strength could be trusted.

Such imperial poetry had, of course, no political influence at all, but the quiet seclusion in which it was written, and by which it was perhaps inspired, remains. Though Sennyu-ji is Shingon, a sect not noted for repose, its attractive air of resignation is one of reasons (along with difficulty of access) that there are few visitors and none of the hoopla of popular places such as the Chion-in and Hongan-ji to the east and west.

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