Buddha Statues & Japan – August 2010
Hello Subscribers,
New knowledge updates for August 2010.
Interview with Mark Schumacher (The Japan Times)
- Kamakura expat at one with all Buddhist deities | The Japan Times Online
Details on my 15-year journey studying the deities of Japan. See https://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20100807a1.html
A-to-Z Photo Dictionary of Japanese Buddhism
- MARISHITEN 摩利支天 – God/Goddess of prosperity, warrior class, & entertainers.
www.onmarkproductions.com/html/kankiten-idaten-other-tenbu.html#marishiten
Added many photos and revised text. Introduced to Japan in the early 9th century, Marici (Jp. Marishi) means “light” or “mirage.” S/he was worshipped by warriors, especially archers, from the middle ages onward for the gift of invisibility and was invoked in order to escape the notice of one’s enemies. Those who worship Marishiten are said to be free of danger from all misfortune and evil, robbers, natural disaster, poisonous drugs, and other harm. Marishiten’s cult peaked in the Edo era but declined thereafter owing to the dismantling of the feudal system, to the abolishment of the samurai class, and to the rising popularity of goddess Benzaiten, who has largely supplanted Marishiten as an object of veneration in modern times. - ZODIAC LORE.
www.onmarkproductions.com/html/12-zodiac.shtml
Added photos and text, and expanded divination section. - SHŌMEN KONGŌ 青面金剛 – Multi-armed esoteric (tantric) deity.
www.onmarkproductions.com/html/monkey-koushin-p3.html#shomen-kongo
Added many photos and expanded text. This deity is said to protect believers from illness, eye problems, breathing disorders, and many other ailments. Since the Kamakura period, Shōmen Kongō has been a key player in the Kōshin cult. This cult believes that on the eve of the unlucky Kōshin day (monkey day), it is particularly easy to have your life shortened. In order to counteract this danger, believers stay awake through the night gathered before scrolls of Shōmen Kongō (shown depicted atop three monkeys, “See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil”). Even tody, during Kōshin rituals, believers gather before scrolls of Shōmen Kongō and are pummeled, from head to legs, with a wooden monkey figurine, which apparently ensures future health.
ENJOY
mark
