Temple (tera)

[ . BACK to Worldkigo TOP . ]
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Temple (tera)

***** Location: Japan, other areas
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

*****************************
Explanation

Temples are places of worship. They are found in many areas of the world. They are the places where all the religious festivals take place.

tera, ...dera, ji　寺 (Buddhist) temple
crossroad temple, tsujidoo　辻堂
temple hall, hall, doo　堂
Hall, Temple Hall for Fudo Myo-O, Fudo Do (Fudoo doo 不動堂)

tatchuu, tacchū 塔頭, 塔中 (たっちゅう) sub-temple, subtemple
- in the compound of a Zen temple, built after the death of a high-ranking Zen priest.

- quote
塔頭 means "stupa,"
but is best translated in this case as "mortuary sub-temple." Such sub-temples were typically constructed by the abbot of a large Zen monastery (e.g. Tenryūji, Daitokuji, Nanzenji, etc.) in conjunction with a lay patron who became the "founding donor" (kaiki　開基). They were built to house the stupa and mortuary portrait (chinzō 頂相) of the abbot after his death, and to provide living quarters for his dharma heirs in succeeding generations, who were charged with performing daily, monthly and annual memorial services (gakki 月忌, nenki 年忌, etc.). At the same time, the ancestral tablets (ihai 位牌) of the founding donor's family were also enshrined in the sub-temple, and also served by the resident monks.
Mortuary sub-temples often had beautiful gardens (the so-called "Zen gardens" of Kyoto), which were not for meditation, as is often claimed, but for the enjoyment of the ancestral spirits and the living heirs who cared for them. Some retired abbots lived in their sub-temples (stupa sites) until their deaths.
- source : www.buddhism-dict.net - Charles Muller

honzan　本山 main temple (headquarters)
matsuji　末寺 sub-temple subtemple headquarters


Look at some typical temples of Japan !


A Buddhist Temple in Japan is opposed to a Shinto Shrine (jinja　神社, miya, guu　宮), see below.



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::　




. Japan Buddhist Temples - Facebook .



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Japanese Temple Windows
Japanese Temple Bells
Japanese Temple Gardens


*****************************
Worldwide use

India

Temple haiku from India

*****************************
Things found on the way


shichidoo garan 七堂伽藍
Temple compound with seven main buildings

The seven principal buildings considered, necessary for a Buddhist temple from the 7c-12c.
They include: the main image hall, *kondou 金堂, pagoda, *tou 塔; lecture hall, *koudou 講堂; belfry, *shourou 鐘楼; sutra storage, *kyouzou 経蔵; priests' quarters, *soubou 僧坊; and refectory, *jikidou 食堂.

However, the expression shichidou might have referred to a finished building and shitsudou 悉堂 may have carried the nuance of a truly perfect hall.

The seven main buildings erected at Zen 禅 sect temples from 12c on were: the main hall, *butsuden 仏殿; the lecture hall, *hattou 法堂; the principal gate, *sanmon 三門; the kitchen building, often housing the administrative offices and living accommodations for some monks, *kuri 庫裏; meditation hall *zendou 禅堂 also called soudou (soodoo) 僧堂; bathhouse, yokushitsu 浴室; and toilet facilities, *tousu 東司.

See also
garan 伽藍, *garan haichi 伽藍配置　
source : JAANUS






奈良七重七堂伽藍八重ざくら
Nara nanae shichi doo garan yae-zakura

the seven buildings
of the temple compounds in Nara -
double cherry blossoms

. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .

Written in spring of 1684 貞亨元年, Basho age 41 or later.

Here Basho contrasts the number seven for the temple buildings with the number eight (八 meaning many) for the cherry blossoms.


The "Seven halls of a temple compound" 七堂 were different in Nara

Kondoo 金堂 Golden Hall
Koodoo 講堂 Lecture Hall
Too 塔 Pagoda
Shooroo 鐘楼 Bell tower
Kyoozoo 経蔵 Sutra Hall
Shokudoo 食堂 /中門）Hall for Eating
Sooboo 僧坊 living quarters for the monks

There is also a waka poem by Ise no Oosuke - Taifu 伊勢大輔
a poet of the Heian period

いにしへの奈良の都の八重桜けふ
九重ににほいぬるかな

Inishie no Nara no miyako no yae-zakura
kyo kokonoe ni nioi nuru kana

The double cherry blossoms are smelling sweet in bloom today in the imperial Court in Kyoto (Heian) as well as long ago in the ancient capital in Nara.



. Nara 奈良 the ancient capital .



quote
"nanae [the seven-ply (referring to seventy years and seven generations, or the seventy years' reigns of seven Emperors)]" is a noun,
"garan [a Buddhist convent or monastery]" is a noun,
source : www.hdever.com



*****************************
HAIKU



temple Konpon-Ji 根本寺 on the trip to Kashima 鹿島紀行


寺にねてまことがほなる月見かな
tera ni nete makoto gao ni naru tsukimi kana

staying at a temple
I find my own true face
gazing at the moon . . .
Tr. Gabi Greve

- The cut marker KANA is at the end of line 3.



Photo by Rob Geraghty

resting at a temple
a sincere face appears
this moon-viewing
Tr. Higginson



月はやし梢は雨を持ながら　
. tsuki hayashi kozue wa ame o mochinagara .


. Matsuo Basho - Kashima Kikoo 鹿島紀行 .


MORE
. Temples visited by Matsuo Basho　松尾芭蕉 - .



:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

辻堂や苗代一枚菜一枚
tsujidoo ya nawashiro ichi mai na ichi mai

a crossroads temple--
one rice seedling
one vegetable

Issa, 1824

127 temple haiku by Issa
Tr. David Lanoue


.............................................................................


雪の日や堂にぎっしり鳩雀
yuki no hi ya dou ni gisshiri hato suzume

snow falling,
the temple hall filled
with pigeons, sparrows

Tr. and comment by Chris Drake:

From the 11th month (December) of 1825. Issa doesn't mention a special ceremony, so he seems to have visited the temple on an ordinary day. His diary shows he was on the road this month and made extended stays at a couple of Reformed Pure Land temples, so perhaps this hokku was written during one of his stays. On this day it's snowing, and in Shinano that usually means a fair amount of snow, yet the main(?) hall is completely filled -- mostly with birds coming inside from the temple grounds to weather the snowstorm.

Issa might be referring to the fact that Shakyamuni Buddha was both a sparrow and a pigeon in earlier incarnations and to the fact that Amida Buddha, the Buddha of the Pure Land in the west, loved to preach to birds. There may be some humor in the fact that it takes a snowstorm to get the birds into the hall, where they can see Amida's image. And perhaps there's a humorous comparison with humans, who tend to call on Amida most passionately when things are going badly for them. Issa may include himself in that category.
Issa and the birds are each recognizing and expressing their dependence on Amida in their own way.


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

松杉や枯野の中の不動堂
matsu sugi ya kareno no naka no Fudōdō

pines and cedars -
in the withered fields
the Hall of Fudo

Masaoka Shiki at Takahata Fudo Hall: Fudo and Haiku


.............................................................................



famous KURI of temple Suigan-Ji, Matsushima 瑞巌寺


庫裏あけて煙のこもる若葉哉
kuri akete kemuri no komoru wakaba kana

I open the temple kitchen door
and thick smoke hangs
in the young leaves . . .

. Masaoka Shiki 正岡子規 .


quote
kuri　庫裡 - Also written 庫裏.
A structure in the precincts of a temple originally associated primarily with food preparation. It also came to contain the administrative offices of the temple and accommodation for certain classes of monks, particularily those involved in the everyday running of the temple. Kuri is probably a shortened form of *kuriya 厨.
With the introduction of Zen 禅 Buddhism to Japan in the Kamakura period, kuri came to be used as the center of temple administration and food preparation which also often provided accommodation for monks involved in administration. In the symmetrical layout of the classic large-scale Zen temple, the kuri was situated just outside the cloister *kairou 回廊, on the east side of the temple compound to balance the monks' communal living and meditation halls *soudou 僧堂 and *zendou 禅堂, on the west side. A kuri was also found at Zen sect subtemples *tatchuu 塔頭, and in this context its residential character was more marked.

By the Edo period, kuri was the most widely used term for the monks' lodging in a temple, regardless of sect.
source : JAANUS


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

snow in the temple
the Buddha smiles
in silence

Look at some photos from temple Tokei-Ji, Kita-Kamakura
Gabi Greve


summer heat -
in the temple hall
flowers glistening

Look at some flower garlands
Gabi Greve

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

hana chirete ko no ma no tera to nari ni keri
Yosa Buson


The cherry-blossoms having fallen,
The temple belongs
To the branches.
Blyth


With blossoms fallen
in spaces between the twigs
a temple has appeared.
Edith Shiffert & Yuki Sawa


The cherry blossoms fallen--
through the branches
a temple.
Robert Hass


With the cherry blossoms gone
The temple is glimpsed
Through twigs and branches.
Yuzuru Miura

... ...

this rural temple
with its view of Mt. Fuji:
how picture-perfect!
Larry Bole

Look at the photo of the temple: Photo Haiku Gallery


Contributed by Larry Bole

*****************************
Related words

***** Introducing Temples and Shrines of Japan
Gabi Greve, Daruma Museum

. Temple Festivals and KIGO .


***** Shrine (jinja) and Haiku


***** . Temples, Amulets and Talismans .


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::　




. Japan Buddhist Temples - Facebook .


:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::　

[ . BACK to WORLDKIGO . TOP . ]
[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::