Friday: The Silver Temple surrounded by green
First, breakfast. Wes cooked me a traditional Japanese breakfast this morning: Rice bowl with hot tea in it, three amazing tofus including a black sesame variety, pickles, rolled omelet, and my favorite, cooked eel.
OK, onward to the first temple. The Silver Temple is not silver. That's because in Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who built it as part of his retirement estate, died before he was able to gild it in silver, to match the Golden Pavilion his grandfather had built on the other side of the Kamo River. Yoshimasa planned this estate during the worst fighting Kyoto had ever seen, before or since - the bloody Onin War (1467-1477), which was a futile dipute between warloads and reduced Kyoto's population from hundreds of thousands to forty thousand. Zen Master Ikkyu's skeleton verses came out around this time, and the great Daitoku-ji was burned to the ground.
OK, onward to the first temple. The Silver Temple is not silver. That's because in Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who built it as part of his retirement estate, died before he was able to gild it in silver, to match the Golden Pavilion his grandfather had built on the other side of the Kamo River. Yoshimasa planned this estate during the worst fighting Kyoto had ever seen, before or since - the bloody Onin War (1467-1477), which was a futile dipute between warloads and reduced Kyoto's population from hundreds of thousands to forty thousand. Zen Master Ikkyu's skeleton verses came out around this time, and the great Daitoku-ji was burned to the ground.
The temple itself is small and graceful; the grounds are remarkable.
Here's the temple:
As for the garden, let's start with the arresting sand garden, which rises from the ground like a sand castle and is geometric rather than naturalistic. The star of the show is the giant cone of sand which is called "moon viewing platform." How did they ever get a sandbucket that big?
The sand garden is surrounded by a sea of moss. I've never seen so much moss in my life. Acres of it carpet the hillsides and gardens in all shades and variety. What is it about moss? Unlike grass it is slow growing, almost inert, and more therefore relaxing, less busy.
Here's the temple:
As for the garden, let's start with the arresting sand garden, which rises from the ground like a sand castle and is geometric rather than naturalistic. The star of the show is the giant cone of sand which is called "moon viewing platform." How did they ever get a sandbucket that big?
The sand garden is surrounded by a sea of moss. I've never seen so much moss in my life. Acres of it carpet the hillsides and gardens in all shades and variety. What is it about moss? Unlike grass it is slow growing, almost inert, and more therefore relaxing, less busy.
The gardens are crawl all over the hills. Here's a look back at the pavilion and sand garden from above:
One thing I'm moved by walking around this garden in particular is the care that's being taken with old trees. If a tree starts to lean or fail it's given help gracefully. It's a striking visual - seeing these old guys lovingly being held up by sturdy crutches.
There was a wishing pond:
I loved the way the reflection of the water danced upon the Silver Temple, giving it a shimmer:
It almost feels as though I'm walking beside you, Koshin. What a delight! Thank you for taking us along with you.
ReplyDeleteIt almost feels as though I'm walking beside you, Koshin. What a delight! Thank you for taking us along with you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing KW ... Kaj Wyn I'm guessing? It's been such a rich time so far - I really do feel like a kid in a candy store, eyes wide open.
ReplyDelete