Shōfukuji — Local services in Kobe

Fukuhara 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #18 Shofuku-ji Temple After #16 Ryozen-ji Temple, I visited Gion Shrine before continuing going on the Fukuhara 33 Kannon Pilgrimage. After the shrine, I tried visiting #18 Shofuku-ji Temple before #17 Tofuku-ji Temple, just because #18 was nearer than #17. That cost me getting lost. Should I have kept the numeric order? I stepped down from Gion Shrine, and turned left. I walked through Gion-cho, and easily and happily got into Gonomiya-cho, where I had been to visit Gonomiya Shrine as part of Hachimiya-meguri in Kobe (the pilgrimage of Ichinomiya, Ninomiya, Sannomiya, Yonomiya, Gonomiya, Rokunomiya, Shichinomiya, and Hachimiya Shrines). I should have come through the regular and standard pilgrimage route. I walked through this alley and that lane, climbed up those stone steps and down these concrete ones. After a long and exhausting climb, I arrived at the back of the temple. 2 young monks were busy doing farmwork in one of the patches of the temple. I begged my way into the temple, and was warned that the temple shouldn’t be misunderstood to be for tourists. I found a Kannon Statue in the precincts. 33 Kannnon pilgrimage have 33 temples, but have only 6 to 7 types of Avalokitesvara statues: Arya Avalokitesvara, who is the human-figure prototype of other 6 metamorphoses, the 11-faced Ekadasamukha, the 1000-armed Sahasrabhuja, Cintamanicakra, who usually has 6 arms and holds chintamani (a wish-fulfilling jewel) in one of the six, the horse-headed Hayagriva, Cundi, who has 16 arms and appears to be female, and Amoghapasa, who usually has 3 eyes and 8 arms. The plate at the foot of the Kannon statue in the temple claimed the statue to be Arya Avalokitesvara. However, it had a flask in its left hand upside down. That meant it was pouring or spraying something liquid. Tosa Hidenobu (?-?) published Butsuzo-zui (Illustrated Compendium of Buddhist Images) in 1783. In the compendium, he listed 33 popular subjects of Buddhism Avalokitesvara drawings and paintings. Among them, #2 Naga Avalokitesvar usually sits/stands on/by a dragon, and sometimes holds a flask in his left hand. #33 Sprinkling-Purified-Water Avalokitesvar usually has a small bowl in its left palm and a willow twig in its right hand to spray medicine water. But this one had a flask in its left hand pouring medicine water. What design was the statue following? Although the Kannon statue was confusing, Shofuku-ji Temple itself seemed a very serious religious institution. The 2 young monks and others were seriously and honestly working for the temple. As in a monastery, performing daily work is an important part of the religious activities in Zen...

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臨済宗妙心寺派。 福原西国三十三ヶ所第18番。 山田無文が、多くの弟子を育てたことで 有名なお寺さん。 修行道場なので、一言お声掛けし、境内の 見学と写真撮影の許可を頂きました。 境内は、禅宗の空気感に特別な気分にさせられ 厳...