Showing posts with label peony. Show all posts
Showing posts with label peony. Show all posts
February 5, 2024
May 16, 2023
Peony flowers: Kencho-ji
Various spring flowers have bloomed and faded away one after another with very hasty steps. Now, as if to celebrate the grand finale of spring and to predict the coming of summer, the gorgeous flowers of a white peony are in full bloom majestically in the quiet garden.
The seasons are changing amazingly fast before my eyes, which always impresses on me the transitoriness of this world.
The peony is a deciduous shrub native to China, and its gorgeous flower is esteemed as the king of all flowers there. The color, the size, and the richness of its petals all suggest that it deserves such an honorific title.
These pale white flowers are swaying gracefully and sorrowfully in the gentle breeze, like a king who foresees his own fate to perish before long.
Peony flowers: Kencho-ji
Along the silent stone-paved pathway leading to the Kaisan-do hall, in the calm sunlight of the early afternoon, the colorful flowers of Botan (peony) are blooming as if to praise each other for beauty.
Kaisan-do is the temple hall commemorating its spiritual teachers. A wooden portait statue of Rankei Doryu (the founder of Kencho-ji, 1213-1278) is enshrined here, and, behind it, the tombs of Rankei Doryu and Mugaku Sōgen (the founder of Engaku-ji, 1226-1286) are placed. This building is regarded as the most spiritual place of this old Zen temple.
These peonies are grown by Unsui monks (monks undergoing Zen training) with their whole hearts as a part of the practice and as the beautiful offering to all worship-visiors.
The family crest of Mitsu-uroko (three drangon's scales) of the Hojo clan, which is the founding family of this temple, is printed on the white curtain hanged on the Suzan-mon gate.
May 28, 2019
May 21, 2017
February 1, 2014
Winter peony: Tsurugaoka-hachimangu
Fuyu-botan (winter-flowering peony) flowers are blooming in a noble manner in the pale coldness of midwinter.
In Japan, a peony commonly blooms in early summer after the long rainy season. Winter-peony flowers are brought blooming forward artificially and presented as a beautiful lucky charm to the people who visit a shrine or a temple during the New Year.
In the culture of Zen Buddhism, the beauty of nature is perceived as an implied manifestation of the nature of Buddha.
In the wintry chill, these splendid flowers make me feel the deep and warm mercy from above.
Winter peony: Tsurugaoka-hachimangu
The delicate and elegant flowers of Fuyu-botan, which seem to be a silk hair-decoration of a splendidly kimono-dressed girl, are blossoming in full glory in the small straw enclosure protecting these flowers from winter coldness.
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