Mt. Misen

Thank you for reading my blog about my trip to Miyajima this week.

This first picture shows something sacred.

Can you guess what is sacred?

Some people might consider the deer is sacred.

Yes, if it were Nara where it is famous for Great Buddha in Todaiji temple, it would be true. Deer is considered as a sacred animal at Kasuga Taisha shrine because of the legend that the God came there riding on white deer.

But it is not Nara but Miyajima in Hiroshima.

Can you see the shape in the ridge of the mountain?

Does the highest part look like nose and the bottom look like the neck of the lying Buddha’s face in a profile?

It is said that Kuukai, the great buddhist priest in Heian period, considered the mountain sacred looking at that profile and decided to worship the island as a sacred object in a whole.

He founded the temple at the top of Mt. Misen and performed a sacred buddhist practice for a hundred days.

Can you see the temple at the picture below?

I went up to the top to pray for eternal life on my birthday.