The Elbert County tribune., 1907-05-30

although the s,asat portion Of the pres
ent structure Is only six centuries old.
The high priestess OF this temple is an
aunt OF the emperor The temple area
Is crowded with statues and buildings
OF absorbing interest | noticed one
bronze Buddha of heroic size holding
Dapy, and some devotee had put q
modern bonnet, of cheap calico, on
the latters head, On several occa-
sions | have seen images thus incon.
gruously adorned.
Thousands of devout pilgrims visit
this temple. and the emperor himself
has a sumptuous suite of apartments
therein. although the Shintoists claim
him as one OF their number In fact,
he has rather impartially patronized
both faiths; and thousands of his sub
iects do likewise. Ordinary pilgrims
to the temple are kept outside tho
wire screen before the altar. but tho
missionaries. by the application of tho
silver key which unlocks doors tho
world over, were omitted to a closer
view and complete inspection. They
were even taken down through the
absolutely dark underground passage
where the keys of paradise may be
found. attached to a huge paddock.
| And assuredly those young Americans
found them. and ratified them loudly
enough for all the celestial doorkeep-
ers to hear. This trip In the dark Is
supposed to purge the soul of sin.
though. paradoxlcally enough. the
priest who was our guide warned US
| that II We had any evil In our hearts
| when we entered we would come out
| changed into dogs, which is the COM
mon belief. OF course this party
emerged barking and growing like
ours with tin cans to their tails.
1t must not be inferred that the mis-
sionaries were disrespectful to the
temple or its worshippers. They
moved about, uncovered and unshod.
and were genuinely interested In the
bewilderlng explanations of who's who
in this sect of Buddhism. Among the
more than 10000 ancestral tablets
placed In one apartment. noticed ono
that was surmounted by the Harvard
II.
AS souvenirs OF this trip I have a
written token from the high priest
that have performed an early morn
ing devotion at a certain shrine, and
have received absolution from him in
person-although, as a matter of fact.
II was nearly noon when we were in
the temple, and l never saw the high
priest | bought the document from
priest in the temple office for one
and half cents Similarly, | have a
brass charm from the imperial high
priestess (whom l did not meet, | am
sorry to say), guaranteeing protection
to my body from every kind of harm,
and all for the sum of eight cents.
Religion comes cheap in Japan. saw
priests emptying the money boxes
which stand before each shrine, and
later stringing the coins together.
These are all of copper. and OF the
lowest denominations. two sen. one
sen, half sen, rim and half rim. The
last two are the commonest, and are
worth respectively, one twentieth and
one fortieth of an American cent.
These are now seldom used in COM
merce. and are called temple
money" The sen is worth one-half
cent.
The elaborate and costly Buddhist
temple and its ritual and priests was
In sharp contrast with the impover.
ished simple services which these un.
uniformed missionaries had been hold.
ing; but the latter had confidence
and vitality which made one foresee
the possibility of the overthrow OF
Buddhism by the plain gospel of the
Nazarene.