The month of September is almost over. Morning and evening, the coolness of autumn has begun, and I can feel the change of seasons.
This month, I visited a temple in the metropolitan area on the middle day of O-Higan last week. The newly-appointed priest earnestly
chanted the sutra. (It's the Kannon Sutra. It’s my favorite sutra. I remember the way the former priests, who passed away last year,
and the one before him, chanted the sutra.)
The new priest’s sermons are unpolished. However, since he is doing it earnestly, I have come to regard this time as my training time.
Gradually, this young man will also transform into a dignified priest, adorned in a magnificent kesa, filled with kindness!
Well, today the weather is also nice, and I am going to Toyokawa Inari in Akasaka-Mitsuke, which is directly accessible by the Ginza Line. Going to Toyokawa Inari during New Year, May, and September is my little event. On New Year's, I raise banners and in the following months, I light large candles. I walk slowly around the grounds and have lunch at a shop there. (Spending money there, the time spent, the transportation cost, it’s all a joyful expenditure.)
I used to cross Benkei Bridge and have lunch at New Otani, but a friendly priest in Mejiro advised that it’s better to spend money at
Toyokawa Inari. Since then, having lunch on the grounds has become my modest offering.
Passing through the torii gate, the boundary, and spending a few hours in a sacred place, my heart feels lighter.
It’s an indescribable, good feeling. Once I feel this way, I head home...