Go Climb Something!!!
No matter where the journey takes you, do not forget your camera and climbing shoes.
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Life On The Move
Kōtoku-in and the Giant Buddha
The Kōtoku-in temple in Kamakura is a very special place by it’s self, but the main drawing is of course the Giant Buddha that dates bad to 1252. An interesting side note is that around this time, Genghis Khan was invading China and Russia and the seventh crusade was taking place. Point, this statue is VERY old. The worn bronze is mysteriously beautiful and if you are able to block out the crowd around you, it can change your direction of though completely. I was walking around the statue looking at how large it was and what great work it must have taken to erect it in the 1200’s when this happened to me. As I walked to the right side of the statue I noticed the setting sun, modified by some clouds, was casting some beautiful shadows on the Buddha. Just then everything went silent. I started to notice small details that I did not notice in the twenty minutes before. The hammer marks made 800 years earlier. The amazing detail of the Buddha’s hair. I was even able to still make out traces of the gold leaf that started to wear off after only 10 years of being put in place at the end of 1252. In an instant I was back. The crowd was again flowing all around me. I was being pulled by my son it five directions as he said “Birds, birds papa!” I scooped him up, smiled and said “I see them buddy, I see them.”
The Giant Buddha of Kamakura