James Baquet jamesbaquet@gmail.com MY next trip took me to the area of Fuzhou. Dizang Temple was named for Kshitigarbha Bodhisattva, who promised to save all six kinds of beings from their respective levels of hell. The temple is squeezed into an alleyway in the eastern part of the city. My taxi driver was unable to approach it (or even find it); he stopped for directions and finally turned me loose on foot. Why, then, is this cramped, obscure place on the list of 142 Key Temples? Simply, it’s said to be the oldest in Fuzhou, having been founded in 527. The temple introduced me to two traits I saw in other temples in the region: an odd, rain-barrel-shaped stupa (memorial pagoda), and an incredibly ornate ceiling, this one over the statue of Dizang. My visit was at the end of the day. Waiting for the chanting service in the main hall to finish so I could peek in, I had one of those encounters that makes these trips worthwhile. A tiny senior nun, barely 1.2 meters tall, came shuffling past. Approaching three low steps, she looked around hesitantly and was about to leave when I jumped up and offered my hand. To my surprise, she accepted it, and “thanked” and “Buddha bless you’d” me repeatedly. She had incense marks burned into her scalp, indicating she was not just someone seeking shelter in her old age, but was a true devotee of the Buddha, marked for life in her early years. |