Well, in Episodes 107-113 (with a detour at 110) we dawdled our way through Lingyin Temple as I did on that hot August day 12 years ago, so now we'll speed through Jingci temple (as I was forced to), just a little ways counter-clockwise around West Lake, Hangzhou's most famous and prominent feature. (You can barely go anywhere in the city without a view of the lake. Surrounded by pavilions, bridges, and quaint hotels, it's definitely the biggest tourist draw, and a beautiful sight.)
But we can dash through Jingci, pretty much, as when I was there it was much smaller than Lingyin. (There was a vigorous building plan being carried out, though, so by now it may have been "spoiled.")
There used to be a saying in Baja California (before it was spoiled by the 1973 completion of the Transpeninsular Highway): "The worse the roads, the better the men." I'm not sure that's true; it's in the same category as "small town folk are friendlier than people in the big city"--often, but not always, true.
Well, here's my truism: the smaller the temple, the warmer and more pious the monks (virtually all nuns are warm and pious, regardless of the size of their temple). The monks in larger temples seem to be there for the material, rather than the Buddhistical, benefits.
Exceptions abound. But a friend--a good monk in one of the country's major temples--once told me that the majority of monks who had passed the novice stage (say, men 30 and above) had wives and children outside of the temple! When I asked if this were true of the abbot as well--a very powerful man--my friend (as they say the Buddha did when asked certain kinds of questions) "smiled serenely and kept a noble silence."
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So there was a great contrast between Lingyin (70 renminbi entry fee--around $10--including access to the Feilai Feng, the "Peak That Flew from Afar"); many, many halls and many, many monks, almost all of whom ignored me; AAAA tourism status, etc.) and Jingci (10 rmb--around $1.50; few halls, and a few very friendly monks).
My warm experience at Jingci started at the gate, where several friendly old laymen sold and punched my ticket. When I entered the first hall, an elderly monk jumped up, offered me his chair, and started aiming an electric fan at me. (I guess I looked haggard after my "mountain climbing" at Lingyin). I refused the chair, but did enjoy the fan for a few moments before moving on.
There was a ceremony in progress in the Main Hall on this late in the day on a Tuesday afternoon, so I strolled around and saw the magnificent newly-cast bell. The original bell was the source of one of Hangzhou's "Ten Scenes of West Lake," called the "Evening Bell Ringing at Nanping Hill."
On up the hill there were a couple more halls (most of the halls here date only from the 1980s), and a relic hall was being built at the top (inaccessible during my visit).
At the hall before it, however, I had a nice treat: the two kindly young monks tending the Three Western Sages offered me a fresh peach! "Pure Compassion" indeed, affirming my impression of the residents of small temples.
After that, I visited a small courtyard next to the Main Hall, dedicated to Guanyin, outside of which a monk was reciting sutras; even though there was a ceremony going on in the big hall, he seems to have preferred his private devotions (again, small-temple monks seem to be more pious).
I've noticed that many "newly restored" temples keep these small, dilapidated courtyards and their unimpressive halls and statues; they are, as it were, the seed from which the shiny new plant has grown, and often have a more authentic "feel" than the more impressive constructions.
Finally entering the Main Hall after the ceremony, I found that the main figure was a stately Vairochana, "The Great Sun Buddha" who is my personal favorite. There seems to be a tendency for temples in the same area to feature the same figures. Jingci has a Vairochana on the main altar? Lingyin builds a hall up the hill dedicated to him. I don't know what role local tradition versus tourist competition play in all this, but I was to see it happen again and again.
The Main Hall also had an unusually fine set of Eighteen Arhats in bronze. And behind the Vairocana, in the place usually occupied by Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, was instead a figure of the "Crazy Monk" named Jigong, whom we met at Lingyin Temple. See Episode 113 for more on this character, and a story about him that actually occurred here at Jingci. Though he became a monk at Lingyin Temple, his behavior got him kicked out, and he stayed at this temple when not wandering the country.
When I reluctantly left Jingci Temple, I got back on a highway bus and returned to my digs in faraway Ningbo, whence the next day I would launch my assault on Putuoshan, island home of Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.
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That is that. Until next time, may you and your loved ones and all sentient beings be well and happy.
Adios, Amigos!
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