Seeing the Ajari-san was cool. We didn't get to actually talk with him, but just attending his service was something that most people don't get to do - tourists are never allowed to attend at all, and the only reason we were allowed to was because a friend of Williams-sensei's mother-in-law is a parishioner there. The service was very different from any kind of Christian service. For one thing, there wasn't any kind of sermon or message. The Ajari did a fire ritual and burned the "wish tablets" (more like prayers for something you want or need) while the "congregation" chanted buddhist chants to the beat of a drum. This went on for almost an hour. It was a very eerie experience so we got a video with Jenn's camera to try and show what it was like. It's not quite the same of course but you can get the idea. The video is a bit big (about 7 MB) but it's here: Ajari-Service.avi. We learned more about why someone would ever subject themselves to this. Ajari are sort of like the Pope. They are revered and exalted wherever they go. In fact, to give a bit of a sense of how revered they are: the first thing we learned about going into a Japanese house is you always take off your shoes. If one were to go into the Imperial Palace, then, as you might imagine, you would definitely take off your shoes. However, Ajari are the only people ever in history who DON'T have to take off their shoes when they enter the Imperial Palace, because everything about them is sacred, even the dirt on their shoes. That says a lot. They were awesome though, they made us food after the service (a buddhist vegetarian meal featuring rice and tofu and a potato and hijiki, which dia best described as "worms" (though actually it's a form of seaweed). it was interesting, but good for the most part.

Originally posted on LiveJournal. Original post