Jul 10, 2017
I've been spirited off to a Buddhist temple
I think they want to convert me.
I'm having fun though.
This was the the first message I sent to a friend who had luckily declined to meet up with a lady we had met on the train when I complemented her dragon spike leggings. She seemed nice enough on the train so I traded contact info and she got in touch shortly after and we decided on lunch the next weekend. I thought it normal for her to take a friend, but was taken a bit back when that friend was several decades older. Going with it, I was friendly and the lunch conversation was actually great. We basically had some girl's talk, talk about culture, and some questioning about how much I had learned about Japanese culture during university. Again thinking nothing of it, the conversation continued on to stories about what happened and where we were during the March 11th quake. That's when it got weird. They both seemed to latch onto how lucky I am, I must have seen a miracle. I also must be worried about my family, and focusing on how we must protect ourselves, they invited me to a nearby Buddhist temple to pray with them. It all happened so fast, and I was completely curious about how they pray and what they believe, I decided to go along with them.
And after I told my friend about all that happened.
So now I have a prayerbook, some beads and a pamphlet that tells me to deny all other religions or I will burn in the afterlife.
That pamphlet also says that it is because not everyone believes in Buddha that ww3 will happen. I thought ww3 would be because of trump.
Just because of a lady's leggings.
It was... an experience.
But really sweet ladies. The girl we met and another much older lady.
Fantastic conversation until they started talking about luck and asking if I've seen a miracle
Those who have seen Buddha get a miracle.
And apparently luck is a non renewable resource.
They were very proud of how clean the facility was. And that everyone helped clean. The toilets are the prized chore.
I had to give my name and address to be able to enter and the temple was more like an office building with fancy gardening out front.
I must say the toilets were clean
Then we got to kneel down for 30 minutes while chanting.
And at the end, I apparently got lectured about needing to believe to protect myself and family. Gotta pray to mount Fuji. I was told earlier that there is a seed planted in Fuji that will blossom when everyone believes.
After all the natural disaster talk (there was a lot because they gave me examples of miracles about every 5 minutes) I'm thinking I don't want mount Fuji to blossom. I mean it is a volcano...
You never know who you will meet when out and about, and I certainly learned a bunch. I'm mostly amused about how easily they would go to pray and then after that 30 minute session of deep breathing required for chanting instantly dropped the feel of awe for some crowed snacks in the cafeteria.
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