Jogyodo, Hall of Ascetic Practice 常行堂

Official explanation

A hall for the practice of walking meditation has existed here since 848 CE, when the original hall was built by the monk Ennin (ca. 794–864). The Jogyo Zanmai, from which the hall derives its name, was practiced here. In this very intense ascetic practice, monks walk around the Buddhas placed in the middle of the hall for ninety days without rest while continuously chanting the Nenbutsu prayer. According to tradition, the Amida Buddha would appear before a monk who successfully completed this meditation. The current building dates from the Edo period (1603–1867).

The central object of worship here is a crowned Amida Nyorai accompanied by four bodhisattvas. This is the only example in Japan of this unusual depiction of the Amida Buddha. Typically, Amida Buddha is seated atop a lotus flower, but in this depiction Amida and the four bodhisattvas sit astride peacocks. As the peacock eats worms and insects, it is considered to be a symbol of purity. It symbolically eats the worms of the heart—doubt, fear, laziness, and the like—and thus keeps one’s spirit pure. This statue of the Amida Buddha wears a crown. Buddhas wear nothing on their heads to indicate their attainment of enlightenment. Bodhisattvas, the rank below enlightened Buddhas, wear crowns, to indicate both their exalted status and their proximity to human existence. Amida’s crown harks back to ancient mandalas that predate the development of this differentiation.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.