Hari-Kuyō 針供養
is the Japanese Buddhist and Shinto Festival of Broken Needles, celebrated on February 8 in the Kanto region.
The practice began four hundred years ago as a way for housekeepers and professional needle-workers to acknowledge their work over the past years and respect their tools. In the animist traditions, items as well as humans, animals, plants, and objects are considered to have souls. This festival acknowledged the good given to people by their tools and simple, everyday items.
(© Wikipedia)
The purpose of the ~ Usnisa Vijaya Dharani~ sūtra is said to be to help sentient beings in a troubled and tumultuous world. According to this sūtra, beings will leave suffering and obtain happiness, increasing in their prosperity and longevity, remove karmic obstacles, eliminate disasters and calamities, remove enmity and hatred, fulfill all wishes, and quickly be led onto the Buddha's way. It is held by some that when the dhāraṇī is heard, it can imbue the alaya consciousness (base consciousness—all of our memories, ideas, and desires) with pure seeds that will help to lead one to buddhahood.
(© Wikipedia)
Hari-Kuyō 針供養
is the Japanese Buddhist and Shinto Festival of Broken Needles, celebrated on February 8 in the Kanto region.
The practice began four hundred years ago as a way for housekeepers and professional needle-workers to acknowledge their work over the past years and respect their tools. In the animist traditions, items as well as humans, animals, plants, and objects are considered to have souls. This festival acknowledged the good given to people by their tools and simple, everyday items.
(© Wikipedia)
The purpose of the ~ Usnisa Vijaya Dharani~ sūtra is said to be to help sentient beings in a troubled and tumultuous world. According to this sūtra, beings will leave suffering and obtain happiness, increasing in their prosperity and longevity, remove karmic obstacles, eliminate disasters and calamities, remove enmity and hatred, fulfill all wishes, and quickly be led onto the Buddha's way. It is held by some that when the dhāraṇī is heard, it can imbue the alaya consciousness (base consciousness—all of our memories, ideas, and desires) with pure seeds that will help to lead one to buddhahood.
(© Wikipedia)