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Ema (絵馬) are small wooden votive plaques where visitors write their wishes and prayers before hanging them at temples and shrines across Japan. Although the name literally means “picture of a horse,” recalling the equine offerings of ancient times, today they feature diverse designs closely tied to the places where they are displayed.
At Gotokuji Temple in Setagaya, Tokyo, the Ema take on a special character. This sanctuary is famous as the supposed birthplace of the maneki-neko, the iconic lucky cat figurine. According to tradition, in the 17th century, a cat beckoned a passing feudal lord into the temple just moments before a sudden thunderstorm, saving his life. In gratitude, the temple prospered, and ever since, thousands of lucky cat figures have gathered here as offerings.
Thus, the Ema at Gotokuji blend the ancient custom of inscribing wishes with the unique legacy of the maneki-neko, creating a space where history, faith, and symbols of good fortune quietly coexist beneath the temple’s architecture.
Faithful Jews are expected to prayer three times a day, morning, afternoon and night.
The man praying from the Torah on the right is wearing a Tefillin. These little black boxes contain selections from the Torah.
“Tefillin are two small black boxes with black straps attached to them; Jewish men are required to place one box on their head and tie the other one on their arm each weekday morning. Tefillin are biblical in origin, and are commanded within the context of several laws outlining a Jew's relationship to God. 'And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a frontlet between your eyes' (Deuteronomy 6:5-8).” www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/tefillin
“The prayer of the farmer kneeling in his field to weed it, the prayer of the rower kneeling with the stroke of his oar, are true prayers heard throughout nature.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
My wish is for the end of these murders.
"Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace."
Buddha
A statue in the Cathédrale La Major in Marseille shows Saint Rita of Cascia. Many believers have lit a candle for their prayers. They hope for and believe in the support of the saint.
Two novice monks with candles in front of a massive reclining Buddha. Candlelight in front, natural light behind.
Interesting to go through these old photos from a year ago. Feels like I was just there. Hard to believe sometimes that I saw these things, any so much more, with my own blue eyes. Lucky me. :)
I've never been religious, but I think I understand the fundamental bases of prayer.
For one thing, it's ritualistic. Whether you do it five times a day on your knees facing east, or weekly on Sundays, or nightly before bed, or every Saturday morning, or whatever... it offers the comfort and grounding and predictability of prescribed routine.
I guess it also makes you feel productive or proactive... in situations where you really have no control.
And I suppose it gives hope. At least... I hope it does.
Really, though... I think prayer's a fancy word for wishing. Except that... instead of just nebulously putting thoughts out there, you direct them to some imagined being who... in theory... has the power to give you what you want.
I have prayed. But it's typically along the lines of "Please, just put me out of my misery." And it's not directed anywhere. Just to myself, to distract me a bit, because that's the best it gets sometimes.
And because... well, a person reaches a point where they just can't take it any more.
Sufferers of chronic pain are vulnerable, I think. Especially when we've tried almost everything out there and STILL we're stuck with the same recurring horrors. I can't count how much I've spent on wacky "cures" and "therapies" through the years. And hey... if it were psychosomatic, I'd be pain-free... because... each and every time, I get fully pumped about the promise of relief from the therapy-du-jour:
Acupuncture. Acupressure. Massage. Physiotherapy. Heat. Cold. Drug therapy. Aromatherapy. Herbs of all descriptions. Dietary changes. Yoga. Stretching. Meditation. New bed, new couch, new glasses, new desk, new work environment. Blah blah blah.
The endless failure to get results is just so... disappointing. Disillusioning. Dispiriting. Flat-out depressing.
It leaves a person desperate. And in desperation, praying.
Not because I think it will work, but because I've exhausted every other option.
... for warmth and sunshine !! - Large On Black
Main cemetery / Hauptfriedhof, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Sacred pond, mirror of sky
Creeping ice, sage entwine
Coyotes sing an evening prayer
Welcoming blue twilight
'neath mountain's glare
Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart - Gandhi
One more clicked using my friend's SLR!
Have a happy weekend :)
Buddhist prayer #Embossed on this prayer wheel.
This is a photo I created with 39 photos, stacked in Photoshop. I use one warm LED light from the bottom and on cool torch light from top. I use my laptop screen as background. Total size of the photo in longest part is about 2 and half inches. I will add behind the scene soon.
Explore 05.06.15
Il monte Kōya (Kōya-san) si trova nella penisola di Kii, nella prefettura di Wakayama a circa 900 metri di altitudine. È considerato uno dei luoghi più sacri del Giappone ed uno dei maggiori centri monastici del Paese.
Tutto il complesso costituisce un luogo sacro, dove si respira un’atmosfera mistica. Oggi Koya-san è un importante centro del buddismo giapponese, con oltre 110 templi e una popolazione di 7000 monaci.
Consigliato il pernottamento in un monastero e la partecipazione alla preghiera del mattino. Noi lo abbiamo fatto ed è stata un’esperienza incredibile!
Nel 2004 l'area sacra del Monte Kōya è stata dichiarata dall'UNESCO Patrimonio dell'Umanità.
Tibetan prayer flags blowing into a beautiful sky.
This photo felt like a real gift. I had my new camera for abour an hour when I saw the prayer flags.
Blessings!
For the "cream of the crop pool", this is my most favorited and most viewed photo.
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Suspended Animation Classic #232
Originally published June 6, 1993 (#24)
(Dates are approximate)
Dennis the Menace: Prayers & Graces
By Michael Vance
What are little boys made of? Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails. And don’t forget the sling-shot. Dennis hasn’t forgotten his since 1950.
Hank Ketcham fathered the tow-headed superstar of comic strips and books, television, movies, and hard- and paperback collections forty-three years ago. When considering Dennis’ potential for success, few must have thought he even had a prayer.
Now, Dennis The Menace has a prayer.
This collection of prayers, blessings, and table graces is Ketcham’s newest children’s book, “Dennis the Menace: Prayers & Graces”. Written for “young parents who’re looking for guidelines to start their children off in some sort of theological direction”, it explores a side of Dennis that’s made the eternal six-year-old more believable.
Be honest with yourself. Charlie Brown is just too philosophical and morally squeaky-clean. He’s really Buddha in a kid suit. And this new kid on the comic strip block, Calvin, is a bundle of raw nerves just waiting to explode. But Dennis is unrelenting enthusiasm that translates into unintentional mayhap as he explores life.
Neither devil nor angel, Dennis the Menace is EveryBoy. It is the secret of his world-wide popularity.
This comic disguised as a children’s book is a collection of Dennis’ cartoons interspersed with short devotions for young children. It’s the sort of book parents and grandparents read to kids snuggled on their laps just before bed. And it is wonderful.
There are often deep philosophical undertones to Dennis’ simple observations. Charlie doesn’t hold a copyright on philosophy, after all. They bring a stillness to adult hearts.
Dennis throws a ball straight up. He catches the ball as it falls back. Dennis is playing catch with God. There is no better definition of Faith.
Dennis prays, “God, we thank you for this food, for rest and home and all things good; for wind and rain and sun above; but most of all for those we love”.
We add: that includes Dennis.
“Dennis the Menace: Prayers & Graces”/64 pages, $5.99, John Knox Press/available in books stores.