Fox Medicine

This post will be short on words and long on images. Three days in Kyoto have provided all the medicine my being needed to recover from the rigors of the past few weeks, restore my spirit to and through appreciation and wonder, and perfectly seal this remarkable journey of walking and praying in some of Buddhism’s most beautiful and revered sites. I’ve visited historic temples, mountain monasteries, and shrines on fire with foliage and the light of millennia of practice. I’ve walked miles of city streets and forest trails, climbed moss-covered stone steps lined with gates and cedar trees, sat silently in rock gardens, and looked out over the city at sunset in awe. I’ve danced among dragons and been brought to tears by thousands upon thousands (upon thousands) of foxes. I even found a small temple with prayer wheels near the giant Kannon in the peace garden. Did the Kora three times spinning and praying—full circle to my time in Ladakh and Nepal. And just outside, a little ox, curled up just like Nandi outside a temple in Southern India—all the way back there to connect with an old friend.

There are no words for this sacred place except thank you. I feel grateful to be alive and on this path, in the company of countless other practitioners of the Buddha way.

Temples and shrines shown:

Fushimi Inari Shrine

Kyomizudera

Mt. Kurama

Hōnen-in

Nanzenji

Ryōzen Kannon

Kenninji