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Japanese Buddhist monks held a service for 200 pairs of old eyeglasses on November 8. The annual ceremony to “show gratitude” to the glasses for “their years of service” has taken place at the Ichibata Yakushi Temple for the past 30 years. The Tendai Buddhist temple—built in 894 CE around a statue of Yakushi Nyorai, a bodhisattva of medicine and healing—has become a pilgrimage site for Buddhists who suffer from eye problems.
According to legend, the “medicine Buddha” statue was pulled out of the Sea of Japan by a fisherman whose mother’s eyesight was miraculously restored shortly after the discovery. The Ichibata clergy created the glasses ceremony in response to repeated requests to bless old spectacles. The glasses that are still usable, such as those discarded because of a change in prescription, are donated to a group in India that distributes them to people in need.
(source: www.tricycle.org)
According to legend, the “medicine Buddha” statue was pulled out of the Sea of Japan by a fisherman whose mother’s eyesight was miraculously restored shortly after the discovery. The Ichibata clergy created the glasses ceremony in response to repeated requests to bless old spectacles. The glasses that are still usable, such as those discarded because of a change in prescription, are donated to a group in India that distributes them to people in need.
(source: www.tricycle.org)
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