Virtual Arima County 33 Kannon Pilgrimage #14 Shofuku-ji Temple

 

     Shofuku-ji Temple was founded in 1651 as a member of Caodong Chan School.

     It is unknown when Keirin-ji Temple was founded in Hirata Village, Arima County, Settsu Province, as a member of Shingon Sect.  After the Meiji Restoration, Shofuku-ji Temple moved to where Keirin-ji Temple was, and became Keirin-zan Shofuku-ji Temple.  So, although Shofuku-ji Temple belongs to Caodong Chan School, its buildings look as if the temple belongs to Shingon Sect. 

     Shofuku-ji Temple's main deity is the statue of Thousand-Armed Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha or Eleven-Faced Thousand-Armed Sahasrabhuja, which was made by Enchin sometime between 859 and 877.  The third priest, Keitei, brought the statue.  He was formerly the priest of Kagaku-ji Temple, the family temple of Asano Naganori (1667-1701), the lord of Ako Domain in Harima Province.  In 1700, Naganori was forced to commit harakiri suicide and the Asano Family fell to ruin.  Keitei retired from Kagaku-ji Temple shortly thereafter with the statue, and in 1716, at the age over 40, he finally became the chief priest of Shofuku-ji Temple on September 17th.

     The wood from which the statue was carved out had its own legend.  Some say that it was originally a bridge timber which was hit by a bolt of lightning and which was washed away from Cape Mio in Takashima County, Omi Province, in a flood long ago.  The bolt-hit wood was believed to have miraculous power.  In the area where the wood was brought, there was a fire and an illness.  At first, it was brought to Kamikawa Village, Katsurage County, Yamato Province, and there was a great disaster in the village.  The villagers pushed it away.  It reached ​​Toma Village in the same county, and there were frequent outbreaks of fever and fires in the surrounding villages.  The villagers abandoned it in the Hase River.  30 years later, Tokudo (656-?) joined forces with Hodo, who traveled from India through Tang China and the Korean kingdom of Baekje to Japan from the 6th to 7th centuries, and ordered the Buddhist sculptor, Ji Zhudong and Ji Fuhui to carve a 7.9 meters tall statue in 727.  The Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha statue was presented to Hase-dera Temple. Gyoki (668-749) was invited to be the master of the eye-opening ceremony.

     At that time, Gyoki said that there should be a leftover of the wood when the statue was made.  Tokudo pulled out a piece of wood about 2 feet long and said, "In the past, the sculptors lost this scrap and searched for it everywhere.  They were unable to find it.  What is strange is that no one has brought it, but it was left in the back yard.  It should have been waiting for you to come."  Tokudo quickly presented it to Gyoki.　

     Gyoki brought the leftover to Hine Village in Omi Province to carve another Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha statue.  The village's whereabouts is unknown.  It is a pity that Gyoki grew older and passed away.

     Since then, the leftover remained in Hine Village for 140 or 150 years.  It occasionally emitted lights deep into the night.  All that saw the lights were amazed, but as time passed so long, no one knew what kind of tree it was.  However, one night, a poor man had a dream in which Thousand-Armed Eleven-Faced Ekadasamukha or Eleven-Faced Thousand-Armed Sahasrabhuja appeared at his pillow and said, "There is rotten wood in Hine Village.  Long ago, Gyoki wanted to carve an image of me but before he could do it he died.  The wood rotted away and was soiled by the villagers stepping on it.  You should quickly search for a person of taste and have him carve me out of the wood"  The man woke up from the dream and was deeply concerned about the wood.  As his family was poor, he didn't know what to do, and the months and days passed away.  At this time, Enchin  (814-891) was thinking, "I have relied on the power of Avalokitesvara since I was a child and have survived to this day.  However, as impermanence is difficult to measure, I hope to create a living image of Avalokitesvara while I'm still alive."  He searched for sacred wood.

     As the poor man happened to talk about the wood to Enchin.  Enchin was delighted, "What a great blessing this is!"  He searched for the wood that Gyoki had left and quickly cut up the rotten wood to make a statue himself.  However rotten the outside was, the core inside remained fragrant, like agarwood.  Finally, he had a small statue with 1,000 arms and 11 faces made.  He also built a temple in Hine Village, and performed an eye-opening ceremony for himself, spreading the word of salvation to good men and women near and far.  Avalokitesvara truly vowed that those who chant Avalokitesvara's name would be relieved of all illness, sorrow, and suffering.  Whether it be epidemics, illness, or difficult childbirth, it was never uncured.

     If the legend is true, it might have been Asano Nagamasa (1547- 1611) that got the statue when he owned some territory in Omi Province from 1573 to 1587.  Nagashige (1588-1632) was Nagamasa's 4th son.  Nagashige's first son, Naganao (1610-1672), became the lord of the Ako Domain in 1645.  He supported founding Kagaku-ji Temple as their family temple.  So, it could have been Naganao who brought the statue to Kagaku-ji Temple.  Believe it or not.  

Address: Hirata-862 Dojocho, Kita Ward, Kobe, Hyogo 651-1504

Phone: 078-951-4617

Kagaku-ji Temple

Address: 1992 Kariya, Ako, Hyogo 678-0239

Phone: 0791-42-2068

Hase-dera Temple

Address: 731-1 Hase, Sakurai, Nara 633-0112

Phone: 0744-47-7001