Tradition

[katriona_s]

Yesterday, late in the afternoon the Buddhism priest of our family temple visited us as he does every summer. It’s a bit earlier than the “Bon” season when the spirits of the ancestors come back to their family home (in our tradition) though our family grave and temple are in my grandfather’s hometown in Nagano prefecture, the priest visit us (and other families now living in and around Tokyo) when he can. We offered the flowers and food to our small family shrine, the priest recited the sutras. We are no devoted Buddhist -not at all! This is just a tradition to us- but it’s good to have this kind of time once a year.