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Now 30 minutes before breaking for lunch, the microphone picks up the amplified voice of the lead priest in the annual ceremony as he chants with certain lines reinforced by the voices of the four supporting priests. Certain points in the reading involve parishioners' choral responses, too.

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At the end of the morning chanting for the annual ceremony, the hosting priest invites one and all to share a meal together in the vegetarian, Buddhist style of 'devotional cuisine' (Shojin Ryori, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_cuisine), 精進料理.

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Chanting excerpt, December 8 ceremony at Buddhist temple:
among Buddhist priests and laypersons there is appreciation for vocal tone and stylistic artistry. The amplified voice of the leftmost priest has a quality that is easy to listen to, even with the background hiss from the kerosene space heater nearby.

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From a distance the melodic sound of lead priest's voice floats on the air of the Jodo-sect temple grounds during a break in the day-long rains.

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Part of the verbal art is the posture of those reciting and chanting. At the end of this phrase the cantor lifts the pitch, slows the pace, and leans slightly back before letting the phrase and his body return to the resting, upright position.

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From morning to afternoon the cantor leads and the other priests supplement with times for the parishioners to give choral responses. The large video monitors on each side of the front follow the text being chanted. Around noon there is a lunch break with vegetarian dishes of many kinds served to those attending.

The building dates from the 1800s since it was spared a big fire of that era. Residents' lives have changed in many ways, but in some matters of the heart and existential questions much remains the same then as now.

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Some of the (women) parishioners prepare, serve, and clean up the vegetarian dishes served to people attending the annual ceremony in the main hall of the temple. The five priests (two are resident, three are invited in for the day) dine separately.

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Vegetarian dishes prepared, served, and cleaned up by parishioner volunteers delighted the eye and appetites of the two dozen staying to eat at the temple.

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Like a mountain it rises, like a cloud it seems to float. This is the front gate to the Pure Land Buddhist temple in the north of Hita, called 大超寺 (Daicho-ji).

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Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston

Boston, officially the City of Boston, is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the Northeastern United States. The city boundaries encompass an area of about 48.4 sq mi (125 km2) and a population of 675,647 as of 2020. The city is the economic and cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Boston, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to 4,941,632 people as of 2020, ranking as the eleventh-largest MSA in the country. A broader combined statistical area (CSA), generally corresponding to the commuting area and including Worcester, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island, is home to approximately 8.2 million people, making it the seventh-most populous in the United States.

Boston is one of the nation's oldest municipalities, founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from the English town of the same name. During the American Revolution and the nation's founding, Boston was the location of several key events, including the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the hanging of Paul Revere's lantern signal in Old North Church, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the siege of Boston. Following American independence from Great Britain, the city continued to play an important role as a port, manufacturing hub, and center for American education and culture. The city has expanded beyond the original peninsula through land reclamation and municipal annexation. Its rich history attracts many tourists, with Faneuil Hall alone drawing more than 20 million visitors per year. Boston's many firsts include the United States' first public park (Boston Common, 1634), the first public school (Boston Latin School, 1635), the first subway system (Tremont Street subway, 1897), and the first large public library (Boston Public Library, 1848).

In the 21st century, Boston has emerged as a global leader in higher education and academic research. Greater Boston's many colleges and universities include Harvard University and MIT, both located in suburban Cambridge and both routinely included among the world's most highly ranked universities. The city is also a national leader in scientific research, law, medicine, engineering, and business. With nearly 5,000 startup companies, the city is considered a global pioneer in innovation and entrepreneurship. Boston's economic base also includes finance, professional and business services, biotechnology, information technology, and government activities. Households in the city claim the highest average rate of philanthropy in the United States. Boston businesses and institutions rank among the top in the country for environmental sustainability and new investment.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Fine_Arts,_Boston

The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas. With more than 1.2 million visitors a year, it is the 79th-most-visited art museum in the world as of 2022.

Founded in 1870 in Copley Square, the museum moved to its current Fenway location in 1909. It is affiliated with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts.

Additional Foreign Language Tags:

(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis"

(Massachusetts) "ماساتشوستس" "麻萨诸塞州" "मैसाचुसेट्स" "マサチューセッツ" "매사추세츠 주" "Массачусетс"

(Boston) "بوسطن" "波士顿" "बोस्टन" "ボストン" "보스턴" "Бостон"

Shown in stunning perfection is a Japanese bronze Amida Nyorai Buddha sculpture seated on a multi-tier throne complete with a finely detailed and haloed filigree mandorla rising to a tapering point.

This magnificent sculpture rests on a dark lacquered wood carved pedestal, and the entire piece is presented against the obsidian darkness of the void.

The vertical Kanji script shown on the upper right is interpreted as "Grand and Radiant Bestower of Eternal Life and Happiness".

This sacrosanct and beautiful image is an excellent representation of our guide to the Pure Land (Jodo).

Presented is a series of ancient Japanese Buddhist Kannon Bosatsu tomb figurines standing in a stunning array.

These Holy and sacrosanct Kannon figurines have guided and accompanied the deceased to the Pure Land (Jodo).

The fractured and worn porcelain surfaces of these Asian "shabtis" testify to their antiquity.

Their bodies all diminish with a ghost-like taper into the void, indicating that they are of the spirit.

Even with digital communication, records, and searches, there is still a lot of paper needed to run daily and yearly life at a temple for both parishioners and the neighboring community invited to attend events hosted there. This photo shows one of the bulletin boards on the wall and part of the floor to ceiling bookshelves to group things that are related to a particular topic or happening from the past or present or yet to come. On the bulletin board is a quick reference for the current year that cross-references a person's death year with the conventional cycle of memorial sutra readings in years 3, 7, 13, and so on, ending with the 33 year from death in most cases, since more people with a memory of the deceased person will have passed away or at least no longer hold the memory so closely as before. In a few cases, though, memorials are "perpetual," going on for 300 years in at least one case.

The bulletin board also has a color flyer to show the kind of catered food that is available to accompany temple get-togethers since food and people naturally go together. A temple family and helping parishioners may cook some or all food for an event, but which busy schedules and fewer people, it makes sense to cater food sometimes.

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Every year in the week or so ahead of the spring equinox Buddhist temples remember the anniversary of the death of the Buddha. So display a giant picture like this one, more than 100 years old, that shows the body of the great holy man surrounded by disciples and a whole host of sentient beings other than human. The red bundle in the upper left of the picture is a dose of medicine from his mother in the world beyond. But it got stuck in the tree, so it could not keep him from dying. In the days before radio and TV, there sometimes would be narrators to tell the story of the scene being shown. It was a kind of visual aid.

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This corner of the larger scrolled painting centers on some of the smallest creatures included in the scene of the Buddha's death. As such the scope for creatures with some awareness or consciousness extends far beyond humans and mammals.

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Shown before you is an old Japanese Buddhist Kannon Bosatsu tomb figurine standing within the Nizhoni Budhozho Shrine Room.

Also known as Kuan Yin, she has guided and accompanied the deceased to the Pure Land (Jodo).

The fractured and worn porcelain surface of this Asian "shabti" testifies to her antiquity.

There are seven photographic plates in this series, each with its own unique angle, lighting, shadowing, and exposure.

Presented in stunning contrast is an ancient Japanese Buddhist Kannon Bosatsu tomb figurine brightly manifesting out from the void.

This Holy and sacrosanct Kannon figurine has guided and accompanied the deceased to the Pure Land (Jodo).

The fractured and worn porcelain surface of this Asian "shabti" testifies to her antiquity.

Her body diminishes with a ghost-like taper into the darkness, indicating that she is of the spirit.

There are seven photographic plates in this series, each with its own unique angle, lighting, shadowing, and exposure.

Shown before you is an old Japanese Buddhist Kannon Bosatsu tomb figurine standing within the Nizhoni Budhozho Shrine Room.

Also known as Kuan Yin, she has guided and accompanied the deceased to the Pure Land (Jodo).

The fractured and worn porcelain surface of this Asian "shabti" testifies to her antiquity.

There are seven photographic plates in this series, each with its own unique angle, lighting, shadowing, and exposure.

Shown before you is an old Japanese Buddhist Kannon Bosatsu tomb figurine standing within the Nizhoni Budhozho Shrine Room.

Also known as Kuan Yin, she has guided and accompanied the deceased to the Pure Land (Jodo).

The fractured and worn porcelain surface of this Asian "shabti" testifies to her antiquity.

There are seven photographic plates in this series, each with its own unique angle, lighting, shadowing, and exposure.