Mountain Temple

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Sokushinbustu **


(Translated and arranged by Saya)

The first foreign trip I made was to Hangzhou in China. I was on a guide tour with a group of people. 

While we were visiting a certain temple, I saw something strange emerge out of a Buddha statue in one of the halls there. 

It was a monk with unusually long arms and legs. 
It came towards us, swaying to and fro, and started to speaking to us. 
I was studying Chinese at the time, so I could understand what it was saying.  
 
But, for some reason, a sudden thought came to me that "if I pretend I don't see it, it won't harm me," and I started talking to someone else in the group, saying, "Look at that view over there! Isn't that beautiful?"

The monk(?) kept looking at me and talking to me in Chinese, but I pretended I neither saw him nor heard him. 
Then the monk(?) spoke, "if you could see me I would not have let you go home," and it went back,swaying to and fro, into the statue again.

A moment later, a bell rang out, and all the monks went into the hall.  
The tour guide said to us, "They are about to start chanting a sutra. Let us leave or we will disturb them." And we left the temple. 

I wonder what thing the monks were praying to? That was NOT a Buddha. 

By the way, I did meet with an accident while I was still in China, and it could have been fatal, but I managed to get through it and go safely home. 
If I had said to someone "what is it?" when the monk was near us , or mentioned anything about it to anyone, would I still be alive today?

I could not understand everything the monk said but he said something like:
"What is your name?" "Where are you from?" "What are you doing here?" 
It was mumbling the whole time, so these were about the only words I managed to catch. 

But strangely, I wasn't so scared at the time. I just thought that "I mustn't reply. Pretend that I don't see it or hear it, " and kept on talking to people near me, pointing past the monk and at the mountains, saying "how beautiful!" etc. 

It was a mountain temple, so there might have been something in there. 
But when I saw those other monks worshipping the statue to which the monk(?) had returned, I wondered to myself "what do these people see in that statue? That is not a Buddha." 
I was seriously creeped out. 


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**Sokushinbustu --- A name given to a monk who starved himself to death and became a Buddha for the salvation of people. It's not related to the story but I wanted to introduce it to you! (See Wikipedia for more info)


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⭐Bonus Picture

Miffy cannot be killed by a katana! 







Comments

I am glad I am not dead yet! ๐Ÿ˜†✨

But I am planning to engrave on my tomb those words --- "Died by cursed videos." ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ๐ŸŽต๐ŸŒˆ✨

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Thank you always for leaving comments! You are all such great people! ๐Ÿ’–๐Ÿ’–๐Ÿ’–
Anonymous said…
Hi, Ms Saya!

It's cloudy outside this fine morning. But it's still a great one because we all survive and still alive.

That's one scary "monk". We have such ghost here too, it's called "bamboo ghost". But our version here can't talk, I think. Thinking that a "bamboo ghost" that is also a worshipped "monk" makes it super scary.
Maybe the monk was a normal "monk" who was then cursed to become a ghost.

There was this scary Thai anthology horror movie "Phobia 2". The short story "Novice" was about a bad kid who at the end was cursed to become a "bamboo ghost". It happened at a monastery too. Your translation remind me to this story a lot. The movie was one of my all time favourite. I'm gonna watch the series again after this.

Anyway, over here the elderly always remind us not to say a word whenever we see anything weird. Especially if we are in a strange place. Like the woods. I guess to not attract the attention of a supernatural. And if we already do have it's attention, to pretend we do not notice it so that it will grow bored and go away. We are also discouraged to discuss anything supernatural. Because us talking about it may attract it's attention to us.

And I love that super skilled bunny. It won't ever end up in a pot, I guess. Hehe.

Anyway, love today's story very much, Ms Saya. Thank you and have a great weekend.

~ nunu ~
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lucacik said…
I wonder what kind of entity could it be?
Thank you for your stories, Saya! I look forward to every Saturday since we get to read a new entry here ✨ hope you have a nice day!
Second Sun said…
Thank you for this week's story!!

This is more creepy than scary but if I were there I would definitely not say anything too. Only cause I would be too scared ๐Ÿ˜‚

But that age old advice of ignoring things is also very true here in Singapore too. If you're somewhere at night and you hear a weird sound of sudden laughing, best not to say anything about it haha

(The pic is really funny LOL)
It's cloudy where I live in Japan too! But it's warm and pleasant ๐Ÿ˜†๐ŸŒท✨

That sounds like a great movie!⭐๐Ÿงก✨ I must search for it LOL ✨

It's so interesting what elder people say in your country! In Japan too, they say that talking about ghosts attract them!๐Ÿ˜†⭐ The ritual of 100 ghost stories, about which I made a post a long time ago, is based on this belii, I guess!
If I encounter any supernatural entities, I will make sure I keep my mouth shut!๐Ÿ˜†๐ŸŽต✨

I know! I had never guessed the bunny could defend itself like that!
LOL ✨ Moreover, Hello Kitty is evil ๐Ÿคฃ⭐

Thank you so much for your comment! ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿ’–๐Ÿ’–๐Ÿ’–✨Have a wonderful weekend yourself!
It makes me so happy to hear that you look forward to every Saturday!๐Ÿ˜„๐Ÿ’–⭐ It gives me motivation to continue!

Thank you so much and I hope you are having a wonderful time, wherever you are!๐ŸŒˆ๐Ÿฆ๐ŸŽต✨
It's my pleasure ๐Ÿ˜„๐Ÿ’˜๐Ÿ’˜๐Ÿ’˜✨

I am not sure how I would have reacted if I were the narrator!๐Ÿ˜†⭐ I suspect I would not have behaved calmly like her!

It's interesting you have the same way of dealing with supernatural entities in Singapore too! ✨ Thank you for sharing that knowledge with us!

I am glad you like the picture!๐Ÿ˜†๐Ÿฆ✨

Thank you again for your lovely comment ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿงก✨
Anonymous said…
Ish, more creepiness that the scary factor. What were those people worshipping then?. Ignoring seems to be pretty much the solution of any, ANY problem that seems to be related to ghosts?. Maybe the good buddha would have emerged the thought of ignoring in his/her mind. I do not know else about this. And for the picture it looks cute but the captions...yea

-that one anonymous
Yes, ignoring might be the best thing you can do in most situations like this... Perhaps even with a monster like Miffy since she cannot even be killed with a katana...๐Ÿคฃ๐ŸŒˆ⭐

Thank you so much for your comment ๐Ÿ˜„๐Ÿฆ✨
allucinator said…
I was playing Sekiro. A stage named Senpou Temple is comprised of demented martial art monks (ironically) pursuing immortality. Also there's those stationary Sokushinbutsu corpses. Each corpse houses a large centipede that attacks the player. The fight BGM made Buddhist chants scary.
George V said…
Sometimes it is good to ignore things. Very nice. I love the Miffy catching the blade.
Indeed, it seems like the best strategy!๐Ÿ˜†๐Ÿงก

I am glad you like it! Thank you so much for your comment!✨✨๐ŸŒˆ
I heard that that's a great game!๐Ÿ˜†⭐ I would love to see that stage! Thank you so much for your comment!๐ŸŒฑ✨
Jack said…
Kinda reminds me of how we think of demons in the west. There's the idea that if you acknowledge a demon you give it power! Is that something people think of in the East too?
thanks a lot, Saya-san!!
it's a good story, and... i'm not gonna lie, this one can be good prologue for horror novel ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚
Anonymous said…
Some thing's are best left ignored, aren't they? I shall carry this teaching with me throughout my life, ignoring the many things I cannot deal with. I think, what's the point if there's nothing I can do about it, why worry? Best to get on with those things I can actually handle.

P.S. The mental image I have of the "monk with unusually long arms and legs" sends a chill down my spine.
I think people in the East think the same way!๐Ÿ˜†⭐

Come to think of it, I have read quite a few stories in which people tried to simply ignore those supernatural entities, thinking it was the best way to deal with them!

It's curious how people all over the world have the same way of thinking, regardless of their nationalities!

Thank you so much for your comment ๐Ÿ™๐ŸŒท✨
True ๐Ÿคฃ๐ŸŒธ✨Let me know if you write a novel based on this! LOL ✨

Thank you for your comment ๐Ÿ™⭐✨
It is known that what you give attention to grows, and this applies to the thoughts in your head too. ๐Ÿ˜†✨So you are quite right, sometimes ignoring is the best strategy to use, because you can't solve your problems by the same mindset which created them. You need to take a break and stop focusing on the problems, and come back when your mindset has changed in order to create solutions, if you see what I mean. Sorry if this is not the message you meant to convey in your comment! ๐Ÿ˜†✨This thought just came to my mind.

Thank you for your comment! And yes, any stories can become scarier when you have rich imagination blike you do! ๐Ÿ˜„๐ŸŽต✨
Anonymous said…
It honestly reminds me of the corrupted monks of Mt. Senpou in Sekiro, whose pursuit of immortality corrupted them to turn from Buddha and instead worship an alien-like centipede being. Curiosly, these beings (and their ultimate source) were implied to have come from China to Japan in Sekiro's lore.
Someone else also has commentted that it reminded them of sekiro! ๐Ÿ˜†⭐ I would have played it too if I wasn't so bad at action games! LOL ✨

I don't know why some people would want to live forever! It would be so scary! LOL ⭐

Thank you so much for your comment!
Steeple said…
slenderman?? you'd think the monks or tour guide would keep their spirits from eating tourists. its bad for business! haha. well, eating ignorant tourists is a pretty common concept in american media. i think itd be funny if the author didnt know chinese (i assume mandarin?) and the spirit was mumbling in vain.

"speak of the devil and he'll appear" is a common saying in english, but i keep thinking of other old ghost stories where people don't ignore the ghosts. like i rememebr an ancient roman ghost story where a ghost was moaning and was pacified by having a proper burial. other european stories usually involve that kind of thing, giving proper burials or baptizing dead children, or thwarting violent ghosts and demons. A common fairy tale motif is for a curse to be broken by staying in a scary haunted place all night, or for several nights. as christianity got widespread the stories went from being brave and became trusting in god because he was stronger than any ghost or demon, or the devil. so fleeing from a demon could be seen as a cowardly lack of faith, like in the movie the exorcist. actually now that i think about it, theres a ton of stories about outwitting the devil.

i thin its really interesting how ghost stories shape themselves to convey different ideas and teach different lessons.
I hadn't thought about Slenderman but the monk in this story certainly seems similar to it!๐Ÿ˜†⭐

That's an interesting ancient Roman story! I would be interested in reading it myself!

I think in many Japanese stories too they try to pacify or purify ghosts by chanting mantra or doing some kind of rituals.

I have never heard of baptizing dead children, and it sounds intriguing!

In Japanese ghost stories, people often get into trouble by being ignorant or disrespectful of beings that have bigger power than them! I think those stories are definitely teaching us to be more humble !

Thank you so much for your informative comment!๐Ÿ™๐Ÿงก✨
Anonymous said…
This reminds me of the manga, "The Girl Who Can See It", where the main character can see ghosts but pretends not to. I guess that's a good idea in situations like these.
I hope you and I won't have to deal with any entities like that !๐Ÿ˜†⭐✨ Thank you so much for your comment!
Anonymous said…
I'm late to the party! Sorry, Saya-chan!

Oh if only we could get more lore about that mountain temple...
I would like to add that Indonesian also think it's best to ignore the spirits when they show themselves to us as to not give them more power (and enjoyment for scaring us? lol xD)
Can there be anything more important to you than my blog?๐Ÿ˜†⭐๐ŸŽต It's OK I forgive you! LOL ✨

That's so interesting! It seems like the same rule applies to spirits of all countries ๐Ÿ˜†๐ŸŒˆ✨

Thank you so much for your comment!๐Ÿ’–๐Ÿ™✨