ABSTRACT

On the hill behind the Daiyen-ji Temple situated at Meguro, Tokyo, there stand side by side 500 stone-images of the Arhan, who attained the en lightenment of Hinayama or the Lesser Vehicle. Mention may be made of another set of the 500 Arhan images, life-size and of wood, which Priest Shoun carved by spending some ten devoted years during the era of Genroku, and which he dedicated to the dead spirit of Lady Keisho-in, mother of the Shogun Tsunayoshi of the Tokugawa family. The Daruma is a doll representing a Buddhist priest generally wrapped up in a red cloth. Lord Iyeyasu, the founder of the Shogunate Dynasty of Tokugawa, had two images, the Shiro-Honzon and the Kuro-Honzon, in which he had great faith. The Lord Buddha then restored the child to Hariti, to her great joy, and she devoted the rest of her life to protecting children.