Two miracles… The two stories were both blessed with good results, but here another problem arose.
At that time, the lord of Izumo Province, Matsudaira Naomasa, had established Gessho-ji Temple in Matsue, which became the family temple of his clan, and was thinking about installing a new principal image here.
It was at this time that he heard about the Amida Buddha of Iida Saifo-ji Temple.
「If it was such a spiritual experience, then it would be perfect as the principal object of Gessho-ji.」
「Go to Iida immediately and take possession of the principal object.」
He ordered his men to do so.
The villagers of Iida were distressed. It may be the best choice for the lord, but we can’t stand it if he takes away the main deity, which can be said to be the guardian deity of the village…
A meeting was held with the village chief and others to see if they could somehow change their minds, but in this day and age, there was no way they could defy the orders of their superiors…
In tears, we had to forsake the principal object.
However, on the day of the principal object departure.
The principal object, which used to be carried by four or five people and placed in the main hall, could not be lifted at all.
Five or ten people were called in to help, and finally it took 30 people to lift him into a car, and he finally left on his journey.
Although it looked like an ordinary Buddha image, it was a difficult journey by car with the incredibly heavy Gohonzon on board. Once they reached the front of the hill, they gathered more support crews from the local villages and pushed the car up with great fanfare. When it came downhill, they now had to be careful that the car did not fall over and that people were not crushed.
At last, when they were just one day away from Gessho-ji, they could not go any further, no matter how hard they pulled or pushed.
As it was getting dark, the car pulled over to a nearby temple, but all the laborers and accompanying samurai were exhausted… The monks at the temple who greeted him were stunned by the sight.
That night, Lord Amitabha appeared again in the dreams … in the dreams of the labourers, in the dreams of the samurai, and even in the dreams of the monks in the temple.
” I want to go home… I want to stay at the Saiho-ji…”
The next morning, when they woke up, they talked about the dream of Amitabha and were afraid.
Finally, these matters were conveyed to the lord and a public ruling was sought.
「I see… as one would expect from a virtuous Buddhist statue…」
「Then find a good sculptor, who will carve a replica of this Buddha image and deliver it to Gessho-ji. After that, it would be better for the statue to return to its hometown」
The Lord decided that.
Thus, the principal image was eventually able to return to Saiho-ji.
Needless to say, the people of Iida were delighted.
By the way, the principal object was carried lightly on the way back, by only three people.
He must have been very happy.
Even such a virtuous Buddha seems to have a childlike side…(^_^;)
———–
Naomasa-Matsudaira was the grandson of Ieyasu-Tokugawa, a member of the Echizen Matsudaira family and the first lord of the Matsue domain in Izumo Province. While making efforts to establish the clan, he also put a lot of effort into protecting the gods and Buddha, including the construction of Izumo Taisha Shrine, and it is said that Gessho-ji was named in memory of his mother, Gessho-in, as well as for its role as a family temple.
Present-day Daito Town, Unnan, Shimane Prefecture, where the story takes place.