Temple Tales Newsletter and Podcast: Recent Episodes
James Baquet AKA The Temple Guy
Thrilling accounts of one man's journey to over 700 sites in Japan and China, with plenty of Buddhist teachings thrown in
In the splendor that is Xi'an, Wolong Temple barely registers on most itineraries. Yet, it's called "the oldest temple in Shaanxi Province"! Let's take a look in this landmark 100th episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Let's look at a place that was once headquarters for an army of warring monks, Mii-dera on the shores of Lake Biwa and--more significantly--at the base of Mount Hiei, in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Four days after returning from the first leg of my "Chinese Pilgrimage," I was standing in front of the Terracotta Army, one of China's highest-rated tourist destinations. In just three days we would visit this as well as four temples from my list. Come visit the first one in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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I have been twice to beautiful Ishiyama-dera, Shiga Prefecture's "Stone Mountain Temple." Learn about both visits in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Jade Buddha Temple, the last temple I saw in Shanghai, is the home of several magnificent (you guessed it) jade Buddhas. Let's visit them in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Another temple, another mountain. Iwama-dera (also called Shoho-ji, meaning "Correct Dharma Temple") is located at an altitude of 1280 feet, which accounts for the misty atmosphere on the January day in 2001 when I visited. Come and see in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Check out the changes wrought at Shanghai's Jing'an Temple--the Temple of Tranquility and Peace--in the two-and-a-half short years between my visits in August of 2009 and again in January of 2012, in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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When you visit Daigo-ji in Kyoto, you get two--or even three--temples for the effort of one. Find out what I'm talking about in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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When is a temple not a temple? When it's an office building in the parking lot of a hotel! You'll see what I mean when we visit the Yuanming Lecture Hall in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Sometimes a pretty little temple leaves the visitor with pretty little to say. Nevertheless, for the sake of completeness, let's pay a quick visit to Mimuroto-ji in Uji--and one of its much more famous neighbors--in this episode of--TEMPLE TALES!
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Come along with me and visit Longhua Temple, the largest ancient Buddhist temple in Shanghai, in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Number 9 on the Saigoku Pilgrimage is a single hall in a formerly-great but these-days-diminished temple in Nara. It also happens to be a fifteen-minute walk from Todai-ji, home of Japan's largest statue of the Buddha. We'll visit both--plus one more--in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Shoving off from my digs in Beilun, I at last moved from this trip's first base to its second and last, a hotel in the Jing'an district of Shanghai, where I visited one of the most precious little temples I saw in all of China, the "Incense Pavilion." Join me in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Do you remember the Great Kannon at Kamakura's Hase-dera from Episode 048? Well, let's visit the scene of the rest of the story, the original Hase-dera Temple down south, in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Let's visit the new-but-lovely Qita Temple, the "Temple of Seven Pagodas," in central Ningbo, China, in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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You can get to the temple in Asuka officially named Ryugai-ji just by saying, "Oka-dera"--the Temple on the Hill. Let's do it in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Let's continue our day trip in the eastern outskirts of Ningbo, and visit Ayuwang Temple, said to possess an authentic relic of the Buddha's skull! For reals? Come along and find out in this episode of--
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Come join me for a little "taste of India"--right smack dab in Nara, Japan! in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Two temples in (or near) the city of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province, in one day? Yes, please! We'll cover the first one in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Fujii-dera, named for the arrowroot or kudzu vine, is found at the end of a shopping street in a suburb of Osaka. Learn more about it in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Audio version at Archive.org .Podcast on iTunes, GooglePlay, or Spotify (raw feed here)
Let's pay a visit to the temple the name of which has impressed me more than any other. If my karma ever results in my being allowed to found a temple of my own, it, too, will probably be called Fayu--"Dharma Rain." I'll explain in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Come along as I visit one of the most remotest temples on the Saigoku pilgrimage--these days, at least. Let's visit Sefuku-ji in Izumi City, Osaka Prefecture, in this episode of--
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On the morning of my last full day on the island, I finally entered the gates of Puji, as we'll see in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Let's continue on down the pilgrim's path from Kimii-dera and visit Number 3 of Japan's Saigoku Kannon Pilgrimage in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Back in Episode 056 we visited the Nanhai Guanyin area of Putuoshan in Zhejiang Province. Let's continue that day's touring and drop in on Huiji Temple, the third of the 142 key temples I visited in China, in this episode of--
TEMPLE TALES!
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Let's continue reliving my day trip to Hangzhou and visit Jingci Temple, last home of a crazy monk named Ji Gong, in this episode of-- TEMPLE TALES! FULL Show Notes at Substack Click for audio and podcast links »
Let's visit Seiganto-ji, the first numbered temple of the 33 dedicated to Kannon (Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion) in the Kansai area of Japan, in this episode of-- TEMPLE TALES! FULL Show Notes at Substack Click for audio and podcast links »
Let's revisit some of the reflective journal entries I wrote on my 2001 Aki Meguri walk through Japan in this episode of-- TEMPLE TALES! FULL Show Notes at Substack Click for audio and podcast links »
Photo Essay Friday again? Already? Let's whiz around to a number of temples in China to take a look at some of the denizens of various 500 Arhat Halls in this episode of-- TEMPLE TALES! FULL Show Notes at Substack Click for audio and podcast links »
Let's take a look at a handful of small but fascinating temples across Mirs Bay from Hong Kong in an outlying district of the modern metropolis of Shenzhen, in this episode of-- TEMPLE TALES! FULL Show Notes at Substack Click for audio and podcast links »
Back to Japan for a visit to my "home temple," Tokyo's Senso-ji in Asakusa, and a crazy little heron dance at a festival, in this episode of-- TEMPLE TALES! FULL Show Notes at Substack Click for audio and podcast links »
Let's pay a visit to the ruins of the Sinagua people of northern Arizona, builders of what may be the northernmost Mesoamerican-style ball court yet discovered, in this episode of-- TEMPLE TALES! FULL Show Notes at Substack Click for audio and podcast links »
In high summer in 2001, as Tokyo suffered through yet another heatwave, I escaped to the mountains of Saitama Prefecture to soothe both body and spirit while hiking an ancient 60-mile pilgrimage path. Trudge along with me in this episode of-- TEMPLE TALES! FULL Show Notes at Substack Click for audio and podcast links »
Last time we learned the background of those wacky characters known as the 18 Arhats, and met the first eight of them. We'll meet the remaining ten in this episode of-- TEMPLE TALES! FULL Show Notes at Substack Click for audio and podcast links »
As we enter a temple's main hall, we may see on either side of us 18 odd-looking characters, nine to a side. Let's learn who they are, and start meeting them one by one, in this episode of-- TEMPLE TALES! FULL Show Notes at Substack Click for audio and podcast links »
Come with me as I visit Shisen-do, the retreat built by a retired samurai-turned-poet in Kyoto's northeast foothills--and now a Buddhist temple, in this episode of-- TEMPLE TALES! FULL Show Notes at Substack Click for audio and podcast links »
At last we'll finish up the "mission challenge"--visiting all 21 of California's missions in one day--encounter a couple of hiccups, and see if we make it before the day is over! In this episode of-- TEMPLE TALES! FULL Show Notes at Substack Click for audio and podcast links »
Come with me as I share the rollicking tale of my visit to all 21 of California's missions, from near the Mexican border to above San Francisco--in one day!--in this episode of-- TEMPLE TALES! FULL Show Notes at Substack Click for audio and podcast links »