Zigenji

Today I discovered Niihama’s “secret garden” which is behind a Zen temple called Zigenji. Guarding the front gates of the garden are two ferocious dogs. I snuck around through the cemetery and entered the garden from the back. I was all by myself. It was both peaceful and sketch, with the chronic barking of the dogs, and the eerie fact that I was the only on in this garden that makes the ones in Kyoto look tiny. This garden was a masterpiece. After exploring the grounds for about an hour I met the man who lives in the temple house (many temples have a house that is connected.) I saw him as he was getting out of his Ferrari. He told me that this temple (which was huge!) has no services, and he told me that in one of the large buildings exists his famous art collection, after which I immediately asked if I could see it sometime and he said it’s not open to the public, and that the dogs and the many surveillance cameras (!) are for protection. Very, very sketchy. I think the temple is completely private, owned by this wealthy family, and so nobody really goes there. But I will, for the garden is absolutely breathtaking. After that I went to the nearby park to see the swans in the lake and to visit the caged animals in the sad little rusty playground zoo. There was a den full of rabbits, some cages of chickens and roosters, some big, beautiful peacocks, a turkey, a big beautiful mountain goat, and a swan with a gimp leg sitting all by himself in his cage next to a bathtub sized bucket of a pond. Spiritual teaching: you can always imagine someone worse off then you.