What is the“Abode of Harmony”?

It is the realm in which all of the living things contained in Bashō’s poetry—nature and people and plants and animals—harmonize and coexist.

It can also be called the realm that emerges, wrapped in the light and love that surpasses intellect as the vibrancy of life.

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Jōren-ji

For several centuries, the temple Jōren-ji taught spiritual tranquility and Buddhist salvation through chanting the name of Amida Buddha. In recent years, its role has expanded and it has made a new start as the Abode of Harmony. The Japanese name is Tomo-iki no Sono (literally, “garden of symbiosis,” reflecting the Buddhist conception of the interconnectedness of all living things.)

Adorned with beauty through the four seasons and with historical ties to haiku master Matsuo Bashō, the hope behind the garden is that visitors will discover something new by visiting the old, and that this living experience may provide an opportunity, if even in a modest way, to expand the circle of life from parent to child, from person to person.

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To those who visit here, we ask that you forget all differences in nationality, ethnicity, and religion, as well as age, gender, and social class. Within the flow of life that continues eternally, from a past with no beginning to a future with no end, we are all given finite lives to lead, from our births to our deaths. We cannot live for even a moment in the absence of others.

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the mask Cantata

When you enter this building, please first face the mask Cantata, hanging on the wall, examine your heart, and rid yourself of your ego.

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