Connected to Amida Buddha

Abstract

Two bodhisattvas, statues come to life, dance across a bridge. The first, Kannon Bodhisattva, extends a large lotus pedestal, carved of wood and painted gold. Twenty-three bodhisattvas have already crossed the bridge, each holding a distinctive item such as a musical instrument, a canopy, or a flower garland. They are all on their way to greet a dying person and escort her, seated on the lotus, to the Pure Land of Amida Buddha. This is the famous Welcoming Ceremony (Mukaekō) of Taimadera temple, in Japan’s Nara prefecture, which takes place every year on May 14. Crowded around the bridge are hundreds of spectators, many with cameras. No one is actually dying. This is a religious ceremony, a festival, in which observers rehearse the vision they hope to see at their own death.