The Evil of the Sanjusangen-do Temple

The thousand Buddha statues (photo from the official Sanjusangen-do Temple website)

Monday, May 19th, of this year was one of the first and only times I have entered a building and felt spiritual heaviness weighing in the atmosphere. A dark, shadowy feeling of weight, yet emptiness. A place that felt almost void of God’s presence. The only spiritual light, being that which you brought within yourself as a bearer of the Holy Spirit, the love of Christ, and the protection of the Father.

My family and I were in Japan touring the Sanjusangen-do Temple in Kyoto. It is a very old temple, originally built in the 10th century. Over the years it has survived many wars and served many different purposes including huge archery competitions, coming-of-age ceremonies, and perhaps most often as a place to worship spirits. 

When my family and I went there, it was being used both as a tourist attraction, but just as much, or even more, as a temple and place of worship. To ‘respect’ the spirits within, it is required that shoes are taken off and no one is allowed to take pictures, though, ironically, their official website has lots of pictures. Inside of the building it was dark. All the wood was covered in a black lacquer that has preserved the wood through the centuries and that seemed to suck the light from the room. 

Inside the temple, there was a long, long room, lit by dim orange-yellow lights. A hall that runs down the length of the building and is lined with the famous 1,000 statues of buddhas. It was a both fascinating and downright creepy sight to behold. The statues stood rank upon rank, covered with gold, their faces calm and eyes closed as their many, many hands fan out in every direction. Each face eerily the same, yet barely different. Legions of statues, worshiped by thousands of people, chasing a false hope, and being driven desperate with fear. The air was warm and oppressive, thick with the itching scent of incense and with the shadows of evil lingering behind each devilish statue. 

A thousand faces. 

Calm. Serene. Feigning peace. 

Some male, some female. Some thin, some fat. Different, yet all the same.

The stories say they are statues of men and women who could have become enlightened but decided to stay behind to help relieve humans of suffering and pain. What a cunning lie. What a clever deceit. 

In front of the legions of golden buddhas stood the twenty-eight guardians of the temple. Each of them represent different elements such as thunder, wind, water, love, victory, fertility, music, and so on. These statues are made of gray stone, their golden embellishments fading and tarnishing. Their eyes are made of crystal, glinting off of the faint light as they glare down at all who look upon them. Fire is carved upon many of them. Their eyes are slanted as they bare their teeth, each uniquely designed and each looking like demons straight from hell. 

"a powerful warrior god who can scare evil"

Thousands of people worship these images: infernal beings attempting to be God and to take His place. The people close their eyes to truth and beg the cruel deities for aid, peace, children, rain, and salvation. The human leaders and priests of this temple sell candles to fulfill wishes, incense to appease the gods, and prayers to make people heard. Worship is not free. You have to pay to gain extra assurance and a higher chance of being noticed and the slight possibility of favoring the gods.

Do the statues hear them? Can they smell the incense or see the kneeling men? Do they have throats to answer their subjects or hands and feet to fulfill the requests? 

No. They don’t. 

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 

They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 

They have ears, but do not hear; noses but do not smell. 

They have hands but do not feel; feet but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat.

Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.” (Psalm 115:4-8 ESV)

These statues are idols— demons, reveling in the worship and the fear of a nation led astray. They do not care for man except as a means of personal pleasure and as a way of lashing out against God and stealing His sheep.

When will the worshipers of such darkness open their eyes? They are becoming like the statues they worship. Blind, deaf, mute, and immobile, turning their backs on the Truth and on the Light of God. 

In the very center of the hall, amidst those thousand buddhas is one huge statue of a buddha. Sitting at eleven feet tall, with forty-two hands, this meditating god loomed above in the darkness, shrouded in shadow. It was terrifying. I could feel the heavy darkness of its presence and the anger of the thousands of demons. Anger that a child of the Christ would dare enter their sanctuary and to whisper prayers to the God whom they hate. 

The Sanjusangen-do Temple needs Jesus. Those people, the blind demon-worshippers, need Him. They desperately need the Light of the Gospel to break through the fear and the empty weight of hellish darkness. For their god and idols can do nothing for them. The people are selling their souls but still receive no hope. They are walking deep into the darkness. Christendom is sorely needed to chase the demons away. The men and women need a God who actually listens to them; a God who cares and who offers more than a vague possibility of maybe fulfillment. 

They need a God who offers undying, steadfast love. A God who died so that His people could live.

The Sanjusangen-do Temple Garden; (This is a photo I took)

Right outside of the Sanjusangen-do Temple is a beautiful garden. Pools of water swimming with vibrant koi fish, bright purple and pink flowers, towering trees, mossy rocks, soaring birds, and sunlight shining down on everything. I saw it as a promise, a reminder, and a bit of hope: 

The temple may be dark and filled with heavy shadows, lost men, and deceptive idols, but God is not far off. He is still the All Powerful, Almighty Creator. The temple is dark, but the sun is still bright, the flowers and creatures of His hands are as beautiful as ever. 

Even in a place full of sin, God’s light is nearby waiting to be found, waiting for His people to open their eyes, waiting for the moment when it may shine into every shadow, breaking the darkness, liberating His people, and destroying His enemies. 

May this day come soon.

All photos are from the Sanjusangen-do Temple website (https://www.sanjusangendo.jp/) unless otherwise specified.