Great Buddha, Todai-ji Temple, Japan

Photographer Andrés García (flickr.com); CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

This is a front view of the Great Buddha statue of Todai-ji "Great Eastern") Temple in Nara, Japan. Tōdai-ji is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu. The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the Kegon School of Buddhism. 

• Celestial guardian king (Komokuten): Detail of one of the protective celestial guardian devas in Tōdai-ji Temple in Nara, Japan.

Understanding Buddhism with Alan Watts

Pacifica Radio Los Angeles airs talks by the great British Buddhist teacher (philosopher-entertainer) Alan Watts every Sunday morning at 8:00 am. Those talks are then made available through the AUDIO ARCHIVES for 90 days following broadcast. It is "Buddhist Radio" for Los Angeles followed by a full night of Buddhist and other spiritual programming on Tuesday through Friday (but especially Thursday) nights from 3:00-6:00 am (and in the archives the following day) for Roy of Hollywood's show, "Something's Happening."

Monk burns down temple ousting hornets

Todaiji Temple monks carry torches on balcony and light up Nigatsudo Hall during climax of two-week ceremony in Nara, central Japan, 3/12/08.

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- A Japanese monk trying to rid his temple of a hornet's nest panicked when the hornets attacked him. He dropped a torch, burning his temple to the ground, police said Thursday.

The Buddhist monk had put lighted rags on a stick into the nest in the temple, but dropped it and ran when the hornets flew out and attacked him, Niigata prefectural police official Yuichi Ozaka said. The fire occurred Wednesday.

He said the monk, Atsushi Sato, 41, suffered burns on his ears, face, and left hand, but was not stung. The temple in Ojiya City, northern Japan, was burned to the ground, along with the nest, Ozaka said. Police said Sato's burns were not life-threatening.

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Shunie is believed to burn down evil spirits to mark the coming of spring (Photo).