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Feb. 26th, 2003 09:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
riot_nrrrdTonight after kaichin (evening sutras), I did shuya with Corey. Shuya is, quite possibly, the coolest job one can have at Sogenji-- it involves walking around the temple grounds with a flashlight and a set of clappers, chanting sutras and checking doors and windows. This in itself is cool enough, as you get to wander around the grounds and the main temple building, which is a veritable labyrinth of curtains, stairs, sliding doors, tatami, and hidden corners packed with altars and old furniture. Then Corey told me that one of the reasons we chant is to ward off evil spirits. At first my thought was, "Oh, what a quaint old custom," and I just sort of chanted for the hell of it. Then we entered a graveyard and Corey stopped dead.
"Did you feel that?" Corey whispered.
"Um..."
"Did you?"
"I think I heard a small sound back there," I replied.
"I've seen ghosts in there," Corey said.
I don't know if I really believe in ghosts. What I do know is that Corey is an unusually sensitive person. What I also know is that after he told me that, I made sure to chant just a bit louder, hit the clappers together just a little bit harder, and that when the time came to return to the guest house, I was scared to go.
"Did you feel that?" Corey whispered.
"Um..."
"Did you?"
"I think I heard a small sound back there," I replied.
"I've seen ghosts in there," Corey said.
I don't know if I really believe in ghosts. What I do know is that Corey is an unusually sensitive person. What I also know is that after he told me that, I made sure to chant just a bit louder, hit the clappers together just a little bit harder, and that when the time came to return to the guest house, I was scared to go.
