Autumnal Temples

It was very rainy and chilly recently in Tokyo. Today, after the rain stopped, we went to the park and to our favourite temple. Usually, the park is very crowded on weekends. Today however, there were hardly any people around, due to the rain. This allowed us to truly spend a relaxing time together :)

I am not a religious person, but I have realized that Japanese shrines and temples make me feel much more at peace than any church ever has. I guess it is the lack of having a religion based on fear (fear of God, fear of pissing him off, fear of going to hell, etc.) and instead based upon compassion towards all living things as well as the spirituality found in all things, living or not, that blesses Japan with such peaceful and gentle people.