Word 101
The Great Buddha Hall of Todai-ji has been consumed by flame twice on its way to the magnificent form it holds today.
In 1180, the hall built at the temple's founding burned to the ground during the sack of Nara by Taira no Shigehira. Rebuilt in the Kamakura period, it was reduced to ashes once more in 1567, amid the chaos of civil war.
Each time, new pillars rose from the ashes, and a new roof was raised. In 1709, during the Edo period, it was reborn as the hall we see today.
"I will never forget that painful memory." "I will never forgive that person."
Everyone carries one or two memories they wish they could erase.
But if you feel happy right now, what if you saw it this way — that every experience up until now has led you to who you are today? Even the most bitter memory becomes something you can be grateful for.
If you don't feel happy right now, perhaps it's because you're still holding on to that past you wish to erase, unable to let it go.
Everything is connected.
The Great Buddha Hall does not stand today by erasing the memory of the two fires that once consumed it. It stands quietly, even now, holding within it every trace of what was lost and rebuilt.