God’s Sacred Grove

Posted by Keith Graff on June 30, 2009

What if God came down to Earth one day and told you that he would grant you just one wish? What would you wish for? Many cultures have myths and legends of God or some other spirit being coming down from on high and granting wishes to mere mortals such as you or me. My personal favorite was Barbara Eden on the old “I dream of Jennie” TV reruns but now I’m digressing so back to the story.

Let’s just say that once upon a time God came to down Earth, to a specific place, and on that one very special day and granted everyone who happened to be there a wish. On top of that, let’s imagine that he was so pleased to do it the first time that he promised to come back to the exact same place on the same day each and every year to give everyone who showed up the same deal! What would you do then?

According to legend, such a place does exist. It’s located in Okinawa on the southwestern slopes that lead up to Shuri Castle. Here there is a small grove of trees and many of these trees are said to be over 300 years old. Anyone who watched the “Lord of the Rings” movies can tell you that Three-hundred years is not very long in “tree” years but, given the intensity of the Battle of Okinawa around that particular area a little over 60 years ago, suddenly the existence of this grove and the age of the trees becomes pretty amazing.

You see, everything else around the area was completely flattened during the battle, the castle included! The fact that the old trees are still be standing in spite of this tells you that this is a very special place indeed. This place, according to the local folklore is a holy place. This is a place where the things people thought impossible is in fact, completely possible.

When we visited the grove we noticed several small stone altars for presenting offerings scattered about the area and although it looked somewhat dark and foreboding, there was not a scary feeling to the place. We made our way around the grove, stopped at several of the altars and gazed up at the knotty old trees. No doubt, these have been here for a long, long time! If they could talk you could just imagine the stories they could tell.

Toward the west end of the grove visitors will find one very large tree with a hollow in it. Inside the tree hollow there is a small golden Buddha. In front of the Buddha there is a yet another small altar for burning incense and where people leave coin offerings. Typically people leave just three coins and by the looks of it on that day, a lot of people had been there to pray before we arrived on the scene.

Next to this tree is a small sign written in Japanese. It briefly tells the story of how in the year 1660 on the 15^th day of the sixth month on the Chinese lunar calendar, God came down from heaven to this very spot. The people worshipped him and it pleased God so much so that he granted everyone who was there at the time a wish. It says he was so moved by the piety of the people that as he left and ascended back into heaven, he promised to return to the same spot on the same day each year and hear the people’s prayers.

Since then, the local people have taken great care to preserve the grove and keep it a place fitting for a heavenly visit. Each year, on that appointed day, people by the will come to the grove in droves, stop by each of the altars and pray for their one wish. According to the sign, as they pray, they are to leave just three coins, the denomination is unimportant. Even so, given these uncertain economic times, I expect that this year, at least God is going to make out pretty good.

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Tags: Buddha, castle, God, grove, Okinawa, Shuri Jo, wish

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