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Aleister Crowley Diary Entry Monday, 17 June 1901
Went to K A M A K U R A.[1]
Went to Daibutsu[2] and took my refuge in the Buddha, the Dharm and the Sangha.
Also to Kwan-se-on and to Hachiman,[3] the latter invisible. I think a fraud, for I felt no force there to speak of.
My respect and lust for Alice [Mary Rogers] have disappeared together.
She is mentally nothing. But my love remains—beautiful fragments as of a Portland vase.
Ment[al] Conc[entration] Daibutsu 18 m[inutes] Fair.
1—Kamakura is located about 50 kilometres (31 miles) south-south-west of Tokyo. 2—Daibutsu or 'giant Buddha' is the Japanese term for large statues of Buddha. The great Buddha of Kamakura is a bronze statue of Amida Buddha which stands on the grounds of Kotokuin Temple. Cast in 1252, it is the second tallest bronze Buddha statue in Japan. 3—Tsurugaoka Hachimangū is the most important Shinto shrine in the city of Kamakura. It has for most of its history been not only a Hachiman shrine, but also a Tendai Buddhist Temple.
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