On new years day Emily and I visited our local Buddhist temple where we met the head priest playing with his grandchildren. Emily’s Japanese ancestors’ ashes are interred here so our family has many chances to visit this particular temple. I walk through the temple grounds each day on my way to work and the setting is especially tranquil at dawn when only the birds are awake and the sun has not yet risen above the hills. The priest is a very kind and gentle man with a great respect and fondness for Daruma, the founder of the Zen sect of Buddhism. Images of Daruma are everywhere within the grounds of his temple which has stood for over 400 years along a stretch of the famous Tokaido highway.
