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Created on Sunday, 06 January 2008 21:12 |
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Tucked away in the pine-clad mountains of central Han, the farming community of Sarayashiki is one of the few harsh and rural areas in the land. Near this rural landscape is small temple and inside the temple is a wooden statue of Saint Nichirou. In the fall, the autumn Doburoku Festival, a harvest giving thanks during which gallons of unrefined ''doburoku'' sake are imbibed and lion dances are held as revelers process through the town. It was during this twenty-second year of the Meiji, that a baby girl was abandoned in front of the temple gate. She was wrapped in an old silk kimono, she head resting on a woman's sandal with a broken strap. Nothing with the baby revealed any clue to her name and age. "In those days, the Elder of the Sarayashiki village was an old man named Tamura Nissou. Tamura was engaged in his morning prayers when his old gatekeeper came to inform him of the abandoned baby. The priest, half-turning to the gatekeeper as if nothing unusual had happened, replied, 'Well, bring him here!' "When the gatekeeper returned, awkwardly holding the baby, the priest took the child at once, cradling it comfortably in his arms. 'Oh, what a pretty baby you are!' he said softly. 'Don't cry! Don't cry! I'll take care of you now.'
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"Nissou named the abandoned child Lasha, and he cared for her as if the girl were his own daughter. Lasha was a term of unwavering love and joy Nissou often used. It wasn't an easy task caring for the little one, as there were no women in the temple at all.
Nissou himself took care of the baby, cradling and feeding him in spare moments between his daily prayers. "Nissou often sermonizes to visitors at the temple, He tells them of the abandon child. He often told people not to forget the importance of parental love as a way to show one's appreciation for Buddha. Soon more and more children were left on the steps of the temple. And each time Nissou opened his heart and armed to the abandoned ones. The Lasha children rapidly became known in the Sarayashiki village. Though pleasant and deferential children, the villagers were weary of them, why would anyone cast them away if they were not evil or vexed, they thought. The children were often stoned, or beaten if seen in near the village. Soon Nissou feared for the safety of the Lasha children? Heart broken and distressed, Nissou knew of only one thing to do. Each Lasha child was set sail in different directions of the sea. Their destinations unknown, but Nissou knew their paths would cross again........... One day.
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