by C. S. Elston
“Wow. I thought you said this wasn’t your area of expertise.”
“It’s not. But, I did have to learn the basics so I could talk to the kids that come to our camp. This is what they come from. The craziest part of all of this, and this is what usually blows these kids’ minds, is that Buddha had a Hindu background but he was basically an atheist. He didn’t want to start a religion. Quite the opposite. He believed Hinduism had turned into the worship of all these false idols and that was what was holding people captive to a life of suffering. He was right about that. But, where I would say he went wrong was, while they did need to turn away from worshipping their false idols, what they needed to do instead, was worship the one and only true God. Instead, they took his teachings and thrust all their false idols back into the mix. All you have to do is look around here at all of these temples and shrines. They’re littered with false idols. He’d be intensely disappointed with what people have done with his teachings.”
“Sounds familiar,” Rio responded ponderously.
“You mean the way the Jews turned to false idols? Like in the desert?”
“Yep.”
“Someone just read the book of Exodus,” Luke teased. “You’re getting it. Keep reading. That’s a consistent issue. People often want to create their own gods to fit their own selfish desires. What they’re really doing is making a god out of themselves. That’s pride. The root of all sin. Then, when they don’t get their way, they want to blame God for the ills of their world or the world at large but, true enlightenment comes when you realize God’s not the problem, He’s the answer. Unfortunately, people and their acceptance and embracing of pride and sin are the real problem.”
Rio listened intently as she finished her sandwich. She treasured these deep conversations with Luke. She felt like they were a window into his soul and the view continued to get more beautiful every time they talked. Rio also appreciated the fact that she was learning so much about things that she had never considered in her life but now seemed so important. These were the things that truly transformed people. They were timeless falsehoods and truths that had shaped the world. And, knowing the truth was always fascinating to Rio.
What she didn’t know was how close they were to their destination. She was only moments away from seeing her first Buddhist monastery. Perhaps even more fascinating to Rio would have been knowing that with each step she took, she was getting closer to discovering the truth about the fate of Sota Tanaka.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Invitation
As Luke and Rio rounded a corner of the trail they were on, flanked on either side by thick groupings of maple trees, all signs pointed to the monastery being close by. Suddenly, the trail was lined with stones and railings made of bamboo trees. As the elevation of the path grew steeper, it also included steps made of cedar wood sanded into perfect cylinders and pounded into the dirt before being locked into place with two smaller cedar wood spikes in the front of each end.
“Looks like we’re close,” Luke announced.
Rio’s heart sped up as they began climbing the stairs on the windy path. The stairs had varying sizes of dirt platforms from three to eight feet that made any real sense of rhythm in their stride impossible. She was tired from the long hike but Rio’s leg movement sped up to match her heart rate.
“Maybe we should look for a spot to set up camp,” Luke said as he tried to keep up with Rio.
“We can’t stop now,” Rio fired back.
“I’m just thinking the sun will be going down in a couple of hours and we don’t want to have to set up in the dark. Maybe we should pitch the tent and then go looking for someone to talk to.”
“I can’t wait,” Rio exclaimed. “Can’t we at least get a look at the place first?”
“Sure. If I don’t have a heart attack first. I swear you’ve got the stamina of a wild stallion.”
“I’m sorry,” Rio said as she finally slowed down to a more typical pace. “I’m just excited.”
“I know,” Luke agreed. “Me, too. But, I’d like to get up there and not be worried that I’m going to throw up on a monk.”
Rio started giggling as she stopped altogether. She handed him her canteen and he took a big drink of water. He handed it back to her and she did the same.
“Better?” she asked him.
“Better. Thanks.”
They started their climb again, this time at a pace they could both handle, and ultimately arrived at another staircase. This one was all cement, lined on both sides with rocks of all shapes and sizes, and huge cedar trees, all of it covered in moss that displayed itself in varying shades of green. The new staircase was extensive and the vertical angle of it seemed less staircase and more ladder. It led straight up to a tall, ornate building with a white picket fence in front of it that almost seemed out of place.
“Does this qualify as a look,” Luke began to ask even though he already knew the answer, “or, are we about to climb another insanely long and steep staircase?”
Rio looked at him and smirked before she started moving, now even more quickly than she had when Luke complained of being close to a heart attack. This time, he breathed a deep sigh and then followed but at his own pace. By the time Luke reached the top, Rio was gone. He spun in both directions and finally spotted her about fifty yards away, already making a new friend who couldn’t have been much older than them.
Luke approached and heard Rio doing all the talking. Her words were flying out of her mouth as fast as her feet had just been moving. This was particularly impressive to Luke since the words were all Japanese. The short, round, bald man was quietly nodding and when Luke stopped next to Rio, the man bowed and walked away.
“Hey,” Rio started to say as she turned toward Luke, “slow-poke.”
“Cute,” Luke responded to Rio between deep breaths.
“Thanks,” Rio teased, knowing full well that Luke was referring to her comment on his tardiness and not to the way she looked.
“No, I meant . . . Either way. Who’s your new friend?” Luke asked, changing the subject.
“I never got his name. In fact, he never said anything at all.”
“He’s probably taken a vow of silence.”
“Oh,” Rio said as her eyes widened, “I hadn’t thought of that. No wonder he’s such a good listener. I can think of a few people back home that might want to consider taking a vow like that.”
“I hear ya.”
Luke and Rio finally looked around at the beautiful architecture of the gorgeous building that they were standing in front of. There were three main floors to the building but there were towers that went up four more floors in each corner and every layer had beautiful, slanted roofs with pointed edges. There was a lot less color than most of the other religious buildings they had previously seen. This building was primarily white with dark red trim and a dark green roof.
“Beautiful,” Luke commented.
“Yeah,” Rio agreed. “I wonder how they got all of the materials back here to build this thing?”
“Monks are nothing if not patient.”
“Good point.”
Finally, the man returned. He brought another man with him. This one was much older. He was also tall, skinny, and had long, white, braided hair with a beard that matched. Rio immediately thought he looked like he could have stepped out of one of the old Kung-Fu movies her step-dad, Anthony, used to watch back home.
“Let’s hope this one talks,” Rio whispered to Luke as they were approaching.
The tall man immediately introduced himself as Gorou and his fellow monk as Orochi. He confirmed Orochi’s vow of silence and then dismissed Orochi to return to the gardening that he had been doing when Rio first approached him. Gorou then began addressing Luke and Rio and they were immediately taken with what a different demeanor the man had. He wasn’t exactly cold but, he certainly wasn’t warm. There was nothing mean-spirited about him but he wasn’t offering genuine kindness. Later that night, in bed, Ri
o would decide that if she had been forced to describe it in a word, she would choose hollow.
Rio explained her predicament to Gorou and showed him the decades-old picture of Sota and Yoshito. She could tell right away that he recognized Sota but he didn’t say one way or the other. Instead, he simply invited them to come inside.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Buddhist Hospitality
Unfortunately, Rio did not get all of the answers that she was seeking. She did, however, confirm that Sota had lived at the monastery for many years. As a matter of fact, his time there had been divided over two separate periods. In between those periods, he had done a stint at a Shinto shrine in Shizuoka on the Suruga Bay called the Kunōzan Tōshō-gū Shrine. Gorou also stated that, he thought he remembered Sota had spent very short periods of time at both the Kurama-dera Temple back where they had gotten off the train and the Kifune Shrine just east of Mount Kurama.
Although she remembered Luke saying that the Shinto and Buddhist religions had essentially merged into shared space within the Japanese culture, Rio couldn’t help but think that Sota’s inconsistency and possibly even restlessness and indecisiveness seemed like he was a man without focus. Or, perhaps, a man in search of something he had not yet been able to find. At least, not by the last time Gorou remembered hearing anything about him. Rio appreciated the new information but, couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed at the fact that, as they continued to find answers, those answers seemed to raise more questions, and a conclusion to the mystery of Sota Tanaka still seemed to be out of sight.
Gorou invited Luke and Rio to stay for a meal and some sleep before departing in the morning. Rio’s instinct was to graciously turn the offer down out of fear that Gorou felt obligated to make the proposal. However, Luke quickly stepped in and accepted to keep Gorou from being unintentionally insulted.
After setting their bags in their rooms, they had dinner with the monks. It was the quietest meal Rio had ever eaten in a room full of people. There was more slurping and click-clack of dishes and chop-sticks than speaking. The meal included three small bowls. None of which Rio thought looked particularly flavorful. One bowl contained rice, another had a variety of pickled vegetables that included a heavy amount of bamboo shoots and had a distinctly ginger flavor, and the third was full of cold squash soup with wasabi mustard greens. Rio was surprised by how delicious all the food was and by how consistently salty the dishes were.
Shortly after dinner, Rio said goodnight to Luke and then settled into her room to read more of the Holy Bible. Neither she nor Luke was surprised by the fact that monks go to bed early. So, that gave her extra time to read. She read the next six books, some of which were significantly shorter than others, as well as bits of 1 Chronicles, a small number of the Psalms and most of 1 Samuel before Luke knocked on her door and she realized the morning had gone from dawning to daylight.
“Good morning,” Luke said as Rio opened the door and realized he was completely ready to go.
“Good morning,” Rio responded as Luke noticed the Bible in her hands.
“You hooked yet?”
“What?” Rio asked before realizing he was referring to her Bible reading. “Oh, yeah. It’s far more interesting than I ever thought it would be. There are times when I’m reading names of people and tribes like Nimrod, Phineas, the Edomites, and the Witch of Endor, or places like Hamath, Canaan, and Gath and I could swear I’m reading the Lord of the Rings.”
“I can see that,” Luke said with a chuckle.
“Of course, that could also be because everyone seems to be the son of . . . Like, I can’t imagine being called Rio, daughter of Toki. What a mouthful.”
“No kidding,” Luke agreed. “No wonder we’ve simplified it over time. Looks like you’re pretty deep into that dense piece of historical literature.”
“Yeah,” Rio agreed. “Speaking of a mouthful. No wonder most people just call it the Bible.”
“That’s my way of emphasizing the point that you’re not whipping through some little piece of fluff. That’s a heavy read.”
“Oh. True. Well, I’m at least a quarter of the way.”
“I love that book but I can’t fathom reading it in under a week. You’re on track to do exactly that. Phenomenal.”
“It helps that I’ve given up sleeping.”
“Also incredible. Nothing ordinary about you. That’s for sure.”
“You think you’re impressed now?”
“I know I am.”
“Wait until you see how fast I get ready.”
“Let’s see it.”
It took Rio all of two minutes to throw her hair back in a ponytail, put her shoes on and tie them, put the Bible in her backpack, and return to the doorway where she stood facing Luke. She jokingly gave him a cocky shrug of the shoulders as if asking him how impressed he was.
“You certainly know how to break stereotypes,” Luke offered.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” she responded.
“I can’t even wait.”
Rio let the door close behind her as she followed Luke out of the monastery. They said goodbye to Gorou after thanking him profusely for his hospitality and kindness. Rio appreciated all he had done for them but couldn’t help wondering where the helpfulness was coming from since she still sensed an emptiness when he spoke.
They walked down the steep, mossy, concrete staircase and then the large dirt platforms framed by sanded cedar wood cylinders before entering the part of the trail lined with stones and railings made of bamboo trees. It was there that Rio began to feel a little light-headed. At first, she kept it to herself. But, as the indications of civilization disappeared and they found themselves on the portion of the trail where there was no sign of human existence, other than the trail itself, the feeling that something was wrong with her became too overwhelming to bear alone. Rio was forced to stop walking. She bent forward, placing her hands on her knees.
“Luke,” she said with an abnormal amount of breath behind the word.
Luke turned around just in time to see Rio fall backwards and land on her backpack as she began wheezing.
“Rio!” he yelled as he dropped the tent and rushed to her side, stripping off his backpack.
“What happened? What’s wrong?”
“I . . . don’t . . . know.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Mysterious Ways
Luke did the one thing he could. He exercised the only power he had in an otherwise helpless situation. He started to pray.
“Heavenly Father,” he began, “I praise you and thank you for trusting me enough to bring this amazing young woman into my life. I know you have great plans for her and I am honored to be a part of that no matter how big or small. She’s under attack right now and I don’t believe it is your will that her journey end here and now. So, please, heal her by your power and for your glory. Raise her up to do your will. It is in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, I pray this. Amen.”
Luke watched and waited but nothing changed. He looked up at the sky, then back at Rio who was wheezing so badly that she couldn’t speak.
“It’s going to be okay,” Luke told her. “God will heal you.”
Looking up at the sky again, waiting expectantly for a response from God, Luke suddenly spotted something peculiar. It was a tiny bit of movement and it was getting closer and larger. Finally, it was close enough that he knew what it was right before it hit him square between the eyes: a single rain drop. Well, that’s kind of rude, Luke thought as the impact caused him to shut his eyes. When he opened them again it was as if the single rain drop had led the way and his battalion was behind him. Headed straight for the both of he and Rio was a sky full of rain.
Within seconds, Luke and Rio were getting drenched. Luke considered lifting Rio up and taking her under a tree so that she could be more comfortable while they continued to wait on God. But, as quickly as the weather had turned from dry to a torrential downpour, Luke realized that the rain was God�
�s answer to his prayer. He looked down at Rio and saw that her wheezing had already subsided.
Luke stood up and backed away to let Rio get the full onslaught of God’s blessed healing. After only a few steps, he realized that he had walked completely out of the rain and that what he was witnessing was a tiny cloud burst, big enough only to surround Rio and completely soak her in the restorative waters sent straight from heaven.
Tears formed in Luke’s eyes as he stared at the miracle occurring in front of him. It took a few seconds for him to be able to glance away but, finally, he looked back up at the sky and praised God for the incredible blessing that he and Rio were experiencing.
When Luke’s gaze returned to Rio, she was standing up with her arms stretched out and her palms turned open to receive as much of the rain as she could. Her eyes were wide open as well and she was wearing one of the biggest smiles Luke had seen on her face so far. Her beaming face was a trigger for his own and he continued to thank and praise the Lord.
In an instant, the rain stopped. Luke was very wet but, Rio appeared as though she had worn her clothes swimming. They looked at each other, still sporting wide smiles, each of which could have lit up a room.
“Can you believe that just happened?” Luke asked like a little kid who had just stepped off a sleigh ride above his hometown with Santa and Rudolf.
“I guess I just needed water,” Rio said as her mouth finally closed without her smile fading and her eyes widened even more.
“You guess you just needed water?” Luke asked as he began to laugh loudly. “And the same God who parted the sea for Moses and the Israelites sent a healing rain specially designated for you. You guess you just needed water. Do you have any idea how significant that is?”
“I think I do,” Rio said as tears started to form in her eyes, as well. She meant it, too. The reality of God and his purpose for her life was setting in and the weight of it was substantial.
“Never in my life have I seen something that blew my mind like that just did. And, I’ve seen some crazy stuff since I met you. Plus, I fully expected God to answer my prayers. But, not like that. That was straight up, crazy, insane! I know the old cliché about the Lord working in mysterious ways but, that was phenomenal. I-I can’t believe that just happened . . . One minute you look like you’re going to die and the next, you’re standing there like Tim Robbins when he finally escapes from prison in The Shawshank Redemption. Just unbelievable . . . ”