Word 018
Dawn breaks quietly over Nara.
Along the stone-lantern path of Kasuga Grand Shrine, the lanterns stand row upon row in the morning mist. They have stood here for a hundred years, for a thousand years — not to be seen by anyone in particular, but simply to be.
There is a feeling one gets in Nara: that something is watching. The gods, the Buddha, the weight of a thousand years — all holding a quiet, warm gaze over everything that lives and breathes in this ancient city.
A saying my grandmother taught me long ago: "Heaven knows. Earth knows. You know."
It is a warning: "Even if you think no one is watching, someone will always know when you do wrong."
But turn it around, and it also means: "Even if you feel completely alone, someone is always watching over you."
Which meaning did my grandmother intend? Gratitude.
The stone lanterns of Kasuga Shrine stand quietly, watching over us still.