Word 043
Near Tōdai-ji, tucked within the grounds of Nara Park, stands Shōsō-in. Since the Nara period, this treasure house has quietly held the personal belongings of Emperor Shōmu and countless precious objects — its doors carefully kept for approximately 1,300 years.
What rests inside — silks, glassware, ancient medicines, documents — has never been held as anyone's private property. It has simply remained, as something to be passed on to those who come after.
Light falls softly on the log-timber walls. Far removed from the noise of praise and blame, this building stands, always quietly, just as it always has.
When we let go of attachment to gain and loss, the richness of the heart begins to settle into place.
Once the richness of the heart is in place, material wealth will follow on its own.
Perhaps this place stands on the far side of a time that asked nothing more than to simply be — rather than to gain.