Each Person Has Their Own Timing
In the western part of Nara City, a short bus ride from Kintetsu Tomio Station, Ryosen-ji Temple sits among the hills. It is said to have been founded in the Nara period at the wish of Emperor Shomu, and Bodhisena, the Indian monk who presided over the eye-opening ceremony of the Great Buddha, is said to have named it Ryosen-ji because these hills reminded him of Vulture Peak in his homeland. The main hall, built in the Kamakura period, is a National Treasure, and the three-storied pagoda with its cypress-bark roofs is an Important Cultural Property. The two still face each other across a small valley.
Just inside the temple grounds, on the north side of the path, lies a rose garden that opened in 1957. About two thousand rose bushes of some two hundred varieties grow here, and they bloom in spring and in autumn. In spring, large flowers open all at once, but autumn roses are said to be different. Because the air grows cooler, the buds take longer to open, and in return, their colors deepen and their fragrance grows richer.
In an autumn rose garden, even on the same bush, a flower opened fully in deep crimson may stand right beside a hard bud whose petals are still tightly closed. In caring for roses, the branches are often trimmed back at the end of summer. After that, when each flower opens is left to each bush.
Do not lament to others, 'Why won't you do as I told you?' or 'How long are you going to keep dawdling?'
No matter how wonderful the advice, no matter how good it may be for that person, people will not take action unless they decide for themselves to do it.
Each person has their own timing.
And in life, our own freedom and our own responsibility coexist.
Respect that, and gently watch over them.
I walk once around the garden and head back the way I came. The hard bud I saw earlier is still closed. Across the path, at the top of the stone steps, the pagoda stands quietly, and here in the garden, the autumn roses open, each at its own pace. In the garden of Ryosen-ji, nothing is in a hurry.