I originally lived as an ordinary housewife.
As you know, though, this world is a succession of suffering – or when seen from the converse perspective, you could say that it is precisely in suffering that life exists.
The first big shock I experienced was my parents' divorce.
What's more, I found out that my parents kept meeting in secret after the divorce, and together with coming to understand the deep subtleties of the sexes, the fact is I also was not a little hurt.
When I myself was blessed with the ties of marriage I was 26.
My husband was quite kind, so much that and when we found out in our first year of marriage that we were going to have a child, I wanted to jump for joy.
However...the higher is the peak of happiness, the greater is the shock when you're knocked down from it, I was to find out.
Yes, my first child miscarried.
This ordeal not only robbed us of our child, it also almost robbed me of my own life. I turned as white as a sheet, and my blood pressure fell to 80 over 60 and failed to rise.
When I asked later, I was told that the people around me thought I had no chance to live and were on the verge of giving up hope.
I fortunately managed to hang onto life, but the chance to meet the child I was supposed to have was taken from me forever.
I was a wreck both physically and mentally, and my mother made supplications for me to a range of gods and Buddha.
For my part, though, I observed my mother doing this with a certain sense of detachment.
However, as I watched my mother running about with single-minded devotion for her daughter, something in me began to change.
"Prayer must not be left up to others."
This thought began naturally to grow in my heart.
I had a change of heart, and offered up prayers to my ancestors with humility.
As I did this each day, little by little, my body strangely began to feel better.
This was the big event that put me on the path to training.
Thereafter I undertook a succession of training regimens that took me to the edge of death, including yokakan sekishitsu danjiki gyo (eight-day fast in a stone chamber) and hassenmai ogoma ku (ritual burning of 8,000 goma sheets).
I was also fortunate enough to make the fateful acquaintance of the eminent monk Bome Qamba Lozhoi of Tibet.
Bome Qamba Lozhoi's official honorific title is Eminent Monk Bome Qamba Lozhoi.
There's no room for doubt that the major undertaking of erecting Qambalin would not have become reality without the encounter with Bome Qamba Lozhoi.
It all began precisely with the firm determination of faith, and every day I am grateful for the support of the people around us day in and day out.
In Tibetan, "Qamba" refers to the bodhisattva Maitreya, and "lin" means "temple."
"Qamba" also appears in Bome Qamba Lozhoi's name, and has an extremely prestigious ring to it.
In building Qambalin, together with this temple of Kurikara Fudoji, I feel such joy it makes me shiver, as well as a sense of responsibility coupled with tension and determination.
This is Japan's first authentic Tibetan Buddhist temple, and is visited by many worshippers not only from Japan, of course, but also from abroad.
Nothing would make me happier than if all of you who view this website would also come visit us without hesitation when life gives you setbacks or your heart is heavy.
I look forward to your visit.
Eibin Morishita (Qamba Chodon)
