★ Leonard ★
I never thought I would spend three months with Mr. Miyazaki. We get up every morning at four o'clock. We sit in the lotus position for our two-hour meditation in the dark before the sunrise.
Then I clean up the entire house while Mr. Miyazaki prepares our breakfast, and we finally eat our morning meal. He prepares a typical Japanese breakfast with white rice, miso soup, grilled salmon, and pickled vegetables. I feel as if I am the Karate Kid and Miyazaki-san is my sensei. At half-past eight, we go off to our first garden. We usually take care of two to three gardens daily. One day, he tells me.
"Leo-san, today you can cut branches, and I will hold the ladder."
He hands me the garden scissors. I have seen Mr. Miyazaki cut the branches dozens of times, but when I have to do it myself, I start to think twice about how to cut as well as my teacher. It is a simple process to cut a branch, but I hesitate on where to cut. Miyazaki-san tells me.
"You are thinking. You have to feel where the tree wants you to cut. Don't think. You always feel!"
This is completely a Zen dialogue between a teacher and a pupil. He continues.
"If you can't see where the tree wants you to cut, close your eyes, and it will show you."
It gets more Zen than I can handle. I just decide to cut wherever my hands move instead of trying to figure things out. After finishing an entire tree, Miyazaki-san looks up at the tree and says with conviction.
"Leo-san, now you know how to cut the trees!"
One evening, I find a photo of a young Japanese lady sitting on the back of a motorcycle. She has her hair in a ponytail and is smiling exuberantly. This is the only photo I can see in Mr. Miyazaki's house.
I decided to ask him about who she is when he is in a good mood. An opportunity arrives the following evening. When he is enjoying his cup of sake, I casually ask him.
"I saw a photo of a good-looking lady sitting on a motorcycle. Is she your wife?"
He turns around, looks in the direction of the frame on his desk, and quietly expresses his sorrow.
"She was my fiancée, and she died right before we were supposed to get married."
His words turn my face almost white with fear.
"I was in my early twenties, and I was driving the motorcycle with her behind me. I was trying to pass a farm truck, and all of a sudden, for no reason, the truck swayed toward us. To avoid crashing into the truck, I crossed over into oncoming traffic. We collided head-on with a car."
"I definitely thought I was dead, but I survived. Instead of me, my fiancée was dead. I kept asking God, 'Why did I survive?' It felt so unfair. The one who caused the accident survived, and the one who was innocent died."
Amazingly, he experienced the same thing as I did. I need to know what he did afterward because I might find the answer for me to move on. So I ask him.
"How did you come to terms with her death, and did you find the answer?"
He looks at me intensely and tells me the magic word.
"Faith! No matter what happens, you trust that your life will guide you to the right place. No matter how bleak everything seems to look, trust that, everything will be all right. This is what I discovered."
I hold my breath for a moment and let it out slowly. Now I know the reason why I met Mr. Miyazaki—it was to listen to this reply. I ask my last question.
"What you just told me, was it a teaching of Buddha?"
He looks at me seriously and says.
"No, I got it from a Baptist preacher from Texas!"
He laughs out loud.
The next morning, I tell him it is time for me to move on. He also knows the time has come for us to say goodbye. He hugs me and tells me.
"I will miss you, Leo-san. Please remember, if you keep searching for an answer, you will eventually find it! I learned that from my Baptist preacher as well!"
He bursts into laughter and caresses Bianco's head with his hand.
After getting into my car, I thank him again through the rolled-down window and drive out of his yard. Something tells me to go north, so I take the direction to Monterey. I realize that I ended up staying in Carmel for more than four months. Everything seems so much clearer since I met Mr. Miyazaki. I thank him again in my mind.
YOU ARE READING
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Romance"Remember me." "When I come back to you, please remember me." While Leo is waiting for his bride at the altar, Beth has a car accident on the way to the church and dies whispering some mysterious words. They just graduated from high school in Weath...
