In his invitation to all of us to attend the Ninth London Eza, Taira Sato quoted the Four Noble Truths attributed to Gautama Buddha.

The first of these is that life is suffering.

When we look at the world as it is; at the natural disasters, not only of earthquakes and typhoons and famines, but of birth in deformity and pain and, for so many, slow death following a lifetime's agony; when we consider the endless wars and miseries that we inflict upon ourselves, and the very ferocity of the fundamental processes of natural selection which have brought us into being, it is certainly one truth.

It is a truth born out of the circumstances of the world as the Buddha saw it, and as it was seen in later ages by the writers of the ancient, sacred texts which have come down to us. But to me it seems that there is another truth - that the world we live in is also a place of beauty and of joy and peace. It is our duty and our joy, especially for those of us who are lucky in life, to try to bring that sense of beauty and of wonder, and that peace, to as many of our fellow human beings as we can.

To me, it is a sign of the vitality of the spiritual life of Shogyoji, and of the faith which so many of you share, that the Temple is spreading its own sense of peace and joy beyond its immediate confines. It is also a sign of that vitality that so many young priests and young followers are assisting in that common task.

Next to the Temple, at this very moment, there is rising, as you know, a place where the old may live, and truly 'live', and come eventually to their deaths, surrounded by love, and given courage and support, not only by their peers, but also by those who are still young and vigorous.

From that encounter both will grow in strength and understanding. It is, indeed, to carry that work forward that nineteen of you have travelled from Japan and are now gathered with us here this evening.

It is a symbol of Shogyoji, and I have spoken before about the importance of symbols, that Taira Sato, a senior Professor of Buddhist Philosophy, and his wife Hiroko, are staying in London with a very young Priest, Keimei Takehara, to establish Three Wheels as a living extension of the Temple.

As you also know, you, who are members of Shogyoji, have decided under Chimyo sama's leadership, to undertake, if it is possible, the creation of a Zen Garden here in Three Wheels.

If what you hope will come to be, is actually achieved, that too will be a place of quiet, of tranquillity and peace, a visible symbol of the Pure Land that all Buddhists seek in one way or another.

Young and old will visit it, and some will simply look and walk away, or merely glance at it and turn back to the space for talk and barbecues and happy social gatherings dose by. Others, perhaps, will stay and meditate, and some may even pass beyond all thought and simply 'be'.

As yet, there is no garden. There may never be one.

But, in this, one moment, we are here, and there is only one thing certain for us, whether we are young or old, in good health or in bad, and I will end, having as usual talked too long, by telling you a haiku which some of you already know. It is one which I wrote some thirty years or more ago, and which I hope that, whatever happens to me, I may somehow manage to live up to :-

Dying
all my life

why should I fear the one thing

I know
I can do?