Not How Much, But How Much Love — A Lesson from Tōshōdai-ji
Tōshōdai-ji temple was built by the monk Ganjin — who reached Japan only on his sixth attempt.
He had endured storms, shipwrecks, and imprisonment. When he finally arrived, he had lost his sight entirely.
Yet he spent his remaining years giving his full heart to every person he met. Not striving for great deeds — simply meeting each person, each day, with everything he had.
That quiet devotion still lingers in the air of Tōshōdai-ji.
A great person once said:
"What matters is not how many great things we do,
but how much love we put into what we do."
Even if we find ourselves in the same place, with the same people, day after day —
let us be grateful for each meeting as a once-in-a-lifetime encounter, and approach it with our whole heart.
Is that not what it means to live today to the fullest?
"How much love we put into it" — perhaps that is all that truly remains.