Chapter 4: The Northern Wind – Visions of Dunhuang, China
The wind of sand brushes against his cheek.
When Shinnosuke stands in Dunhuang, he is struck by an illusion that makes him feel as if he is walking through an ancient dream.
After obtaining the pearl of “wisdom” in Sri Lanka and the pearl of “compassion” in Tibet, he is guided by the scroll of the old monk Xandao to the third place – “the sacred place where the shadows of the past speak”.
This is the Mogao Caves.
Exploded by the dry wind, thousands of Buddhas have been carved into the rock face, and hundreds of millions of prayers have been buried with the sand in this cave group.
The colors painted on the walls have already faded, and it seems as if they are calling out to him faintly from beyond time.
A man who looks like a researcher greets him. He introduces himself as Liu, and says he is studying archaeology and Buddhist thought in a fusion way.
“This is where memories sleep. Yours, and those of humanity.”
Liu guided them into Cave 300, where a mandala was painted across the ceiling.
“This is the ‘reincarnation mandala.’ You will find yourself in it.”
As if guided by those words, Shinnosuke looked up at the eyes of the Buddhas.
At that moment, the world went silent.
–It was a world that was neither a dream nor an illusion.
I was in the desert. Dressed in a monk’s robe, carrying a scroll, I was walking alone.
I hadn’t joined the caravan, I was alone, praying.
Someone asked me.
“Why do you walk?”
“To tell a story.”
“To whom?”
“To those who have yet to see. To those who are lost and seeking a light.”
At that moment, a light fell from the sky. It was a fiery pearl, different from the “pearl” he had seen before.
What burned in the sand was neither wisdom nor mercy.
It was a **”wish** itself.
Shinnosuke came back to his senses.
He opened his eyes and saw Ryuu.
“You saw it, didn’t you? Your own past.”
“…Is that mine…?”
“In this place, the depths of the soul speak of their memories. The ‘prayers’ you carried became the pearl.”
He held an amber pearl in his palm. It glowed as if sand and flame had merged into one.
“That pearl is a ‘wish from the past.’ From your past life. You were searching for your path. And now you are searching again.”
Shinnosuke nodded slightly.
“I see. You have gathered the three pearls… but they are incomplete. They’re still not enough.”
“That’s right. The ‘core’ is still left.”
Ryuu handed over an old box from his bosom.
Inside was a tiny grain of Buddha’s relic.
“This is something that drifted from Central Asia long ago. It should be entrusted to you. You must head east again.”
The wind blew again.
The sky of Dunhuang was hazy in the distance, and it felt like the sky of Japan continued beyond it.
Poem: Phantom Tower
Walking alone along the sandy road
A voice from the past called out to me. The wish I wanted to convey
still burns in my heart.
Even if its form disappears in the wind and its color fades with time
The pearl lit by this soul
will become an unquenchable fire and illuminate the future.
Chapter 5: Time of Fusion – Beneath the Holy Cross
The sky was burning red.
The far west, the ancient capital of the Middle East – Jerusalem.
In this place where three religions intersected, fought, and continued to pray, Shinnosuke stood quietly.
The three beads were now placed in his chest.
The “wisdom” he had gained in Sri Lanka, the “compassion” he had found in Tibet, and the “desire” he had discovered in Dunhuang.
But they had not merged into one; they had somehow maintained a distance within him.
Shinnosuke recalled the words that the old monk Gendo had written at the end of the scroll.
“A bead is a mirror that reflects the heart.
But a bead that does not merge is just light.
To become a true “light,”
it must melt into one under love and the cross.”
What was the “cross”?
He immediately understood that it was a Christian symbol. But it was not just a religious symbol; it was bound to have a deeper meaning.
At dusk, he climbed the Mount of Olives.
Below him, the golden dome shone, and in the distance, the Wailing Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and thousands of spires and cries of prayer intersected.
And on the hill, he met a woman.
Her name was Miriam. She was a Palestinian Christian. A young nun studying theology.
“What did you come to this place looking for?”
“To unite the pearls, the pearls of the heart.”
Miriam smiled. “So you came to learn about integration. Not about religious differences, but about what the soul desires.”
She guided Shinnosuke to the remains of an old church. The wall had collapsed, and a cross stood in the ceilingless chapel.
There was no statue of Christ in the center of the cross. Instead, a relief of a circle was carved into it.
“This is called the ‘Cross of Fusion.’ The vertical axis represents heaven and earth, the horizontal axis represents people.
The circle in the center is the ’emptiness’ where everything intersects – it’s similar to what you call the ‘middle way’ in Buddhism.”
Shinnosuke held his breath.
Something deep in his heart told him that this cross was the key to “intersecting” everything.
At night. He lined up the three beads and sat in front of the cross.
Then, he took a deep breath and chanted a mantra with his voice.
“You say On Shintama, yes.”
The beads resonated faintly.
The blue of wisdom, the peach of mercy, the amber of hope—
Their light eventually intermingled and formed a circle.
The center became empty, and a new bead was born from it.
It was a white, transparent bead with no boundaries.
Without a word, the bead melted into his heart.
Miriam said softly.
“That is love. The power to envelop existence without boundaries.”
At the end of his journey, Shinnosuke finally realized.
Wisdom is the power to see. Mercy is the power to embrace. Desire is the power to move. And **love is the “light” that integrates the three and gives life to them.** He turned east. It was time to return to Japan once again. His journey was not over yet. Now that he had the pearl in his hands, it was his turn to become the “tower.” Poem: The Pearl of Fusion
Wisdom of the East, Love of the West
Prayer of the North, Compassion of the South
Traveling through everything, gathering light
The soul now stands at the center
The past and future intersect in a cross
This “now” embraced by the circle
The place where new pearls are born
Final Chapter: The Tower of Light – Aladdin’s Lamp Reborn in the Modern Age
The sky over Tokyo was filled with countless lights.
After returning to Japan, Shinnosuke visited the mountain temple again.
The hermitage of the old monk, Gendo, was quietly there, as if nothing had changed.
However, it was Shinnosuke himself who had changed.
Carrying within him the three jewels and one light, that is, “wisdom, compassion, and desire,” and the jewel of “love” that unites them, his path was no longer that of a “practitioner.”
“Welcome back.”
The old monk seemed to smile a little.
“Is your journey over?”
“No, it has just begun. At last.”
In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city, Shinnosuke quietly began his activities.
It was not Buddhism or religion.
But it was a “practice” that was somehow similar.
He opened a small space called “Tomoshibi.”
Anyone could come and just sit. They could talk. They could cry or laugh.
A mantra was quietly written on the wall.
“On Shintama ni,” it said.
It resembled Aladdin’s lamp.
A light that does not grant wishes, but illuminates the “source” of wishes.
“Do not deny desires, but look at your wishes and re-envelop them in wisdom and compassion–”
Shinnosuke realized that practicing this was the path to “enlightenment.”
One day, a young woman came to visit. With an exhausted face, she seemed hesitant to even open her mouth.
“I can’t do anything… I don’t understand the meaning of life.”
Shinnosuke said quietly.
“Okay, just one thing. Let’s rub the lamp.”
“…Huh?”
“Recite this mantra deep in your heart.
“You say it’s a shintama, yes.”
Then, just look at your wish. It doesn’t have to come true.
But–it will surely become a “light.”
She slowly closed her eyes and recited the mantra while shedding tears.
Strangely, it felt as if the small light in the corner of the room had suddenly brightened.
Her expression softened slightly.
“…Maybe I should try to live a little longer.”
That was a miracle.
Eventually, word of the “light” quietly spread by word of mouth,
and one by one, people who had lost their place in the world, young people who had almost forgotten hope, and tired adults began to gather.
Shinnosuke said.
“This lamp is in everyone’s heart.
The wisdom that we seek to know,
the compassion that we seek to feel,
the desires that we seek to achieve,
and the love that we seek to embrace others.
When these are combined, a “light” shines in any darkness.”
This “lamp” was no longer an illusion in a story.
The true Aladdin’s lamp that lives in the modern day.
The Buddha’s relic jewel is not a treasure that exists outside of someone.
Its true nature is the light of inner life.
One night, he looked up at the sky and muttered.
“Gendo-san, I finally understand.
A stupa is something that is built within each of us.”
The wind rustled the treetops.
As if smiling.
And today, someone will open the door to the “light.”
They may be lost, but somewhere deep inside they believe.
“That lamp must be here.”
Final poem: “The pearl that becomes the light”
A wish lights up in the darkness.
Wisdom finds it, compassion envelops it, and love melts it,
and it becomes a true pearl.
The light is not for someone else, but to illuminate one’s own heart.
And now
You become that “tower.”
