Prologue – The mission of this time
To accompany Ryokyu san to the “International Sangha Forum,” where 2,000 Buddhist monks from around the world (mainly from Asian countries) would gather to give speeches.
The forum was an unprecedented attempt in history to bring together monks from Pali and Sanskrit cultures (simply put, “Theravada Buddhism” and “Mahayana Buddhism”).
Following Ryokyu san through the viewfinder
I followed Ryokyu san through the viewfinder as a photographer.
What I found was Ryokyu san’s always relaxed atmosphere.
And his smile was making others smile as well .
The first person we met in Mumbai was Mr. Jaideep.
He was the person who found Ryokyu san’s wallet five years ago in Hiroshima.
They had only said a few words at that time, but he treated us to the best Indian food and invited us to his house for great hospitality.
↑ With Mr. Siddharth (the one in the black T-shirt) and Mr. Jaideep (the one with short hair).
Next was Mr. Siddharth, whom Ryokyu san had also only talked to for 10 minutes before leaving for India.
Even though with his intuition, Ryokyu san invited Siddharth to Mumbai for the meeting.
He was a former IT engineer at Intel, Amazon and Microsoft, such a super-elite. However, he gave up his entire career to follow a Hindu master.
Siddharth was the perfect person for the new project we were looking for.
←Meetings at the hotel everyday
In addition, Tushar is Gandhi’s great grandson. (Ryokyu san did not even know that Tushar was living in Mumbai at first)
On the second day, we had lunch together with warm friendly feelings , together with Tushar, Jaideep, and Siddharth.
Just that day, a video centered on an interview with Tushar’s father, Arun Gandhi, was completed. We were able to let Tushar as first person to watch it.
Tushar was very pleased with the video and Jaideep was in tears when ened.
At that moment, I thought how fortune we are that we have someone like Satoshi Suzuki, a director who produces works that touch people’s hearts, .
I would like to invite everyone to see this film.
↑Mr.Tushar watching the video
Sanno Bamba
Flame of Hope Ambassador, Shiga Japan
In his early twenties, he traveled around backpacking mainly in Asia. After a life of living day to day searching, he found the path of Tao.Shiatsu.
He became a practitioner of Tao Shiatsu and also a Buddhist monk at Wada Temple, devoting himself to various activities of the Flame of Hope .
He is a percussionist of the official Flame of Hope band “AMINADABU”.