fuels life of selfless service

. . . . . . ..

Last year, he went to India as a volunteer, taking along his wife, Ayako, a black belt in her own right. He was invited by Shantamrita Chaitanya (American Brandon Smith).

He is director of the Mata Amritanandamayi Center Japan and the nonprofit organization Amrita Heart, which serve Japan on behalf of Mata Amritanandamyi, nicknamed Amma, and known worldwide as the hugging saint. (Last in Tokyo, she hugged 8,500 people in three days and still had energy to spare. She'll be here in spring for four days of programs -- May 25-26 in Kobe, May 28-29 in Tokyo.)

"We were in Nagapattinam, where 20,000 died in the tsunami. Amma's organization was the first to start reconstruction there. Ayako and I went with 150 students from universities all over Japan, to help in rebuilding and introduce Japanese culture."

He says he and his wife will never forgot the faces of local children, who met them all with garlands of flowers. "They were so poor, and yet there was a vital sparkling light in their eyes-- Japanese children don't have this anymore. Sad, isn't it?"

Nor will he and his wife forget the excitement of Indian engineering students who were able to witness and experience aikido for the first time.

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3 Feb 2007
ANGELA JEFFS, The Japan Times
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20070203a1.html