Shiraishi is an island of trances, a place where one is lured into long contemplative pauses. I can sit on top of the mountain and look out over the sea for hours, awed by the beauty of the Inland Sea. Like getting lost in your favorite song, or an entire CD, these are the moments when our mind is so completely open that we are at peace with ourselves and at peace with the world.

Any short walk into the mountains here will give one numerous geological wonders to ponder -- rock formations and boulders in the most precarious teetering positions, launching the mind into considering the geological origins of the island and the answer to that nagging question: why hasn't that one dropped yet? Yet other times I get captured unaware, such as this morning when, lured by the chanting of priests, I followed the path up to the temple, the Bussharito.

Bussharito is a Thai-style temple built in 1970 in the fold of the mountains where early morning fog likes to gather. The building itself is a white dome with a golden spike on top. Inside, among Thai paintings and luxurious gold accouterments is said to lie some of the sacred ashes of Buddha. At this time of year, the building is open for people to go inside in a yearly ceremony called the Bussharito Matsuri, and this occasion was cause for the Buddhist chanting today.