The Grand Temple of Daikoku

KOMACHI'S TRAVEL GUIDE:

The tallest building in Ryoko Owari is also one of the most beautiful. Pilgrims from all over Rokugan come to the Temple of Daikoku to ask for a blessing from the Abbot, or to pray to the Fortune of Wealth. Few merchants passing along the Mountain Goblin's Rest Road will miss the opportunity to visit the temple - if only to marvel at the strange antics of the monks, or stare at the statue in the courtyard. Twenty feet tall and made of pink granite carried all the way from the Dragon clan mountains, it is the largest statue of Daikoku in the world!

MOROSUKE'S HISTORY:

Shosuro Kurodo is said to have had his idea for making Ryoko Owari a wealthy city aftera conversation with a monk at the Temple of Daikoku. The story is that Kurodo was praying for guidance. He prayed so hard that sweat poured from his forehead and trickled down his nose. He prayed like a man in torment, begging the Fortunes to show him how to make his city prosperous. As he was praying, a monk entered the temple carrying a great sack, which he flung down on the floor with a loud crash. Kurodo's eyes twitched open, and he watched as the disheveled monk sat on the floor and mopped his brow.
"What are you doing?" demanded Kurodo. "Can't you see I'm trying to pray here?"
"Really? What for?" asked the monk.
"I want to know how to make my city prosper, but it's clear I'll never receive an answer with you distracting me."
At this, the monk burst into laughter. "Truly you are a master of paradox," said the monk. "How can the answer you seek be a distraction from seeking the answer?"
"What nonsense are you talking?"
"The kind of nonsense that will save your city." the monk said.
''You can tell me?"
"No - but I can stop you from shutting your own mouth. Then you'll tell yourself."
Kurodo was only becoming more and more confused.
"All day, I have been carrying this burden," the monk said, gesturing at his sack.
"It's heavy. It's bulky. It strains my muscles and pains my back. All day I have been praying to get rid of it, hoping to be free from this burden, wanting nothing more than to get it out of my sight Do you know what it is, this burden I shun?"
Kurodo shook his head.
The monk opened the sack, and coins spilled out - copper, silver, even gold. "It is treasure," the monk said. "I wish to be rid of the very thing which others want. A wise man sees value where others see dross."
At that moment, Kurodo realized what he had to do.