Its community spirit was one of the things that impressed Buddhist priest Niiyama Shizuo, 47, a local who returned here 20 years ago after studying in Kyoto.

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If we asked the question of, for example, a Buddhist priest, he or she would probably tell us that it is precisely this illusion of selfhood that makes so many in the West unhappy.

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In the United States, a Catholic woman might attend a Roman parish, work for Catholic Charities, serve as an independent Catholic priest, officiate weddings for divorced Romans on weekends and do Buddhist meditation every morning, too.

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