Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Stories1st: Temple in Taiwan

DMAE: A hot, muggy day in February, just outside of Taipei, Taiwan, climbing up the rock steps to the white temple. I hear about a hundred voices singing far away: Ami Tofa.

SOUND: WOMAN CHANT

A woman at a temple in the middle of downtown Taipei sang this song to me:

WOMAN: NAMU AMI TOFA, NAMU AMI TOFA

DMAE: She kept singing it over and over. I was wondering if she was trying to teach it to me. At the time, I didn't know it was a chant. And I didn't know what "Ami Tofa" meant. Then the woman told me about another temple, high in the clouds, where she said people sing and chant every night. I hop on a bus with Chinese map in hand, and keep pointing to the location the lady marked on the map. The Taiwanese like Americans, and whether you ask for it or not, people always help you in Taiwan. In my broken Chinese I ask for directions and point to the map. When words fail, people gently pushed me in the direction that I should walk. And here I am, climbing up rock steps that seem to go on for miles. The voices urge me on.

SOUND: VOICES SINGING AMI TOFA

DMAE: Ami Tofa. A salutation for Amitaba Buddha. I reach the top of the hill and through a slight fog I see it. The white temple. It's beautiful. And the kind lady was right. There are a hundred people singing.