London’s Peace Monk Chants, Drums and Walks to Urge an End to War

Europe|London’s Peace Monk Chants, Drums and Walks to Urge an End to War

The Buddhist monk who lives alone in a storage-room-turned-temple behind London’s Peace Pagoda was doing dishes on a recent summer evening.

“There he is,” said Vilma Ramsay, a habitual visitor to the park where the pagoda stands, pointing at a small window through which the bald monk could be seen scrubbing away. “I’ve seen him go from young to old.”

The robed man waved.

The tree-huddled grounds surrounding the pagoda in Battersea Park are a popular place for picnics, but few if any of those sprawled on blankets around it knew its secret: The same monk has been responsible for caring for the pagoda the past 41 years.

For the monk, the Rev. Gyoro Nagase, 74, most of those four decades have been spent following a precise routine, day after day.

He prays for an hour at sunrise and then chants and drums as he circumnavigates the imposing white pagoda with tiered roofs overlooking the Thames. Only the hours differ — he starts at 5 a.m. in summer, later during winter.

He then deals with upkeep of the stupa. He removes overnight litter, cleans off graffiti, polishes Buddha statues, replaces roof tiles and removes moss — with his fingernails, as necessary.