or Reverend Koushun Fuji, February 8, 1996, began at 4 a.m. with a ritual purification under a tiny waterfall at the Konjoin Buddhist Temple in Kyushu, Japan. Two hours later, a gong signaled the start of sunrise chanting. By midmorning, the devotional songs gave way to the beeps and clicks of a computer, as Koushun resumed work on the 500-year-old temple's home page.

Thirty years ago, Koushun was born in this temple, one of 3,000 maintained by the Tendaishu Buddhist sect in Japan. Koushun's father, mother, and sister are also Buddhist monks. What sets the younger Fuji apart, however, is a fascination with cyberspace, which he cultivated during eight years of study in the United States.

It is Koushun's desire to link Japan's other Tendaishu temples to the Internet. But more than anything, he wants to use the Internet to work for the good of others and enlighten the world about Buddha's compassionate teachings. "Nowadays the world is falling seriously ill, but it is not too late for us to make changes," he says. "Tendai Buddhism would like to use the Internet as one of the great communication tools to bring peace to the world.''