Kosho Sudo, a Buddhist sculpture master craftsman from Kyoto, Japan, and students carve a statue of Buddha earlier this week. The Buddha is made of pine from Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, which was hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

There's no shortage of man-made and natural disasters, political upheavals, economic collapse and nationwide pessimism dominating the current state of affairs. This bleak societal backdrop sets the stage for the religious fervor and search for deliverance at the heart of…