April, 1995, NST Myogyoji Temple Magazine
By Reverend Shoshin Kawabe, Myogyoji Temple, West Chicago
Nichiren Daishonin stated in the "Niike Gosho,"
"Ah, we do not know how soon time passes, nor how
much longer we now have to live. Those whose company we enjoyed when we
admired the cherry blossoms on a spring morning are scattered by the winds
of impermanence along with the cherry blossoms, and only their names remain
behind, with no sign of the people themselves. Though we say the cherry
blossoms have scattered, they will bloom again in the coming spring. However,
when will those who have disappeared return to the world? After those with
whom we were familiar and with whom we had fun when we admired the moon
at the end of autumn have entered the clouds of the vicissitudes of life,
only their images remain with us, saying nothing. Although the moon sets
below the western mountains, we will again admire the moon in the coming
fall. However, where do those who have passed away now reside? It remains
uncertain. Although the roar of the tiger of impermanence reaches our ears,
we are not frightened when we hear it. In how many days will the sheep
now in the slaughterhouse walk down the road of impermanence?
The Kankucho Bird of the Snow Mountains is assaulted by the bitter
cold, and though at daybreak it chirps that it will build a nest, when
the sun emerges it grows sleepy and forgetful in the warmth of the morning
sun, and it spends its entire life chirping in vain. All people are also
like this. When they fall into hell and suffocate in its flames, they vow
that the next time they are born as human beings they will set everything
aside and make offerings to the Three Treasures, and though they vow that
they will attain Buddhahood in their next life, time after time when they
return as human beings, the winds of fame, wealth and honor blow violently
and the lamp of Buddhist training and practice is easily extinguished.
They only too willingly exhaust their wealth on futile matters. It is not
unusual for them to feel lazy about making even a small offering to the
Buddha, the Law and the Priest, and they emulate the emissaries from hell.
This is what it means by "The abundance of devils prevents even the
slightest good."
Gosho Zenshu, page 1457
Good morning everyone. It is truly respectworthy of you to make a pilgrimage for the traditional Oko lecture, which is held in order to repay our debt of gratitude to the Original Buddha Nichiren Daishonin. I have humbly offered everyone's precious gokuyo to the Gohonzon, Nichiren Daishonin, Nikko Shonin and the ensuing successive Treasures of the Priest, and have offered my prayers that each of you will expiate your slander and sins, double your faith and practice, be successful in shakubuku and have safe households.
The word "Oko" derives from the Chinese character "on" and the Chinese character "ko." "On" means "respect" and "courtesy," and "ko" means "people who have heart-felt respect for the Original Buddha Nichiren Daishonin, assemble and receive his teachings."
The 18th chapter of the Lotus Sutra, the "Zuiki Kudoku" ("The Benefit of Joyful Gratitude") chapter, explains the following benefits.
1. The benefit of making a pilgrimage to a temple where the correct Law is preached and listening to a sermon is that in the future one will acquire a cart of supreme treasures and be born in the palace of a heavenly being.
2. The benefit of going to a place where the correct Law is lectured upon, sharing one's seat with another and listening to the teachings of Buddhism together is that in the future one will be born on the throne of Taishaku, Bonten or a Wheel-Turning King, all of whom are Great Kings who protect Buddhism.
3. The benefit of encouraging others and going with them to a place where Myoho-renge-kyo is preached, and listening to and receiving its teachings is that in the future one's wisdom will deepen through sagacity and one will be born with a beautiful appearance and with a robust mind and body. One will meet the Buddha for generations to come and one's good fortune will increase.
At the present time our Hokkeko membership is small, and to be honest, I see empty seats, but if we do shakubuku in earnest, the seats will gradually fill up. At that time, when we truly mutually encourage each other, share our seats with others and are diligent in the faith and practice of itai doshin (different bodies, same mind), then true benefit will appear for the first time. I would like you to somehow hold this meaning deep in your hearts as you listen to today's sermon.
It has been a little while since I last spoke of this Gosho, but now I will continue with the "Niike Gosho." One huge approach to believing in Buddhism is to know "impermanence." Other sects say the same thing, but actually this is extremely important. Recently, those who do not believe in religion have increased, and tremendous proof of this is that they have completely forgotten "impermanence." A large cause of this is the development of governmental ideology, economics and science. We could say that on one hand this is certainly causing humanity to prosper, but it is also a fact that on the other hand, by trusting in them too much, the governmental systems, medical technology and scientific products which humanity itself has created harbor many new problems for humanity. However, there is a tendency to believe without doubt in the omnipotence of science, and to think that the problems are not our problems, but are something which concerns someone else. In short, they think that "danger is not a danger." In other words, they imagine that "It poses no danger for me."
"Toki Dono Gosho" admonishes, "When a wise man is safe, his thoughts turn to danger, and when a crafty man is in danger, his thoughts turn to safety." (Gosho, page 1168)
We must go forward with this firmly in mind. Shakyamuni's Buddhist practice began with being enlightened to the "four sufferings of birth, aging, sickness and death." In short, the source of human unhappiness is not understanding what will happen in an eyelash. People who spend their difficulty filled human existence in a satisfied state probably never think that they will die tomorrow. However, those who fall into the depths of unhappiness in the world are probably able to do so. "No phenomenon can ever be maintained in its present state." This is called "impermanence," and people who heedlessly spend their days unaware of this are called "sheep now in the slaughterhouse."
Today's Gosho teaches this first of all. From the standpoint of shakubuku, this concept is truly extremely important. Unless one understands this first of all, one cannot have true faith.
Two months ago, there was a large earthquake in Kobe, in the Kansai region of Japan, and approximately 5,500 people lost their lives. That location is known as the location within the entire world where the Soka Gakkai is strongest. They often refer to this area as the "Ever-victorious Kansai." That city of Kobe prospered as an international trading port representative of Japan. As a sight-seeing city filled with an international mood, top quality hotels were recently constructed one after another, and even though it is a large city, it is an ideal city which is enveloped in nature with Mt. Rokkozan in the background and which promotes good quality water. Not only that, but as a region with no earthquakes, the people there lived their days with peace of mind.
A large earthquake suddenly assaulted that city early in the morning when people were fast asleep, and even though Japan is a volcanic country, there was no forewarning. There was no time to escape. Furthermore, the Japanese government, centered in Tokyo in the Kanto region, which has a high possibility of a large earthquake, had absolutely no preliminary plans for an earthquake in the Kansai region.
What happened to family members which had lived happily up until the previous day? A situation had arisen in which the casualties were too much for even large-scale relief efforts. Of course, the response of the Japanese government was a fiasco, but this is also the large bill that comes due from having a false sense of security.
Family members reached their hands out from beneath the rubble and shouted, "Help! Help!" However, there was absolutely no help. They failed to find anyone who would help them. People among them had their hands full taking care of their own survival. The next day, those people returned to the scene to ascertain that their wives' hands had grown cold. For some people, their family members had called out from beneath the rubble, "I'm OK. I'm OK," but afterwards huge fires broke out in the region, and several days later those people returned to the burnt ruins to gather the ashes of the corpses.
A father who was asked by his severely wounded young son, "How's Mommy," concealed his wife's death from him, saying, "She's in another hospital." Who in the world could have predicted this event? These were people who up until the day before had lived in peace with no suffering. On that day their lives completely changed, and most of them are in a hellish condition. This is definitely in accordance with Nichiren Daishonin's teachings. I think that this tremendous disaster will leave huge scars on their hearts for a long time.
However, a proverb in the Orient says, "When hot water passes the throat, the heat is forgotten." We do not want this to happen, as much as possible.
When human beings are sick with an illness, they think, "I don't need anything. Somehow or other, I want to escape this suffering." However, once the illness is cured, that thought is forgotten and desires spring up. They think, "I want lots of money, I want status and fame. I want to live a pleasant life with more comforts." They forget that this becomes the cause for later suffering, or they don't want to know that it does, and chase after pleasures.
This is what is meant by, "When they fall into hell and suffocate in its flames, they vow that the next time they are born as human beings they will set everything aside and make offerings to the Three Treasures, and though they vow that they will attain Buddhahood in their next life, time after time when they return as human beings, the winds of fame, wealth and honor blow violently and the lamp of Buddhist training and practice is easily extinguished. They only too willingly exhaust their wealth on futile matters."
In search of temporary pleasures they take up narcotics, and they squander their entire salaries on alcohol and amusements. When even that is not enough, they go so far as to borrow money in order to live in comfort. Their eyes are dazzled by company or societal status, and they will reach that position even if they have to step on others and make them unhappy in doing so. Even though they are satisfied, all they do is incur others' enmity, unbeknownst to them. How could this result in happiness?
Then, when they become unhappy, they fail to reflect upon themselves and hold a grudge against society and other people. The cause of this is that they forget, or are ignorant of, the true teachings of Buddhism, they waste their money on futile things, and use their money all the more to create the karmic causes to fall into hell. However, sine they are completely unaware of this, the Original Buddha calls them, "sheep now in the slaughterhouse."
There is of course no way to save the people of the world except through shakubuku, no matter how difficult it is. For those who know this, we perform shoju, but for those who don't, there is no way other than shakubuku. I hear that there are some people who say, "Nichiren Daishonin speaks of shoju, so Ill perform shoju and not shakubuku." However, this way of thinking is in accordance with the will of others (zuitai), and annihilates Buddhism.
If people carefully study the Daishonin's Buddhism, they will reach the conclusion that "Shoju is one aspect of Buddhism, but in the final analysis, Buddhism is shakubuku." This is strict, but it is a fact and a reality that "Those who don't do shakubuku will fall into hell with the others, through being implicated in the same slander, and will not attain Buddhahood."
In conclusion, I will discuss the Gosho passage, "It is not unusual for them to feel lazy about making even a small offering to the Buddha, the Law and the Priest, and they emulate the emissaries from hell. This is what it means by 'The abundance of devils prevents even the slightest good.'"
The other day I saw the new video "The Little Buddha," and it did a nice job of twisting Buddhism. One point I thought was good was, "What hindered Shakyamuni's enlightenment was not an external enemy, it was Shakyamuni himself. In the end, he conquered himself and attained Buddhahood." The film is an extremely simple work, but this one point is true. Of course, the entity of his enlightenment is Myoho-renge-kyo of kuon-ganjo, but that which obstructed his perception of it was Shakyamuni himself.
We are exactly the same. That which obstructs our own attainment of Buddhahood, our own faith and our own practice is in the final analysis we ourselves. What the Daishonin indicated as being "emissaries from hell" is "ultimately not others, but each one us ourselves."
In the present age, there are many religions which take advantage of people's weaknesses, saying only, "If you give money, you'll attain Buddhahood," and have believers donate their assets. Therefore, there is the tendency to copy this way of thinking, but there is an importance in the Daishonin's teaching that, "It is not unusual for them to feel lazy about making even a small offering to the Buddha, the Law and the Priest, and they emulate the emissaries from hell." Tokusho Doji offered a mud pie to Shakyamuni and because of that meritorious action, in a future existence he became King Ashoka and protected Buddhism. I am not at all saying to offer mud pies to the Gohonzon. As an infant, he had no assets, so he did the very best he could with his entire sincerity.
If a wealthy adult were to say, "It's written in the sutras and in the Gosho, so I'll also offer a mud pie," I would probably think the person was a little touched in the head. Each person has their own circumstances in making offerings. I've spoken about this before, but offerings are something "one offers out of respect to the Buddha and are made in order to nurture his life," and so is an important practice for us. Fundamentally, the significance of offerings is completely different in meaning from Christian donations, and it is still more entirely different from sacrificial offerings.
We make our offerings for the sake of the Buddha, but the truth is that in the final analysis we are offering them to ourselves. For example, suppose you light a lamp for another person in a room that's completely dark. You would receive the light at the same time. When we make offerings to the Buddha, this increases the Buddha's teachings, and we are able to know Buddhism even more. When we make an offering to the Gohonzon, the Gohonzon's majesty increases in various forms. I will not concretely speak point by point of what this means at this time, because though I won't speak of it now, it will become clear through our actual practice.
I speak strictly time after time, and actually I'm sorry for it, but since it is my duty to lecture on the true teaching of Buddhism, even though they are strict, I will positively speak out.
I will close today's Oko by reading a passage from the Gosho.
"A person who believes in the Lotus Sutra is like winter. Winter definitely becomes spring. Up to now since the ancient past, I have not heard of nor seen winter change into autumn. Up to now I have not heard of a person who believes in the Lotus Sutra becoming a common mortal." (Gosho, page 832)
Thank you.
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