{"id":1460,"date":"2019-05-02T18:20:06","date_gmt":"2019-05-02T18:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/?p=1460"},"modified":"2021-12-04T13:45:01","modified_gmt":"2021-12-04T13:45:01","slug":"high-priest-nichinyos-guidance-for-april","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/en\/2019\/05\/02\/high-priest-nichinyos-guidance-for-april\/","title":{"rendered":"High Priest Nichinyo’s Guidance For April"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guidance from Sixty-eighth High Priest Nichinyo Shonin
\nOn the Occasion of the April Kosen-rufu Shodai Ceremony
\nApril 21, 2019
\nReception Hall, Head Temple Taisekiji<\/strong><\/p>\n

On this occasion of the April Kosen-rufu Sh\u014ddai Ceremony, conducted here
\ntoday at the Head Temple, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to all of
\nyou for making a special effort to participate in the Shodai Ceremony despite your
\nbusy schedules. Normally, the Kosen-rufu Shodai Ceremony is conducted on the
\nfirst Sunday of each month. However, this month, the Grand Ceremony of the
\nAiring of the Sacred Treasures (Goreiho Mushibarai Daihoe), one of the two major
\nceremonies of Nichiren Shoshu, conflicted with this schedule. Thus, the schedule
\nfor the Kosen-rufu Sh\u014ddai Ceremony was changed to today. Also, the era name will
\nchange to \u201cReiwa\u201d as of the first of May. Thus, today\u2019s Kosen-rufu Shodai
\nCeremony will be the last Shodai Ceremony in the current \u201cHeisei\u201d era. Though
\nJapan\u2019s era will change from Heisei to Reiwa, I wish that all of you will continue to
\nmake further efforts in your practice, as we aim toward the achievement of
\nKosen-rufu of the entire world.
\nNichiren Shoshu currently is advancing with utmost effort, as we aim toward
\nour goal\u2014to achieve a membership of 800,000 Hokkeko believers by 2021 (the third
\nyear of Reiwa), when we will commemorate the 800th Anniversary of the advent of
\nour Founder, Nichiren Daishonin. The establishment of a membership of 800,000
\nHokkeko believers is the vow we pledged in front of the Gohonzon. This is the
\nmost important goal for us right now. Thus, every single chapter must have unity
\nbetween the priesthood and laity, based on the spirit of itai doshin, and achieve this
\ngoal without fail.
\nIn order to achieve this goal, each one of us must have the awareness that we
\nare disciples and followers of our Founder Nichiren Daishonin, the True Buddha in
\nthe Latter Day of the Law. We also must have a firm determination to pursue the
\ngoal of propagating the true Law throughout the entire world, and indomitable
\ncourage. Keeping these in mind, we must do shakubuku.
\nThe Daishonin teaches us the following in the Gosho, Reply to Myoho bikuni
\n(Myoho bikuni-gohenji):
\nIn his teachings, the Buddha gives us the following admonishment: If one is
\nfearful and hesitant to propagate [the Law] when encountering an enemy of the
\nLotus Sutra, then this person is an enemy of Shakyamuni Buddha. No matter
\nhow wise or good one may be, it is certain that such an individual will fall into
\nthe hell of incessant suffering. It is just like a child who sees that a stranger is
\ntrying to kill his parents, but does not warn them of the danger. Moreover, it
\nis as if you, as a vassal, knowing that someone is plotting the downfall of the
\nking, do not remonstrate with him, because you fear that you will suffer
\nhardships. (Gosho, pp. 1262-1263)
\nThe Daishonin strictly warns us that \u201can enemy of the Lotus Sutra\u201d\u2014a person
\nwho sees a slanderer who upholds heretical teachings, but does not conduct
\nshakubuku for the slanderer due to one\u2019s fear of what people will say\u2014definitely will
\nfall into the hell of incessant suffering, no matter how wise or good this person may
\nbe.
\nIn the Nirvana Sutra, it states as follows:
\nSuppose a decent priest becomes aware of one who slanders the correct Law.
\nIf he lets the slanderer be, without reproaching, expelling, and correcting him
\nby exposing his faults, we should know that this priest is an enemy of
\nBuddhism. On the other hand, if this priest expels, reproaches, and corrects
\nthe slanderer by exposing his faults, this priest is my disciple, as well as a true
\npractitioner of my teachings. (Gosho, p. 1039)
\nIn this passage, the Daishonin teaches that if we become aware of those who
\nslander the true Law, and let the slanderers be, for fear of persecution, without
\ncensuring them, driving them out, or correcting their errors by explicitly showing
\ntheir offences, in other words, if we do not conduct shakubuku, this means we are the
\n\u201cthe enemies of Buddhism.\u201d Whereas, if we expel, reproach, and correct the
\nslanderers by exposing their faults, we are the true disciples and believers of the
\nBuddha. When we read this Gosho passage with reverence, we must firmly
\nrecognize how important shakubuku is for our faith and practice of Buddhism.
\nAccordingly, the Daishonin teaches the following in the Gosho, Attaining
\nEnlightenment at the Initial Stage of Faith through the Lotus Sutra (Hokke shoshin
\njobutsu-sho):
\nIf they hear the Lotus Sutra, which enables people to attain Buddhahood, this
\n[encounter] will sow the seed of [Buddhahood] into their lives and they
\neventually will attain enlightenment without fail. Therefore, Tiantai and
\nMiaole follow this notion and expound in their commentaries that they should
\ntirelessly teach the Lotus Sutra. It is like those who falter and fall to the
\nground and who are able to use that very ground to push themselves up to stand
\nagain. In the same way, even if they descend into hell, they will rise again
\nbefore long and attain Buddhahood. The people in the world today have
\nturned their backs on the Lotus Sutra and, for that offense, they will
\nundoubtedly fall into hell. Therefore, in any case, one should strongly teach
\nand make people listen to the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. Those who follow
\nand take faith in it will be able to attain enlightenment, and even those who
\nslander it will likewise attain Buddhahood in the end through the poison-drum
\nrelationship. Nothing other than the Lotus Sutra can be the seed of
\nBuddhahood. (Gosho, p. 1316)
\n\u201cThe poison-drum relationship,\u201d stated in this passage, is a metaphor
\nexpounded in the Nirvana Sutra. It is said that when a drum smeared with poison is
\nbeaten, all those who hear the sound of the drum will instantly die, whether they wish
\nto hear it or not. Even if they are not willing to listen to the teaching, if they hear it,
\nthey will eventually sever their earthly desires and attain enlightenment. This is
\nlikened to beating the drum smeared with poison.
\nIn other words, the Daishonin teaches us that all living beings inherently
\npossess the Buddha nature. Thus, we can all attain Buddhahood, based on the
\nmanifestation of the Buddha nature, through listening to the true Law, awakening
\nfaith, and practicing it. Accordingly, now in the Latter Day of the Law, even those
\nwith a reverse relationship, to say nothing of those with a positive relationship, can
\nattain enlightenment without fail by listening to Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo of the
\nThree Great Secret Laws and forming a relationship with the true Law.
\nWhen we revere these golden words, we must be aware that the most
\nimportant thing for us now is to have faith in the vast and boundless benefits of the
\nmystic Law (Myoho), and we must sow the seed of Myoho-Renge-Kyo into the lives
\nof as many people as possible.
\nToday, the priesthood and laity of Nichiren Shoshu are exerting all our efforts
\nand advancing forth, as we aim toward our goal\u2014to achieve a membership of
\n800,000 Hokkeko believers by 2021, when we will commemorate the 800th
\nAnniversary of the advent of our Founder, Nichiren Daishonin. At this time, I
\nsincerely pray that all the Hokkeko chapters throughout the nation will achieve their
\nshakubuku goals that they pledged in front of the Gohonzon. Then with these
\nachievements, they will repay the debts of gratitude to the three treasures. Keeping
\nin mind that this will be the best way to repay one\u2019s debts of gratitude, in welcoming
\nthe auspicious occasion of the 800th Anniversary of the advent of our Founder,
\nNichiren Daishonin in 2021, I truly hope you will achieve your shakubuku goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guidance from Sixty-eighth High Priest Nichinyo Shonin On the Occasion of the April Kosen-rufu Shodai Ceremony April 21, 2019 Reception Hall, Head Temple Taisekiji On this occasion of the April Kosen-rufu Sh\u014ddai Ceremony, conducted here today at the Head Temple,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guidance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1460"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1583,"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1460\/revisions\/1583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}