{"id":255,"date":"2016-06-04T23:38:59","date_gmt":"2016-06-04T23:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/?p=255"},"modified":"2017-07-23T08:52:15","modified_gmt":"2017-07-23T08:52:15","slug":"guidance-from-sixty-eighth-high-priest-nichinyo-shonin-june-5-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/en\/2016\/06\/04\/guidance-from-sixty-eighth-high-priest-nichinyo-shonin-june-5-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"June 5, 2016, High Priest Guidance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guidance from Sixty-eighth High Priest Nichinyo Shonin<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the Occasion of the June K\u014dsen-rufu Sh\u014ddai Ceremony<\/strong><\/p>\n

June 5, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reception Hall, Head Temple Taisekiji<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On this occasion of the June K\u014dsen-rufu Sh\u014ddai Ceremony, conducted here today at the Head Temple, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to the large number of participants in attendance. \u00a0The month of June already has begun. \u00a0I imagine both the priesthood and laity have united, based on the spirit of itai d\u014dshin<\/em>, and are devoting themselves to their practice, day and night, aiming toward the achievement of their shakubuku goals.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Daishonin teaches the following in the Gosho, Reply to the Wife of Daigaku Sabur\u014d <\/em>(Gassui-gosho):<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It has been two thousand and two hundred-odd years since Shakyamuni Buddha\u2019s passing, and for a long time, the country has been filled with the five impurities. \u00a0All types of good deeds are rare. And even if one may carry out good deeds, he commits ten evil deeds for each good deed that he does. \u00a0We can see that one commits great evil for the sake of a small, virtuous act. \u00a0Yet in this defiled age, people are filled with pride, thinking that they have done great good. (Gosho<\/em>, p. 301)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In other words, the chaotic condition of the world today, in the Latter Day of the Law, indicates the evil age defiled by the five impurities. \u00a0Virtuous acts are rarely seen. \u00a0Even one who carries out good deeds commits ten evil deeds for each good one. \u00a0In the end, one commits numerous evil acts in order to conduct small good deeds. \u00a0Nevertheless, in today\u2019s evil world, people pride themselves on accumulating great good deeds.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This Gosho passage truly illustrates the condition of mindless people, pointlessly spinning their wheels, in the evil age of the Latter Day of the Law. \u00a0The only way the people, defiled by the five impurities, can purify their lives is to uphold the Buddhism of the sowing hidden in the depths of the Lotus Sutra established by Nichiren Daishonin, the True Buddha in the Latter Day of the Law.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The five impurities are the impurity of the age, impurity of desire, impurity of living beings, impurity of view, and impurity of life. \u00a0The impurity of the age describes the situation where harmful phenomena [such as corruption, chaos from wars, epidemics, famine, or other social and natural disruptions] in society and the environment occur, one after another.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The impurity of desire refers to one\u2019s instinctive delusions when one\u2019s mind is ruled by the five delusive passions of greed, anger, stupidity, arrogance, and doubt.<\/p>\n

The impurity of living beings indicates the defilement and decline of human beings, both physically and spiritually, because they are dominated by earthly desires.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The impurity of view denotes distorted views and false perceptions of reality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The impurity of life signifies the distortion of life itself. \u00a0This causes the people\u2019s lives to deteriorate, both mentally and physically, and ultimately causes them to have shortened life spans.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In regards to the five impurities, the Great Teacher Tiantai teaches in his Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra<\/em> (Hokke mongu) as follows:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The impurities of desire and view are the primary causes for the impurity of living beings. \u00a0The continuing impurity of living beings results in the impurity of life. \u00a0When these four persist over a long period of time, it is referred to as the impurity of the age.<\/p>\n

(Mongu ehon j<\/em>\u014d<\/em>, Gakurin version, p. 706)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The order of the five impurities is, first of all, the minds of the people become ruled by earthly desires (the impurity of desire) and heretical ideas (the impurity of view). \u00a0This will cause the defilement of life (the impurity of life) and the society (the impurity of living beings). \u00a0If these four impurities continue over a long period of time, this will result in the impurity of the age.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The causes for the chaotic situations that are manifesting throughout the world arise from distorted views. \u00a0This distortion of views originates from false teachings and erroneous religions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We must conduct shakubuku, as quickly as possible, and lead the many people who suffer from dire misfortune due to their erroneous beliefs, including the members of the Soka Gakkai. \u00a0We must urge them to embrace the correct Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin, the secret Law that will save all living beings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Daishonin teaches the following in the Gosho, On Practicing according to the Buddha\u2019s Teachings <\/em>(Nyosetsu shugyo\u0304-sho\u0304):<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now, in the Latter Day of the Law, who is correctly carrying out the practice of shakubuku exactly as taught in the Lotus Sutra? \u00a0Whomever you may meet, conduct shakubuku to the people and refute the teachings of the other sects. \u00a0Proclaim repeatedly with all your might that the Lotus Sutra is the only teaching that will lead the people to Buddhahood, and that the various other teachings obstruct them from attaining enlightenment and are the root cause for leading them to fall into hell. (Gosho<\/em>,\u00a0p. 673)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today, the priesthood and laity of Nichiren Shoshu are making full-scale efforts, based on unity in the spirit of itai d\u014dshin<\/em>, and advancing toward our goal\u2014to achieve a membership of 800,000 Hokkeko believers by 2021, the 800th Anniversary of the Advent of our Founder Nichiren Daishonin.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No matter what happens, we must achieve our vow, which we made before the three treasures. \u00a0It is most essential that the members of each chapter make concerted efforts and devote themselves to do shakubuku, in order to achieve this year\u2019s shakubuku goals.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I sincerely wish that you will engrave this into your hearts, and that all the chapters will achieve this year\u2019s shakubuku goals without fail.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guidance from Sixty-eighth High Priest Nichinyo Shonin On the Occasion of the June K\u014dsen-rufu Sh\u014ddai Ceremony June 5, 2016 Reception Hall, Head Temple Taisekiji   On this occasion of the June K\u014dsen-rufu Sh\u014ddai Ceremony, conducted here today at the Head<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[37,35],"class_list":["post-255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guidance","tag-2016-guidance","tag-high-priest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":800,"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255\/revisions\/800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.senmyozanhokkejitemple.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}