Sunday, May 22, was the monthly Kaji Kito service in which Ven. Kenjo Igarashi personally prays for and purifies each parishioner, taking on the bad karma of one after another so that each can be happier.

It’s an evil practice.

At least that is how some priests apparently describe this Gosho, or honored teaching of Nichiren.

Ven. Igarashi earned the merit to perform this practice through aragyo, a 100-day ascetic practice. He has performed this 100-day practice five times over the more than 40 years that he has been a Nichiren Shu priest serving in the United States.

That accomplishment is nothing.

At least that is what some priests would have one believe.

As Ven. Igarashi explained during his Sunday sermon, there are plenty of examples of Nichiren praying for others, the most notable being Nichiren’s prayers for his mother, which extended her life four years. And, of course, the Lotus Sutra speaks repeatedly of the power of faith.

This Gosho of praying for the happiness of each church member is Igarashi’s way of propagating the Lotus Sutra. Each happier person inspires people to ask, “Why is he so happy?” and to learn of the Lotus Sutra.

Happiness, however, is not material gain. It is not a better job, or a prettier girlfriend. It is not financial wealth or a larger house. This is a message that Ven. Igarashi repeats often in his sermons.

For me, personally, with my past association with the Soka Gakkai of the 1990s, this concept of chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo for happiness has been one of the great joys of my Nichiren Shu practice.

When I was first introduced to Soka Gakkai and knew nothing of the Lotus Sutra, I was encouraged to chant for things. Need a job? Chant. Need a girlfriend. Chant. Not getting what you crave? Chant more. And I won’t even get into the “activities” and the threatened consequences of failing to participate.

One of my stated purposes for maintaining this website and, in particular, my collection of quotes from books I have purchased and read, is to be able to recall those quotes in a situation like this.

On the topic of happiness, I can cite my two favorite American sources, Rev. Ryuei McCormick and Rev. Ryusho Jeffus

Ryuei Shonin writes:

A person in the grip of undeveloped, immature, and ignorant desires usually tries to fulfill these desires by acting in a way that only serves to reinforce them. That is, that person attempts to find some form of lasting satisfaction and security in material or spiritual things. However, there is nothing short of Buddhahood that can bring the kind of true happiness that can fully quench ignorant desires. In this sense, these desires are actually the workings of the Buddha-nature: they cause us to unwittingly seek out our own Buddhahood. One could even say, “that which we seek is that which causes us to seek.”

Lotus Seeds

Ryusho Shonin writes:

Perhaps it is the reality of our modern advertisement saturated media that has led many to believe that only after buying and using every product known to man, after every single penny is spent that has ever been earned in the entire history of man- and womankind then and only then will somehow perfection and happiness be possible. Somehow by doing something so unlikely to produce indestructible happiness as buying a product is more realistic than the realization that each one of us is already all we need to be. We are as complete as we need to be in order to become indestructibly happy. All we need to do is simply wake up to this reality in our lives, and the Buddha is telling us that the Lotus Sutra is the most efficacious way of doing this.

Lecture on the Lotus Sutra

I look forward to each Nichiren Shu service I can attend, both at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church and online with Myosho-ji, Wonderful Voice Buddhist Temple, Charlotte, NC.

I am happier today.

We believe in Shakamuni (Sakyamuni) Buddha. He is eternal. He lives in this world. He is our Teacher. He is the Saviour of this world.

We express our faith by uttering the Daimoku (Sacred Title): Namu Myoho Renge Kyo (We devote ourselves to the Myoho Renge Kyo). The Myoho Renge Kyo represents not only the title of a sutra (also called Hokekyo, the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law, the Lotus Sutra) in which Shakamuni Buddha declares his eternity but also the Law (teachings) expounded in this sutra, and also the Eternal Buddha as Shakamuni Buddha calls himself in this sutra.

We believe that Nichiren (1222-1282) was the messenger of Shakamuni Buddha. He never gave up propagating the Daimoku after he founded the Nichiren Shu on the twenty-eighth day of the fourth month of the fifth year of Kencho (1253) although he was persecuted many times by arrogant people. The persecutions were just as those prophesied in the Lotus Sutra.

We vow to the Buddha and Nichiren that we will make efforts to secure the peace of the world as well as ours by disseminating the teachings expounded in the Lotus Sutra.

On Jan. 1, 2015, I walked to my car after a Soka Gakkai New Year’s Gonyo at the the Sacramento SGI Community Center. The angrily folded lyrics of Forever Sensei were clenched in my hand. Concluding what was supposed to be a Nichiren Buddhist service with the worship of a man who leads the Soka Gakkai International organization was just too much.

I vowed in that parking lot on that day that I would defeat the inertia that had kept me in Soka Gakkai and correct my course.

Yesterday, May 14, 2016, was the 500th day since that particular part of my journey began. I truly feel I have joined the path to a Place of Treasures in my journey with the Nichiren Shu community.

Overcoming that inertia was a real challenge. I joined Nichiren Shoshu of America (before the SGI and temple split) in 1989. I was married in a service at the Nichiren Shoshu Temple in Pinole in 1990. When the SGI-Temple divorce came at the end of 1991, I stayed with Soka Gakkai. I never felt a lay organization could ever properly stand alone but I couldn’t see joining a temple that would excommunicate those who wouldn’t toe the line.

In December 2014, I knew my attachment to Soka Gakkai was held by a thin thread. In anticipation of the end, I sent an email to the Nichiren Buddhist International Center asking, “Is there an active program for helping Nichiren followers to transition from Soka Gakkai to Nichiren Shu? And, in particular, is this available in Sacramento?”

No one responded, and when I called I was told that, No, there is no such program. Nor is there one at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church.

In the past year, I’ve watched as visitors were genuinely welcomed to services at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church. I was certainly welcomed, and today feel a full member.

Still, I’d like to see an effort to make it easier for others to overcome that inertia I felt and join a Buddhist practice that focuses on the Buddhism where “anyone is said to have the potential to become the Buddha if they awaken to the truth behind the universe and humans beings, which can be understood through studying the teachings of the Buddha.”

Part of that effort could be framed around this explanation of the various Nichiren lineages written by Nichiren Shu priest Rev. Shoryo Tarabini.

“A response to questions from Soka Gakkai practitioners regarding the similarities and differences among Nichiren Shu, Nichiren Shoshu and the Soka Gakkai”

In particular, I single out this advice Rev. Tarabini offers the person who asked the question:

What is most important is to practice our faith and study as the Buddha Sakyamuni and Nichiren Daishonin taught us, so that we can grow, truly understand Buddhism, practice and live it just like the Buddha and Nichiren Daishonin did; and so that we and all those around us can be freed from suffering, become satisfied with life, become happy, and attain perfect enlightenment just as the Buddha.

It is not necessary to harbor ill feelings towards the Soka Gakkai, nor towards anyone else for that matter. Maybe everything they taught you was not entirely correct, but their help has nourished you up until today. Maybe they have strayed from the main path of Buddhism. But they did introduce you to Nichiren Daishonin’s teachings and the Lotus Sutra. They opened a door for you. They have also created some doubts questions in your life about Buddhism. For all of this, you should be grateful.

Several people attending today’s online service broadcast from Myosho-ji, Wonderful Voice Buddhist Temple, in Charlotte, North Carolina, are former SGI members, including Rev. Ryusho Jeffus.

At the conclusion of the service a woman who is new to Buddhism expressed her appreciation for the introduction provided by Ryosho Shonin. It’s a sentiment I second.

Attended online services at Myosho-ji, Wonderful Voice Buddhist Temple, Charlotte, NC. The service included the eye-opening ceremony for an Omandala to be presented to Brandon, a member of the Charlotte temple who lives in Indiana.

Following the service Brandon thanked Ryusho Shonin and expressed his deep appreciation for the opportunity to attend the Charlotte services regularly. I felt guilty that I only attend Charlotte services when there are no services at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church. I suppose I should be happy with my good fortune, but today I felt greedy in comparison to those who don’t have a local sangha.

On the morning of April 28, 1253, Nichiren Shonin chanted Namu Myoho Renge Kyo to the rising sun, setting the stage for the restoration of devotion to the Lotus Sutra and the Eternal Buddha as the Buddhist practice best suited for the Latter Days of the Dharma. Out of this effort grew the Nichiren Shu tradition that continues today.

Today’s service at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church celebrated Kaishu-e, the founding of Nichiren Shu.

As an aside, we also learned today that it was on April 28, 1968, that Ven. Kenjo Igarashi took his original vows to become a priest.

And about this fixation of mine on flowers. For more than 25 years I practiced a variety of Nichiren Buddhism that shuns statues and allows only greens, no flowers, on altars. Having both the joy of flowers and the physical representation of the objects of devotion has proved to be one of my favorite aspects of Nichiren Shu practice. With the constant references to offerings of flowers in the Lotus Sutra and Nichiren’s promotion of statues as objects of devotion, it seems so unnatural to have ever not had flowers and statues on my altar.

Traveled to San Jose to attend the Hanamatsuri service at Myokakuji Betsuin. The flower festival celebrating the birth of Sakyamuni is one of my favorite services and this year, as coincidence would have it, I was able to see two different versions of the tradition.

Recited during the ceremony:

The Coming of the Buddha
(From Chapter II Expedients)

The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to open [the gate to] the insight of the Buddha, and to cause them to purify themselves. They appear in the worlds in order to show the insight of the Buddha to all living beings. They appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to obtain the insight of the Buddha. They appear in the worlds in order to cause all living beings to enter the Way to the insight of the Buddha. Sariputra! This is the one great purpose for which the Buddhas appear in the worlds.

Last week in Sacramento

Today was Hanamatsuri, the flower festival service honoring the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha. The beautiful flower arrangement covering the statue of the baby Sakyamuni was done by Ven. Kenjo Igarashi using flowers grown on the grounds of the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church.

According to tradition, when Sakyamuni was born he immediately walked seven steps and declared, “I alone am honored in heaven and on earth” as he pointed up with one hand and down with the other to indicate he would unite heaven and earth.

Rev. Igarashi’s sermon covered why it is important to make good causes, using the tale of a selfish junior priest as a lesson in the cause and effect consequences of being greedy.

Following the service, everyone was invited for “refreshments” – sushi rice, pasta salad (I’m sure there is a Japanese term for that dish but I don’t know it), barbecue chicken and three different dessert cakes.

Making the gathering even more enjoyable was the welcome provided to two guests who were attending services for the first time.

The latter part of the seventh fascicle of the Commentary on the Great Sun Buddha Sutra, which both Grand Masters Kobo and Dengyo saw, reads: “It is needless to say that reciting sutras earnestly in the Tendai Sect is namely the perfect and sudden way of breathing meditation.”

Hasshu Imoku-sho, Writings of Nichiren Shonin, Doctrine 2

Each of Sakyamuni’s countless sutras is a river flowing into the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, the all encompassing ocean of the Buddha’s teaching. Each chant of Namu-Myoho-Renge-Kyo recites not only the Lotus Sutra but all of the Buddha’s sutras.

Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, Namu Myoho Renge Kyo – the perfect and sudden way of breathing meditation.

Today’s Daily Dharma contains this advice:

The thoughts we have are mostly words, and the words are about the things we want. Words can help us make sense of the world around us, especially the words the Buddha uses to teach us. But words can also confuse us when we mistake our expectations for the reality of the world. When the Buddha calls us to become Bodhisattvas, to realize that our happiness is linked to that of all beings, his words open a part of our mind with which we are not familiar. He asks us to set aside the habits we have learned from this world of conflict and see his world in a new way.

As someone who made a career of words and the arrangement of words to communicate ideas, such a reminder of the power of the Buddha’s words is particularly compelling.

This advice from the Daily Dharma echoes the English translation of the Verses for Opening the Sutra that I recite each day:

The most excellent teaching of the Great Vehicle is very difficult to understand. I shall be able to approach enlightenment when I see, hear or touch this sutra. Expounded is the Buddha’s truth. Expounding is the Buddha’s essence. The letters composing this sutra are the Buddha’s manifestation.

One word wraps all of my thoughts in the same way the Odaimoku encompasses the ocean of the Buddha’s teaching. That word in my mind is “faith.”