Sunday was the annual Urabon (Obon) ceremony in which prayers are said by the priest for our ancestors. In a coincidence of sorts, today was also the day I brought in a photo that Ven. Kenjo Igarashi had asked to be framed. As you can see above, it is a much-enlarged copy of the central area of a photo taken on the official founding of the church on April 28, 1934. (UPDATE: This photo is of “Founders Day,” celebrating Nichiren’s first chanting of Daimoku on April 28, 1253. The actual founding of the church was September 1931.)

Many of those attending the service examined the photo looking for familiar faces. The oldest person attending Sunday, a woman, was a child of 3 at the time. Others had grandparents who might be in the photo. As can be seen in the photo above, it was a very large crowd.

Prior to the service, church members submited lists of ancestors for whom they wish the priest to say prayers. After the prayers, the Ven. Kenjo Igarashi explained the origin of the practice of having priests say prayers.
 
Rather than paraphrase Rev. Igarashi’s explanation, I’ll use the story told by Nichiren in the Urabon Gosho (Writings of Nichiren Shonin, Volume 4):

Maudgalyayana was an unenlightened man who was unaware of his mother’s suffering in the realm of hungry spirits. As a child he received a non-Buddhist education in Brahmanism, mastering all the non-Buddhist scriptures such as the four Vedas and eighteen great sutras, but he was still unable to see where his mother had gone after her death. Later, at the age of 13 Maudgalyayana, together with Sariputra, visited Sakyamuni Buddha and became His disciple. He became a sage of the initial rank by eliminating delusions of views, rose to the rank of arhat by overcoming delusions of thought, and gained the three or six kinds of supernatural powers.

With his heavenly eyes wide open, Maudgalyayana could see everything throughout the triple thousand worlds as though they were all reflected in a spotless mirror. He was able to see everywhere in the great earth and in the three evil realms. It was as if he were looking at the fish below the water through the ice shining in the morning sun. It was then he saw his own mother in the realm of hungry spirits.

Without anything to eat or drink, his mother was emaciated and her skin looked like a pheasant whose feathers were all plucked, and her bones were worn away to such an extent that they looked like lines of round stones. Her head without hair looked like a ball, her neck as thin as a thread, and her stomach swollen as large as the ocean. Her appearance, as she begged by opening her mouth wide and pressing her palms together, resembled a leech trying to catch the scent of human beings. How heartbreaking it was for Maudgalyayana to see his own mother, suffering from hunger and wanting to cry at the sight of her own son in her previous life! It must have been sadness beyond description. …

Venerable Maudgalyayana felt so sorry for his mother that he made use of his supernatural powers to send a meal to her. His mother gladly grabbed the meal with her right hand and put it into her mouth while covering it with the left hand. At this moment the meal somehow changed into fire, bursting into flames, as if wicks were put rogether to build a fire, causing the mother to get burned all over. Shocked at seeing this, Maudgalyayana hurriedly used his supernatural powers again to pour plenty of water. The water, however, somehow changed to firewood, causing more burns to his mother. It was a dreadful scene!

Realizing that his own supernatural powers were not enough to save his own mother, Maudgalyayana hurriedly went to see the Buddha and cried, “I was born in a non-Buddhist family, but became a disciple of the Buddha and ascended to the rank of arhatship, won freedom from the chain of life and death in the triple world, and gained the three or six supernatural powers of arhatship. However, when I tried to save my mother from the great suffering in the realm of hungry spirits, I only intensified her suffering. I am grief-stricken.” The Buddha replied to Maudgalyayana, “Your mother’s sin is too serious for you alone to save her. No matter how many persons there are, the powers of such as heavenly beings, terrestrial gods, demons, non-Buddhists, Taoist priests, the Four Heavenly Kings, Indra, and the King of the Brahma Heaven cannot save her. You can only save your mother from suffering by gathering holy priests in all the worlds throughout the universe on the 15th of the 7th month, treat them with a feast.” As Maudgalyayana held a feast according to the instructions of the Buddha, his mother was able to escape the kalpa (aeon) of suffering in the realm of hungry spirits. So it is preached in the Ullambana Sutra.

Putting the story in the context of the Lotus Sutra, Nichiren went on to explain:

In the final analysis, the reason why Venerable Maudgalyayana could not save his suffering mother was that he was a believer of Hinayana Buddhism, observing the Hinayana precepts. … Nevertheless, coming to the Lotus Sutra, which enjoins listeners to “abandon the expedient teachings,” Maudgalyayana immediately cast away the 250 precepts of Hinayana Buddhism and chanted “Namu Myoho Renge kyo” to become a Buddha called Tamalapatracandana Fragrance. This is the very moment when his parents, too, became Buddhas. Therefore, it is stated in the Lotus Sutra, “Our wishes have already been fulfilled, and desires of the multitude are also satisfied.” Maudgalyayana’s body and mind are the legacy of his parents. When his body and mind became a Buddha, those of his parents also attained Buddhahood.

One of the aspects of Nichiren Buddhism that I appreciate greatly is this idea that I am the “legacy” of my parents and that my enlightenment benefits my parents. It is one way to understanding that past, present and future are not separate.

As Rev. Igarashi explained, we pray for ourselves as we pray for our parents.