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.