Sunday’s service at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church included memorial prayers for deceased members of the church. The memorial tablet on the altar is for the church members.

Ven. Kenjo Igarashi offered another version of his lecture on the “suffering world” and the need to practice the Lotus Sutra and study. Last week he paired the Four Noble Truths with the Parable of the Magic City. This time around, he used the Parable of the Skillful Physician and His Sick Children to remind everyone of the medicine left for the people in the “suffering world.”

The quote today from Odaimoku: The Significance Of Chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo fits in well here:

By embracing the faith and practice of Myoho Renge Kyo, we can revitalize our lives. In other words, regardless of the state of life in which we find ourselves at any given moment, through faith and practice we can transform any life condition (no matter how negative) into enlightenment. In this way, we can develop wisdom and a life that is no longer a slave to pain, delusion and suffering.
Odaimoku: The Significance Of Chanting Namu Myoho Renge Kyo

Following the service was the annual New Year luncheon for members and those nonmembers who have helped the church in the past year.

It was on this last service of January in 2015 that I first attended a Nichiren Shu service. This year I brought my wife along and we sat with another couple who are new members.