The new normal.
Attended the monthly Kaji Kito service at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church. The masked crowd was given a socially distanced purification prayer by Rev. Kenjo Igarashi. Judging by California’s revised guidelines it will be at least five weeks before services will again be allowed inside. The grass in the courtyard between the Social Hall and the Temple is already showing signs of wear and Rev. Igarashi, who serves as the church gardener in his spare time, is worried that the grass will not survive.
I wish I were able to detail Rev. Igarashi’s Dharma talk but I didn’t record it. The subject, however, was about the need for religion to meet the needs of individual before focusing on wider goals. This was the subject of Rev. Igarashi’s Lecture published in the church’s November/December 2016 newsletter. After discussing Nichiren Shonin and his various forms of prayer for differing purposes, Rev. Igarashi writes:
However, I personally think that we must first attempt to practice what I like to call “rissho anshin” or “establishing one’s peace of mind”, before embarking on a path to help others. We cannot expect someone who is suffering or unhappy with his or her life to have the capacity to pray for world peace. However, we can use the teachings of the Lotus Sutra, or the “right teaching” as Nichiren Shonin called it, to work towards attaining happiness, after which we can pray for peace within one’s family, the country, and then the world. Thus, we can take small steps that would allow us to ultimately practice what Nichiren Shonin stated in his Rissho Ankoku Ron.