I attended the Oeshiki Service at the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church Sunday. Oeshiki marks the passing of Nichiren, who died on Oct. 13, 1282. Rev. Igarashi made the point in his sermon that the memorial service for Nichiren is different than the ones we hold for our ancestors. The difference, Rev. Igarashi explained, is that we know where Nichiren went after he died. He returned to his existence as Honnge Jogyo, one of the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas who rose from the earth in Chapter 15.

Since I began reading and re-reading the Lotus Sutra as part of my 32 Days of the Lotus Sutra Practice  I’ve enjoyed playing with what I read. For example, consider where all those bodhisattvas who rose up from the earth came from.

They lived in the sky below this Sahā-World.

At the Sacramento Nichiren Buddhist Church we have a new member who lived in Melbourne Australia before moving to Sacramento. One of the first things I asked her was whether she saw anything unusual in the sky Down Under. She was very confused by my question.