January 2007 Oko Sermon
by Reverend Shogu Kimura
In the past, a common mortal living in a chaotic world afflicted by
the Five Impurities attained Buddhahood because he made offerings to a
votary of the Lotus Sutra who was starving, the same as I. Because the
teachings of the Lotus Sutra are true, it is certain that your late father
has attained Buddhahood through the virtue of your deeds. Thinking of
your late brother, Goro, also in the pure land of Eagle Peak, his head
lovingly caressed by his father, I cannot restrain my tears.
(The Gosho of Nichiren Daishonin Vol. I-101~104)
Good morning everyone. Today, on this occasion of the first Oko
sermon for 2007, in our expression of gratitude to our master Nichiren
Daishonin, I have sincerely recited the sutras and chanted Daimoku
together with you. Moreover, I have sincerely prayed for you to eliminate
your sins and negative karma from this and infinite past lifetimes; for you
to redouble your faith; for you to enjoy a safe and long life; for peace and
harmony to reign in your home; for all matters to proceed forth smoothly;
and for the successful achievement of all your great objectives in this
and future existences. I am certain that the Daishonin would be truly
pleased to see so many of you in attendance today.
This gosho was written to Lord Nanjo Tokimitsu, in response to a
gokuyo offering that he sent to the Daishonin in Minobu, to celebrate the
New Year and the coming of early spring. It is dated the 20 th day of the
1 st month of the 5 th year of Koan (1282). The original gosho no longer
exists.
As you know, Lord Nanjo Tokimitsu, the great believer who
established Taiseki-ji at Fuji, was the steward of Ueno in the Fuji region,
located in Suruga Province. Throughout his life, he upheld strong faith in
the Daishonin and followed him. He constantly presented gokuyo
offerings to the Daishonin and provided him support and protection.
Ever since Tokimitsu was a child, he followed in the footsteps of
his deceased father and upheld faith and worked as the steward of
Ueno. Through the instruction he received from his mother, Ueno-ama,
he grew up to be a fine individual. During Nikko Shonin’s propagation
efforts in Suruga, Tokimitsu was active as a leader in the entire Fuji
area. When the Atsuhara persecution occurred, he courageously
protected the priests and lay believers who upheld true faith.
As a result, he received oppression from the feudal government of
Kamakura. He had no horse on which to ride, he could not afford to
adequately clothe his wife and children, and he continued to suffer
hardships. Even in the midst of such hardships, he continued to send the
Daishonin gokuyo offerings. He was truly admired for his pure faith.
Particularly after Tokimitsu’s meritorious deeds during the Atsuhara
persecution, the Daishonin referred to him as “Lord Ueno, the wise one.”
In the 8 years after entering Minobu, the Daishonin was
challenged by health problems. He did not take a step out of Minobu
during that time. The severe winter had come upon him, and the
prolonged years of physical and spiritual exhaustion had taken their toll.
In his advancing age, his health continued to weaken. The cold winter
must have been particularly difficult for him.
As the Daishonin braved these conditions in the New Year, he
received a gokuyo offering from Lord Tokimitsu. The Daishonin
responded by sending this gosho.
The following phrases are respectively written in the preface and
postscript of this gosho: “I am delighted o have read the journal by Hoki-
dono,” and “Please do me the favor of requesting Hoki-dono to read and
explain this letter to you, sentence by sentence.”
Hoki-dono refers to the Second High Priest Nikko Shonin. He
became a disciple at the age of 13, at the Iwamoto Jissoji Temple. It was
at that time that he received the priestly name of Hoki-bo Nikko. When
this gosho was written, Nikko Shonin was at the residence of Lord
Tokimitsu. It is apparent from these phrases that Nikko Shonin must
have written a letter to the Daishonin, reporting on different issues, when
the gokuyo offering was sent. It is also evident that the Daishonin’s
response, expressing his delight, was channeled through Nikko Shonin.
Next, the Daishonin wrote:
The flowering trees, mountain grasses turning green; life’s
exuberance at the start of spring fills everyone with joy. I have received
the journal as well as a sack of rice, a bag of salt, thirty steamed rice
cakes, and a sack of taro.
The Daishonin first expressed his New Year greeting and
confirmed that he had received the gokuyo offerings of rice, salt,
steamed rice cakes, and taro roots. The New Year also represents a
point of departure into the rest of the year for us. It gives us an
opportunity to make our determinations. Therefore, it is an extremely
important and joyful time.
The Daishonin then stated:
Over the last three days, ten feet of snow fell into my garden.
Deep within these mountains, valleys became peaks and peaks became
stairways to heaven. Birds and deer sought refuge in my hermitage. The
woodcutters and hunters’ path into these mountains was impassable.
The robe I wore was thin and my food was running out. At night, I
shivered in the cold like the legendary Kankucho bird and at dawn, I
could think of naught, save descending to the village.
It is apparent from this passage that there was particularly heavy
snow in Minobu, in the New Year of the 5 th year of Koan (1282). The
Daishonin wrote that there was 1 jo (approximately 3 meters or 10 feet)
of snow. The heavy accumulation of snow made it impossible for people
to travel to and from Minobu. He described how the snowfall had
affected his daily life. Of course, this was a time when there were no
heating devices like the ones we enjoy today. The passage informs us of
the severe conditions of being snowed-in in those ancient times. The
Daishonin explained that he received visits from birds and deer, but
woodcutters and hunters did not dare to travel the mountains paths. The
Daishonin further reported how scarce clothing and food had become for
him. The severe winter nights in Minobu were indescribably cold, and
they made him feel like the legendary bird in the snow mountains.
Furthermore, the Daishonin explained that, during the day, the extreme
conditions caused him to want to escape to the village.
The Kankucho is an imaginary bird that is said to live in the snow
mountains of India. Since this bird does not make a nest for itself, it
suffers from the horrendous cold at night.
Next, the Daishonin wrote:
The voice reciting the sutra fell silent and the heart of
contemplation weakened. Just when I thought that I could no longer
continue my faith in this life, thereby becoming unable to attain
Buddhahood for Three Thousand Dust-particle Kalpas or Five Hundred
Dust-particle Kalpas, your offerings arrived and revived me. I am grateful
that I will be able to meet you again.
The tremendous snowfall had made it impossible for people to
travel to and from Minobu. The Daishonin stated that food was scarce,
and the voices reciting the sutras were falling silent. It was growing
increasingly difficult for people to uphold the Buddhas and bodhisattvas
in their hearts. This meant that, since the paths were impassable and
people were unable to visit, there were almost no audible voices reciting
the sutras. The Daishonin explained that he had been lamenting about
how people would renounce their faith in this lifetime and, as a result,
would be forced to suffer for an inconceivably long period that would
seem like an eternity. The Daishonin went on to say that Lord Tokimitsu
had sent various items of gokuyo offering in the nick of time, thus
enabling him to prolong his life. Now he was hopeful that he would be
able to meet Tokimitsu once again.
I am certain that the conditions in the Daishonin’s residence were
far worse then we could ever imagine.
The Daishonin then wrote:
In the past, a common mortal living in a chaotic world afflicted by
the Five Impurities attained Buddhahood because he made offerings to a
votary of the Lotus Sutra who was starving, the same as I. Because the
teachings of the Lotus Sutra are true, it is certain that your late father
has attained Buddhahood through the virtue of your deeds. Thinking of
your late brother, Goro, also in the pure land of Eagle Peak, his head
lovingly caressed by his father, I cannot restrain my tears.
With my deepest respect.
The Daishonin explained that, when the Buddha was still a
common mortal in the past, he was able to attain Buddhahood because
he presented offerings to the votary of the Lotus Sutra, who was starving
in the chaotic world characterized by the Five Impurities. He further
declared that, if the Lotus Sutra represents the truth, the offerings that
Lord Tokimitsu made to the Daishonin would bring him tremendous
benefits that would enable his deceased father, Hyoe Shichiro, to attain
Buddhahood without fail.
The Five Impurities consist of the following:
1. Impurity of the age: This refers to the various negative
phenomena that repeatedly occur in society and in our individual
environments. This impurity functions to intensify disruptions such as
famines, epidemics, and wars.
2. Impurity of the people: This signifies our impurities as human
beings. It causes our spiritual and physical defilement, and it produces
negative effects; furthermore, it causes people to destroy the virtues of
their human nature.
3. Impurity of desire: This represents an instinctive delusion that is
controlled by greed, anger, stupidity, arrogance, and doubt (the inability
to embrace the truth because of doubts). It is a condition that is dictated
by desires.
4. Impurity of thought: This denotes impurities in people’s beliefs.
It characterizes the presence of heretical thoughts and ideas. This
impurity functions to cultivate distorted or prejudiced views.
5. Impurity of life: This is the impurity of life itself. It refers to a
condition in which distortion and chaos in one’s daily life affect the
person’s existence and cause a shortened life span.
The Latter Day of the Law is characterized by a world overcome
by these Five Impurities. We can understand what a tremendous benefit
it is for us, in the Latter Day of the Law, to be able to embrace the
Gohonzon, to chant Daimoku, and to make gokuyo offerings to the
Buddha.
The Daishonin concludes this gosho by expressing his sincere
emotion about how he is unable to restrain his tears, when he imagines
how Tokimitsu’s deceased brother Goro is now in the pure land of Eagle
Peak, how he has by now met the deceased father, and how the father
must be lovingly caressing his son’s head.
Since we were born in the Latter Day of the Law, we will encounter
numerous hardships in life. However, if we face a difficult situation and
renounce our faith, it would be truly difficult to encounter the Daishonin’s
True Buddhism once again. People may renounce their faith in a
desperate attempt to escape from hardships, but in fact they must
understand that renouncing their faith would cause the hardships to
intensify. Common mortals renounce their faith because they do not
understand that the True Buddhism of the Daishonin is the supreme
teaching.
If we find that we are unable to eliminate our hardships and
suffering, even after we encounter the supreme teaching of True
Buddhism, it is important for us to consider the karmic sins from our past
lifetimes and chant Daimoku. Those past karmic sins will vary in
individual severity, but we will be able to entirely eliminate them without
fail, through the supreme teaching of True Buddhism.
Our High Priest has designated this year “The Year of Action.” We
must stand forth as individuals and take action. Without action, there will
be no results. When we look upon our world today, we find tremendous
delusions and impurities in wars, famines, and epidemics. Indeed, these
are all manifestations of the Latter Day of the Law. Most people do not
realize that these are all caused by slanders against True Buddhism.
We – the priests and lay believers of Nichiren Shoshu, who
correctly embrace the Gohonzon – are the only individuals who are able
to transform this deluded world, full of the Five Impurities, into a world
where peace and happiness prevail. I ask you all to understand that this
is the year of action, as we advance towards the great objective set forth
in 2009. I ask you all to redouble your efforts in your performance of
shakubuku.
I would like to conclude my first Oko sermon for this year by
sincerely praying for your continued good health and great achievements
throughout the year.
I express my heartfelt gratitude to you for your attendance today.
