Oko Sermon January 2006 by Reverend Shogu Kimura
Good morning everyone. Today, on this occasion of the New Year’s Oko sermon for 2006, 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.
The original document of the gosho on which we are focusing this month has been preserved in its near-original and complete form, at the Nakayama-Hokekyo-ji Temple in Chiba prefecture. The date of the gosho is not recorded, but it is known to have been written in the fifth month of the first year of Kenji (1275).
The recipient of this gosho is believed to have been Myoichi-ama, who lived in Kamakura at the time. This gosho was sent to Myoichi-ama to thank her for her offering of a cloak and for sending him a servant to attend to the needs of the Daishonin.
There is no detailed information on Myoichi-ama, but she is believed to have been associated in some way with the priest Ben-ajari Nissho, who was one of the six senior priests.
At this time, Myoichi-ama was sickly and she had lost her son while the Daishonin was exiled to Sado. She was leading a truly forlorn existence. To make matters worse, the feudal government was persecuting her for assiduously practicing the Daishonin’s Buddhism; her holdings of land were confiscated by the government. Accordingly, she was experiencing financial difficulties. In spite of such hardships, she repeatedly sent Takio-maru, her own servant, to both Sado and Minobu, to make offerings and to help the Daishonin.
Even after the Daishonin was released and went to live in Minobu, she continued to send Takio-maru to offer help to the Daishonin. When Myoichi-ama looked upon the difficulties that she and her family were experiencing, she must have keenly realized the heaviness of her karma.
Thus, she ever-more ardently believed in the True Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin and single-mindedly made him offerings and served him, since she knew that she could secure enlightenment – true happiness for herself – only by assiduously practicing the Buddha’s teachings.
Given these circumstances, the Daishonin made reference to passages from the Nirvana Sutra and the “Great Concentration and Insight” (Maka shikan), when he offered his encouragement to Myoichi-ama in the following way.
When Shakyamuni was about to enter into nirvana, he expressed his concern for King Ajase. He stated, “Parents invariably love their children equally, but any parent would pay special attention to a child who is ill. In the same way, I am particularly mindful of trying to save King Ajase from the karmic effects of his slanderous ways.” The Daishonin was mindful of the feelings of Myoichi-ama’s son, who had passed away. At the same time, he was concerned about Myoichi-ama, who was truly suffering, as she grieved the death of her son.
The Daishonin told her that, if her son, a common mortal, were presently alive and well, he would be ecstatic if he learned that the Daishonin was released from his exile to Sado and that he had been absolutely correct about predicting the invasion of the Mongol forces, in the Rissho ankoku ron.
The passage that follows this section is the extremely famous part on which we are concentrating this month:
Those who believe in the Lotus Sutra are as if in winter, which never fails to turn into spring. Never have I seen or heard of winter turning into autumn. Nor have I ever heard of any believer in the Lotus Sutra who remained a common mortal.
It is a fact that winter always turns into spring. In the same way, those who believe in the Lotus Sutra will, without fail, experience success, like the coming of spring in their lives, even if they are currently experiencing harsh, wintry conditions. Like spring that comes forth without fail, they will attain enlightenment characterized by true happiness and good fortune.
Furthermore, the Daishonin stated that this logic could be applied to show that her son had already achieved enlightenment. He instructed her that she must never doubt that he is always watching over those he left behind.
Finally, the Daishonin concluded his letter by thanking Myoichi-ama for the gift robe that she sent to him. He further thanked her for sending her servant to help him.
As the votary of the Lotus Sutra, the Daishonin returned unharmed from Sado Island, an exile from which almost no one returned alive. According to the gosho, the Tsukahara Sammaido, where the Daishonin resided during his exile to Sado, was a truly dilapidated structure; it had no walls and snow blew freely into the house. It could hardly be called a residence. Most people would not have survived living under such conditions. Despite life under such harsh conditions, which most people would not have survived, the Daishonin was constantly concerned about the faith upheld by the people. He prayed for their growth and advancement and he constantly wrote, despite the dire scarcity of paper. We must truly understand and appreciate his tremendous mercy. We must celebrate the actual proof that the Daishonin returned unharmed from the Tsukahara Sammaido hall and uphold with true conviction the golden words from this gosho, which reads, “Winter always turns to spring.” Thus, we must pray for the happiness of ourselves and others and open forth a path to achieve it.
I would like you all to think about what the Daishonin meant by “winter.” There are always a variety of hardships in our daily lives. You may have personal problems with members of your family or with your friends.
You may possess various hardships concerning the daily necessities of food, clothing, and residence. You may be suffering from problems concerning your finances, illness, employment, and schooling.
There are countless such problems. It may seem as though all problems could be aptly characterized as conditions in “winter.” It is important to know, however, that they actually cannot all be characterized as “winter.”
“Those who believe in the Lotus Sutra are as if in winter” – this means that those who believe in the Lotus Sutra are all experiencing harsh conditions such as those that occur in winter. The Daishonin was detested by the entire nation and was eventually exiled. In the same way, those who uphold true faith and perform shakubuku will be harassed by people. They will be looked upon with envy, and people will criticize them. This phrase indicates how they will encounter harsh conditions, as though they are undergoing a severe, wintry period in their lives.
In other words, we will encounter harsh, “wintry” conditions in our lives, when we perform shakubuku in the dark and evil period of the Latter Day of the Law. It is a matter of course that we will be disliked by our friends and members of our families, since we must tell them that they will not achieve happiness unless they uphold true faith and discard their current beliefs. In particular, the United States is a country where Christianity has a stronghold.
Last month, the streets were bustling all over with the Christmas spirit. When your family and friends are gathered together to celebrate Christmas, it takes a great deal of courage to tell them that you are a Buddhist who upholds Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism and that you do not celebrate Christmas. At times you may encounter unpleasant experiences. However, it is important to uphold a compassionate spirit and tell people, little by little, about the Buddhism of the Daishonin. By so doing, you will be able to extinguish bad karma and the causes for unhappiness. Without fail, “winter always turns to spring.” Another passage in the same gosho reads:
Never have I seen or heard of winter turning into autumn. Nor have I ever heard of any believer in the Lotus Sutra who remained a common mortal.
There has never been a time when winter reverts to autumn and prevents the arrival of spring. Without fail, spring follows winter. In other words, spring will not come about unless winter first arrives.
Let us suppose, for example, that we encounter a huge wall before us. Let us also suppose that after that wall is pounded a hundred times, it will crumble down and reveal forth a road. Since we may not be aware that the wall will crumble after it is pounded a hundred times, we may stop pounding it and give up after 80, 90, or even 99 hits. The same is true of our faith. Unless we continue to forge ahead, we will be unable to open forth the true road.
In order to achieve the conditions of spring, we must first discard all notions of leniency and resignation towards faith.
Even though you may currently be experiencing great hardships, you must thoroughly chant Daimoku, based on correct faith towards the Three Treasures of the Buddhism of the sowing. When you uphold vigorous faith and practice, you will achieve a fundamental resolution, without fail, just as winter always turns into spring, we must chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and we must all uphold the spirit of different bodies but one mind, as we pray to achieve kosenrufu. By so doing, we can uphold tremendous hope for the resolution of our various individual difficulties and suffering. We must understand that such is the meaning of true belief in the Lotus Sutra.
In other words, the sentiment expressed in the phrase, “Those who believe in the Lotus Sutra are as if in winter,” is the same as that set forth in the excerpt, “When evil occurs, great good will follow.” (Great Evil and Great Good, MWND-5, p. 161) Regardless of the tremendously harsh “winter” that you may encounter, you will be able to welcome the spring of kosenrufu, without fail, as long as you uphold correct faith, based on the three treasures of the Buddhism of the sowing.
We must advance forth in the performance of gongyo and daimoku in the practice for oneself and in the performance of shakubuku in the practice for others, based on the conviction that therein resides the true happiness of all Hokkeko believers and of the entire world .
In the gosho, “Letter From Sado,” the Daishonin wrote: Iron, when heated in the flames and pounded, becomes a fine sword.
Wise men and saints are tested by abuse. My present exile is not because of any crime. It is solely so that I may expiate in this lifetime my past heavy slanders and be freed from the three evil paths in the next.
Let us all achieve one of the three great objectives of the believers of Myoshin-ji Temple – that is, “for each person to accomplish at least one shakubuku each year’’ – as we seek to expiate our negative karma. Those of you who were able to achieve one shakubuku last year should try to achieve another one this year. Those who were unable to accomplish this must never give up and courageously advance forth for successful achievement.
I would like to conclude my first Oko sermon for the year by sincerely praying for this coming year to be the greatest year thus far, in which you will experience absolutely no regrets.
I sincerely thank you all for your attendance.
