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Urabon-e Sermon Today, on this occasion of the Urabon-e ceremony, I have sincerely recited the sutras and chanted Daimoku together with you. I have also offered my heartfelt prayers for the peaceful repose of all your deceased relatives and the individuals for whom you have requested a memorial. I am truly pleased to see that you have put forth great efforts to travel long distances to attend this ceremony on a weekend day such as this. It is usually the tradition to talk about Maudgalyayana (Mokuren) during the Urabon-e ceremony. However, this month, since tomorrow marks the 748th anniversary of the Daishonin’s submission of the Rissho ankoku ron (“On Securing the Peace of the Land through the Propagation of True Buddhism”) to the feudal government of Kamakura, I would like to talk briefly about the principle of the ten evil acts (ju aku), which is expounded in the Rissho ankoku ron. The ten evil acts consist of killing, stealing, unlawful sexual intercourse, defaming, lying, duplicity, flattery, greed, anger, and stupidity. According to this teaching, those who possess the karma of having committed any of these ten acts would receive two consequences as karmic effects for every such act, when they die and are re-born in a future life. Let me explain the two effects for each of the acts. The first act, killing, refers to the taking of a life. Killing is an extremely grievous offense. Those who have killed in a past lifetime are said to experience the consequences of a short lifespan and frequent illnesses in this life. The second act is stealing – taking property that does not belong to the taker. Those who have committed this crime in a past life are said to suffer from poverty in this lifetime. They are frequently deceived by others and are prone to losing their possessions. The third item is unlawful sexual intercourse. Those who have committed this offense in the past would find that their wives or husbands are unfaithful. Furthermore, their families and relatives may be wicked or delinquent. The fourth act is defaming. Those who have done this in their past lifetime would encounter slander and deception in their current lives. The fifth act represents lying. Those who have lied in the past are constantly forced to listen to criticism against them, or they are drawn into various disputes. The sixth item is duplicity. Those who were duplicitous in a past lifetime would find that their family and relatives gradually turn against them. Moreover, their friends would also turn against them. The seventh act is flattery. Those who committed this offense in a past life would not be trusted by anyone in this lifetime. In addition, the words they speak now would also be unclear and distorted. The eighth item is greed. Those who were greedy in the past would never know satisfaction in this life. Their spirits would be perpetually covetous of things. The ninth is anger. Those who possessed this in a past lifetime would find that their shortcomings are constantly pointed out by others. Furthermore, they would suffer the consequence of being killed. The final item is stupidity. Those who have possessed this evil in the past would be individuals who uphold heretical views in this life. They would be born into dull, obtuse families, and their intelligence would be impaired. They may wonder why they alone must suffer these conditions. The cause lies in the profound karmic bonds that they possess, which turn into complaints that fuel their stupidity. When they begin to understand the significance of karmic bonds, the stupidity would be gradually alleviated. These ten evil acts do not remain static as effects suffered in this life from past misdeeds. If individuals commit the same offenses in this lifetime, then they would inevitably suffer the same consequences in their future lives. Furthermore, it is a fact that most people are currently suffering at least a few of these consequences in their lives today. What, then, is the source of these ten evil acts? It is none other than the three categories of action consisting of physical, verbal, and mental action. The karmic effects of physical action characterize the physical evils of killing, stealing, and unlawful sexual intercourse. The karmic consequences of verbal action are associated with the verbal evils of defaming, lying, duplicity and flattery. The karmic effects of mental action are connected with the mental evils of greed, anger, and stupidity. When we look upon our society today, we frequently find people who are suffering from unfortunate circumstances, steeped in these ten evil acts. Moreover, we, ourselves, are very much a part of it. Then, what is the resolution that would enable us to eliminate these ten evil acts? It is to chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and to propagate this Daimoku in our practice for ourselves and for others. It is, indeed, the path of practice that was correctly indicated by Nichiren Daishonin. We must not be distressed if the evil conditions apply to us. In fact, it is absolutely precious that we are able to transform these evils into benefits. Today, we have come together at this temple, as priests and lay believers of Nichiren Shoshu, to present our memorial offerings to our deceased relatives. This represents one of the practices to eliminate our sins and negative karma from the past. While our ancestors were alive, they were individual human beings who felt joy, sadness, suffering – all the elements that characterized their lives. Our lives today are exactly the same. The invaluable significance of offering the toba memorial is that we are able to eliminate the suffering of our deceased relatives as we, ourselves, receive benefits and eradicate our sins and negative karma. I would like to conclude my sermon for today by sincerely praying that you will all use this occasion – the month characterizing the anniversary of the submission of the Rissho ankoku ron – to advance forth with ever more devotion towards our objective of the doubling of the number of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth who will congregate at the great assembly only two years from now. Thank you very much for your attendance today. |