Persecution by Sword and Staff
June, 2004
Reverend Shogu Kimura
As you crave food when hungry, seek water when thirsty, long to see a lover, beg for medicine when ill, or as a beautiful woman desires powder and rouge, so should you put your faith in the Lotus Sutra. If you do not, you will regret it later. (“Persecution by Sword and Staff,” Gosho, p. 1361; MWND-2, p. 299)
Today, on this occasion of the Okyo-bi ceremony for June, I have recited the sutras and chanted Daimoku together with you and have sincerely prayed for the peaceful repose of the deceased individuals for whom you requested a memorial. Moreover, I have offered my heartfelt prayers for all of you to be able to eradicate your slanders and expiate your sins from your past and present existences; for you to redouble your faith; for you to enjoy a tranquil and long life; for peace and safety to prevail in your homes; for the eternal continuation of the heritage of the Law; and for the ever-increasing development of the Myoshin-ji Chapter of the Hokkeko.
The Gosho for this month is “Persecution by Sword and Staff” (Ueno-dono gohenji).
Many of you may already know that Lord Ueno (Ueno-dono) was Lord Nanjo Tokimitsu. When Nikko Shonin made the decision to depart from Minobu, Lord Ueno reached out to welcome him into his own domain and donated the land on which our Head Temple Taiseki-ji is situated today. Some of you may have visited Myoren-ji Temple, located to the south of the Head Temple. Myoren-ji was the residence of Nanjo Tokimitsu.
Based on this background, May 1st, the day of Lord Nanjo’s death, is observed at the Head Temple, through the memorial service known as the Daigyo-e ceremony.
I will now proceed with my sermon.
What do you all do when you are thirsty? You would probably seek out a drink to satiate your thirst. You definitely would not desire salty food. If you fall ill, what would you do? You would probably go to the doctor and seek medicine. If you are ill, you definitely would not want to go on an outing to the beach and the mountains for enjoyment at such a time. When a woman goes out, she applies make-up without fail and selects her favorite clothes. If she is going to travel, she would not think of leaving without make-up and be seen in her lounging clothes. These are all matters that we naturally tend to do, without any particular prompting or instruction.
Just like the things that we do as a matter of course in our daily lives, true faith means that we naturally focus our faith on the Gohonzon. Faith is not just a part of our daily lives. In fact, all aspects of our daily lives are actually contained in our faith. From the moment we awaken in the morning through the time when we are fast asleep at night, all aspects of our lives throughout the 24 hours are contained in our faith. Therefore, if you try to sneak and commit a wrong-doing, you cannot hide anything from the Gohonzon. By the same token, even if you do not announce to the world that you are chanting Daimoku and performing good deeds, you will receive benefits as a result in your lives. When you perform shakubuku, the people to whom you talk may tell you that they are upholding faith that appeals to them and that they have not established any particular object of worship. Others may tell you that they do not believe in the Buddha and that they believe only in themselves. I am certain that you have encountered people who say such things when you perform shakubuku. You will find that these are the very people who will ask for help and assistance from a god or the Buddha, as soon as they encounter an illness, accident, or other such calamity. It is unnatural and distorted, indeed, to seek help from the Buddha, only when things are going wrong.
It is not an exaggeration to say that we who live in the Latter Day of the Law are constantly in a condition that can be exemplified by one who is always thirsty for water. If a person who is thirsty forgets to drink water to satiate his thirst, he would eventually wither and die.
In the same way, if we do not chant Daimoku when we must do so, we cannot expect to achieve true enlightenment.
There is a proverb which teaches us that “Continuation constitutes power.” Indeed, continuation is most essential in our faith. If we slacken in our faith, then we would only exhaust our stored benefits from that point on, and we would not amass any more benefits. Under such conditions, we would eventually exhaust all our benefits, and we would suddenly find ourselves in a terrible quagmire.
There will be clear, bright days; there will be rainy days; and there will be days of raging storms. We, who were born in the Latter Day of the Law, have come into this world with a heavy load of karmic sins from our past lives. Thus, even if we are enjoying tremendous happiness currently in our lives, there is no guarantee that it would continue forever. Conversely, if we continue to uphold our faith, we can only bring forth happiness, even in the midst of great unhappiness.
Moreover, we are able to chant Daimoku precisely because we can feel unhappiness. If we are overly happy, we may even forget to chant Daimoku. We tend to classify all forms of unhappiness as evil or negative. Have you noticed that not all forms of unhappiness are truly evil? The unhappiness that we feel frequently motivates us to chant Daimoku and consequently enables us to amass benefits. When we consider the situation from this perspective, we can look upon unhappiness as a part of our lives that helps us along in our faith.
Of course, I am definitely not a fan of unhappiness.
As long as we were born as humans, we will encounter difficulties, without fail. I am convinced that when we overcome such difficulties with our faith, we will achieve true enlightenment.
No matter how strong and robust we may be, we will all age, grow ill, and eventually die. In our last moment, can each of us say, “I have upheld true faith, without any regrets in my life?”
I sincerely ask you to thoroughly uphold the supreme teaching of the Daishonin throughout your lives and to thoroughly live a supreme life of no regrets.
This month marks the 20th anniversary of Myoshin-ji Temple. Moreover, in December, we plan to welcome priests and Hokkeko members from Japan to our Ceremony Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Establishment of Myoshin-ji Temple.
This year represents the significant juncture of 20 years for Myoshin-ji Temple. I ask you all to use this year as an opportunity to exert forth your utmost efforts in your performance of shakubuku and to advance forth together as worthy disciples of the Daishonin.
Thank you for all your efforts in your attendance today.