Different Bodies but One Mind (Itai Doshin)
Oko Sermon August 2004
Reverend Shindo Imafuku
Nichiren Daishonin states in, “On Itai Doshin,”
Although King Chou of Yu had 700,000 soldiers, they lost the battle because they were in dotai ishin, “one body yet of different minds.” Although King Wu of Chou had 800 men, they won because they were in itai doshin, “different bodies but one mind.” Even though an individual has one heart, if he has two minds, he will achieve nothing, because these minds oppose each other. Yet a hundred or even a thousand people can definitely attain their goal if they are one in spirit. Though the number of people in Japan is great, it is difficult for them to accomplish anything, because they are of “one body yet of different minds.” I am confident that although Nichiren and his followers are few in number, because we act as “many bodies but one mind,” we will accomplish our great task, and the Lotus Sutra will certainly be propagated. Although there may be many evil forces, they will never defeat a single virtue. (“Itai Doshin Ji” Gosho, pp. 1389-1390; Ref.: MWND, Vol. I, pp. 153-154)
Good morning everyone. It is respect-worthy that so many Hokkeko believers are in attendance at today’s Oko Ceremony to repay our debts of gratitude to Nichiren Daishonin. I respectfully offered your Gokuyo to the Gohonzon. I have also prayed for the eradication of your negative causality; for the deepening of your faith and practice; and for the progress of your efforts toward Shakubuku.
Today, Chief Priest Rev. Kimura is in Japan for the Summer Study Tozan. Therefore, on his behalf, I will conduct this month’s Oko Ceremony.
At the General Meeting held on April 25th, Rev. Kimura instructed us that we offer the Myoshin-ji Hokkeko Prayers during the silent prayer. And the third Hokkeko prayer says, “Based upon different bodies but one mind (itai doshin), we will achieve Myoshin-ji’s Shakubuku goals.” This means without itai doshin, it is impossible to achieve Myoshin-ji’s shakubuku goals. So today, I would like to talk about the importance of itai doshin.
First of all, Nichiren Daishonin expounded the importance of itai doshin by using a historical story from China, over 3,000 years ago.
Chou, the king of the Yin dynasty, was one of the most evil rulers in Chinese history. He was a tyrant, infatuated with women and had extravagant parties every day. He killed his vassals who remonstrated against his conduct and made pickled meat from their fresh. As a matter of course, he became distant from the general public.
On the other hand, Wu, the king of the Chou dynasty, made good government, and many civilians trusted him. However, King Chou did too many bad things and as a result, King Wu determined to destroy him. Unexpectedly, 800 lords of the manor joined King Wu’s army. And in battle, despite the number of King Chou’s army (700,000), most of them had no fighting spirit, and welcomed King Wu’s army by holding their weapons upside down. King Chou had to escape and perished in his castle.
Those 800 lords of the manor absolutely trusted King Wu and had the same resolve. They completely had the same spirit as King Wu. They did not consider their individual advantage. They completely followed King Wu’s instruction without introducing personal and selfish ideas. Therefore, they could make solid unity. This is the only reason for their success.
Nichiren Daishonin states in, “The True Reality of All Phenomena,”
No matter what, maintain your faith as a votary of the Lotus Sutra, and exert yourself as Nichiren’s disciple throughout your life. If you are of the same spirit as Nichiren, you must be a Bodhisattva of the Earth. (“Shoho Jisso Sho” Gosho, p. 666; Ref.: “The True Entity of Life” MWND, Vol. I, p. 93)
Therefore, it is important to have the same mind with Nichiren Daishonin’s teaching. However, it is very difficult to understand what the true teaching of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism is.
Nichiren Daishonin states in, “Letter to Niike,”
No matter what, you must keep company with a priest who knows the heart of this sutra, listen more and more to the truth of the Law and walk the road of faith. (“Niike Gosho” Gosho, p. 1457; Ref.: MWND, Vol. I, pp. 254-255)
Thus, it is extremely important to keep company with a priest who knows the true teaching of Nichiren Daishonin, and have the same mind with him. Needless to say, this priest is the High Priest, who possesses the “Transmission of the Heritage of the Law Entrusted to Only One Person.” Therefore, it is this direct path which makes it important for us to have the same mind with the High Priest who teaches us the Daishonin’s Buddhism, as do our Chief Priest.
However, I see some members who are confused about the Buddha’s teaching of itai doshin and the idea of friendship in society. They think that itai doshin means they have good friendships among Hokkeko members. This is the wrong idea, because the meaning of itai doshin does not include the idea of friendship in society.
All people consider friendship based on their personal advantage. Therefore, my idea of friendship and your idea of friendship are totally different, and we can never agree on what friendship is.
For example, in the world, every country wants to make friends with other countries because they believe other countries may have great advantages for them. But on the other hand, it is a fact that people constantly hate each other and oftentimes they make war and kill each other. This is because every country has a different understanding of friendship.
Even if I could agree with someone else’s idea of friendship, it is still based on nothing but earthly desire. I could never attain Buddhahood that way. However, I can attain Buddhahood by having 100% agreement with what Nichiren Daishonin taught. I can say the same thing for every one of you. Even though you may agree with my own ideas, which come from my own earthly desires, you will never attain Buddhahood. However, when you agree with the sermon that teaches what Nichiren Daishonin taught, every one of us can attain Buddhahood. This means each one of us will have the same mind as Nichiren Daishonin, and we will naturally recognize that we each have the same spirit as one another, not based upon each person’s desire. We naturally establish absolute itai doshin because we totally share the same focus in our daily lives, even without talking about it.
Even though we try to cooperate with each other based upon our understanding of friendship in society, it is impossible to establish itai doshin. However, if we discard the idea of friendship in society and practice having 100% agreement with Nichiren Daishonin, we will naturally have absolute itai doshin and achieve Kosen-rufu without fail.
This is the meaning of Gosho passage,
I am confident that although Nichiren and his followers are few in number, because we act as “many bodies but one mind,” we will accomplish our great task, and the Lotus Sutra will certainly be propagated.
In order to achieve Kosen-rufu, we have to strive to do Shakubuku based on itai doshin. Shakubuku comprises speech refuting and defeating the wrong ideas of religion, and Shakubuku is convincing others to practice this True Buddhism so that they can establish indestructible and true happiness.
Some members have stated to me that they understand the meaning of Shakubuku, but they do not know how to do Shakubuku. There are many kinds of people in society. Therefore, we should have various ways to do Shakubuku depending on the person.
However, a few members still do not know how to do Shakubuku. Therefore, to assist you in doing Shakubuku, I propose three questions as follows.
- Why did you discard your previous religion?
- Why did you convert to Nichiren Shoshu?
- Why do you still continue to practice this Buddhism?
I believe everyone in this room has your own answers. If you communicate these three answers with full conviction to the Dai-Gohonzon, this is what we call Shakubuku. Although this is still only one way to do Shakubuku, therefore please use this only as a reference.
Some members say, “I do Gongyo and Shodai everyday, but no Shakubuku.” Such a member cannot establish indestructible and true happiness, because the member does not follow the Daishonin’s teaching correctly.
The Daishonin states in the Gosho, “Establishing the Four Bodhisattvas,”
Those who call themselves Nichiren’s disciples and practice the Lotus Sutra must all practice as I do. (Gosho, p. 1370; Ref.: “Establishing the Four Bodhisattvas as the Object of Worship” MWND, Vol. III, p. 298)
We can attain Buddhahood by practicing exactly the same as what Nichiren Daishonin practiced and taught.
Please, fellow members, encourage and corporate with each other based on absolute itai doshin, and thus, accomplish our Shakubuku goals.
Thank you for your kind attention.