The Wealthy Man Sudatta
(Ueno-dono gohenji)
Oko Sermon November 2004
Reverend Shogu Kimura
I have received your offering of one kan of coins. Because you have demonstrated such sincerity, I am telling you the following. You must not think I am a greedy priest. There is a way to become a Buddha easily, and I will teach it to you. To teach another something is like oiling the wheels of a heavy cart so that they will turn, or like floating a boat upon the water so that it may move ahead without difficulty. The way to become a Buddha easily is nothing extraordinary. It is, for example, to give water to a thirsty person in time of drought or to provide fire for someone freezing in the cold. Or again, it is to give another something irreplaceable; when one’s own life is about to be extinguished from want of it, one gives it as alms to another person. (Shimpen gosho, p. 1528; MWND-5, p. 307)
Good morning everyone. Today, on this occasion of the November Oko sermon 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.
Today, prior to the oko sermon, I conducted the shichi-go-san ceremony for the children. This shichi-go-san ceremony, which is a celebration for girls and boys who are 3 years of age; boys who are 5 years of age; and girls who are 7 years of age, on the 11th day of the 11th month, first began in the mid-Edo period (in the 18th century). Ever since then, each of the Nichiren Shoshu temples has been performing this ceremony.
The Daishonin stated the following about children:
According to the sutra, children are our treasure. (Gosho, p. 1552)
For those of us who uphold the True Buddhism of the Daishonin, children are a treasure. Children represent precious individuals of talent for all parents, for all nations, and for the sake of kosenrufu. For this reason, I have performed the shichi-go-san ceremony here at Myoshin-ji Temple today, and touched the head of each child, with the Gohonzon, and offered my prayers.
I ask the children who participated in the shichi-go-san ceremony to sincerely listen to their fathers and mothers and become children who can chant Daimoku to the Gohonzon everyday.
Today we also celebrate the Mokushi-e Ceremony. Tomorrow, November 15th, marks the anniversary of the passing of our 3rd High Priest Nichimoku Shonin. No less than 650 years ago, on the 15th day of the 11th month, on his way to have audience with the emperor in Kyoto, Nichimoku Shonin passed away in the post town of Tarui in Mino Province (in present-day Gifu Prefecture).
As a youth, Nichimoku Shonin had strong faith, and he invariably followed the Daishonin and Nikko Shonin and diligently served them. He remonstrated against the imperial court and the military government on 42 occasions. In fact, he passed away on his way to perform another such remonstration. Throughout his lifetime and to the very end, he thoroughly upheld the spirit of never begrudging his life for the sake of propagating the Law (shishin guho).
In the first year of Shoo (1289), when Nikko Shonin took his departure from Mt. Minobu, Nichimoku Shonin accompanied him as his direct disciple. As soon as Taiseki-ji was established, Nichimoku Shonin built the Renzo-bo and devoted himself to protecting the Head Temple.
According to a famous legend, Nichimoku Shonin served the Daishonin so diligently everyday that he developed a slight depression on his dead from carrying the water bucket from the stream.
Today, I would like to speak briefly about the spirit of offering to the Buddha, based on the conduct of Nichimoku Shonin, who never slackened in his service to the Daishonin and who constantly protected him.
The Gosho passage that we are focusing on today is from “The Wealthy Man Sudatta” (Ueno-dono gohenji). It is a letter that was sent to Lord Nanjo Tokimitsu on the 27th day of the 12th month of the 3rd year of Koan (1280), when the Daishonin was 59 years of age. Unfortunately, the original Gosho, in the hand of the Daishonin, no longer exists. The text copied by our 2nd High Priest Nikko Shonin exists in our Head Temple Taiseki-ji.
This passage contains instructions on the true spirit of offering; enlightenment can be achieved through devotion that is absolutely sincere. Let me explain this passage a little at a time.
First, the Daishonin wrote:
I have received your offering of one kan of coins. Because you have demonstrated such sincerity, I am telling you the following. You must not think I am a greedy priest. There is a way to become a Buddha easily, and I will teach it to you.
One kan – literally a “goose-eyed kan,” represents a coin, which was transmitted from China, which contains a hole in the middle that resembles the eye of a goose. The Daishonin expressed his gratitude to Nanjo Tokimitsu who, in spite of himself suffering from financial difficulties, managed to send an offering of cash, at the end of the year, to the Daishonin and his disciples. The previous year, during the Atsuhara Persecution, Lord Nanjo Tokimitsu put forth his utmost efforts, covertly and overtly, to protect the Daishonin’s disciples and believers in Atsuhara. As a result, although his domain was of modest size, he was forced to pay tremendously heavy taxes. He possessed no horse for transportation, and he could barely afford clothing for his wife and children. He was experiencing great financial difficulty, but he was still concerned about the Daishonin and presented him with an offering. It is difficult to accept offerings from those who are going through difficult times. We can imagine that people under the same conditions may politely refuse such offerings. The Daishonin was aware of Nanjo Tokimitsu’s circumstances. Why, then, did he accept the offerings? He premised his words by saying, “You must not think I am a greedy priest.” He proceeded to teach Tokimitsu the way to easily become a Buddha.
He wrote:
To teach another something is like oiling the wheels of a heavy cart so that they will turn, or like floating a boat upon the water so that it may move ahead without difficulty.
The point of this passage is to enable the individual himself to release the power within him; it instructs him to expand and improve upon it. In other words, the metaphors such as the cart and the boat signify the special qualities and characteristics that are inherent in the individual. The objective of the Daishonin’s teaching can be attained by presenting the means by which to optimize those special qualities and characteristics. Then, the instruction and core teaching will achieve fruition, thus improving upon the successes.
In child-rearing, this represents education. If you are able to perceive the potential that is inherent in a child, as you raise him, you will find that that child will possess a unique quality in him that is superior to that of all others. The Daishonin used these illustrations to show that you should do what you can, based on a sincere spirit of offering.
The instructions set forth in this passage are extremely significant in improving our individual faith and in cultivating talented individuals for the extensive enrichment and development of the Hokkeko organization.
The Daishonin wrote:
The way to become a Buddha easily is nothing extraordinary. It is, for example, to give water to a thirsty person in time of drought or to provide fire for someone freezing in the cold. Or again, it is to give another something irreplaceable; when one’s own life is about to be extinguished from want of it, one gives it as alms to another person.
This means that to achieve enlightenment, we cannot be narrowly focused on our individual benefits, desires, and happiness. We must possess a spirit in which, even when we are weak with hunger, we are willing to present the Buddha with something that is irreplaceable and we continue to offer our protection to him.
What the Daishonin received from Lord Nanjo Tokimitsu was the sincerity and pure spirit that were contained in the offering. By presenting the Buddha – that is, the Daishonin – with a sincere, heartfelt offering, Tokimitsu was able to amass benefits and good karma that would enable him to achieve enlightenment. Therefore, the Daishonin accepted Tokimitsu’s offering to enable him to amass those benefits and good karma.
In the Daishonin’s Gosho, “Reply to Lord Onichi” (Onichi-dono gohenji), he explained the significance of presenting offerings to the Buddha. He described two stories from the Buddhist scriptures. Let me briefly present them to you.
The first story takes place in Rajagriha, where Shakyamuni and other men such as Ananda were performing the practice of begging for alms. Two children, Tokusho-doji and Musho-doji were playing together in the sand and building a sandcastle. In the castle, they made living areas and storehouses, and in those storehouses, they placed mudpies for safekeeping. As they were playing, the boys saw the stalwart figure of the Buddha, who walked by. They were filled with joy and offered their mudpies to Shakyamuni. Musho-doji stood nearby and expressed his joy by joining his hands in prayer, thus showing that he and Tokusho-doji shared the same sentiment of reverence towards the Buddha. Shakyamuni smiled at the boys.
Shakyamuni stated:
A hundred years after my entry into nirvana, these boys will be reborn as wheel-turning kings and will rule a quarter of all of India. This boy’s name will be King Ashoka. He will divide my ashes into 84,000 parts and establish treasure towers. He will enable the people to prosper.
Just as Shakyamuni predicted, King Ashoka emerged approximately 100 years after his passing. In the beginning, this king was a tyrant and established an evil rule. He conquered various lands by military force. Later, he converted to Buddhism and repented his former cruel ways. He governed with compassion, and unified the land in peace based on Buddhism. He was the first to unify the nation of India under a single rule.
The second story is known as the “Single Flame of the Poor Woman.” There was a poor old woman who lived in the castle town of Rajagriha. She saw the king of Magadha send an entire wagon full of 18,000 liters of flax seed oil as an offering to Shakyamuni. She was deeply moved by this gesture and decided that she, too, would present the Buddha with an offering of oil for his lantern. However, the old woman was so poor that she did not even have the money to buy her next meal. So the old woman cut off her hair and sold it to buy oil for the Buddha. At the time, the oil merchant asked the old woman:
"Old woman, you seem to be destitute. Why don’t you use this money to buy yourself some food? Your life cannot be prolonged by this lantern oil . . ."
The woman responded:
"I have heard that we can only encounter the Buddha once in a hundred kalpas – a tremendously long time. I am fortunate enough to have been born during the lifetime of the Buddha. Although I was born into this world at the same time as the Buddha – a truly rare occasion – I have been too poor to be able to present him any offerings. However, when I saw the king offering the large amount of oil to him, I decided to give my offering to the Buddha, too. Being able to continue with life tomorrow is but a mere flame in my life. By presenting this offering to the Buddha, I will be able to escape the suffering of life and death. It will enable me to proceed towards enlightenment."
So saying, the old woman joyfully presented her offering of oil to Shakyamuni.
That evening, a strong wind blew through the castle town. All the flames that lighted the town were extinguished. The flames lighted by the oil from the king were no exception. Strangely enough, however, the flame lighted by the oil from the old woman withstood the tremendous gale. The oil was never depleted and the flame continued to burn brightly.
As a result of this, the old woman was able to actualize all the benefits that she had amassed from previous lifetimes, and she received assurance for enlightenment from Shakyamuni. Why was the single flame from the oil offered by the old woman not extinguished? It remained burning because, when the old woman presented her offering to the Buddha, she was ready to die the next day and give her life for his sake. She did not seek the food she needed but, instead, sought to buy oil to offer to the Buddha.
These are parables concerning Shakyamuni. Here offerings of mudpies and oil are made, but of course, in reality today, we cannot make offerings of mud.
I am certain that you are all aware that we do not make offerings of meat or fish to the Gohonzon. We also do not offer vegetables with strong smells, such as garlic, chives, and onions. Basically, when we wake up in the morning, our initial offering consists of the first water that we can pour. When we purchase fruits, we must first offer them to the Gohonzon. This sincere spirit of presenting an offering is truly essential. We must cultivate the spirit that we will offer everything first to the Gohonzon. Presenting the Gohonzon with things that are discarded or leftover foods does not consist of a true offering.
The Daishonin stated the following in his Gosho:
When they fall into hell and suffocate in its flames, they long to be reborn as humans and vow to put everything else aside and serve the three treasures in order to attain enlightenment in their next life. But even on the rare occasions when they happen to be reborn human, the winds of fame and fortune blow violently and the lamp of Buddhist practice is easily extinguished. They squander their wealth without a qualm on meaningless trifles but begrudge even the smallest contribution to the Buddha, the Law and the Priest. This is very serious, for then they are being hindered by messengers from hell. This is the meaning of “Good by the inch invites evil by the yard.” (Gosho, p. 1457-1458)
When we present offerings to the Three Treasures, we cultivate a powerful force that directly functions to propagate Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism and protect the True Law. Presenting offerings to the Three Treasures means that we discard our greed and make our offerings for the sake of the Law. This will bring forth benefits without fail. When we present an offering to the Gohonzon, we cannot be begrudging or arrogant. True and sincere offerings will inevitably bring forth benefits. However, we must not cause excessive strain in our homes by making offerings to the point that you will become poverty-stricken and thus bring ruin to your families. The point is, your offerings must come naturally from the heart.
As you are aware, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Myoshin-ji Temple. We are proceeding forth with renovations to the temple and cleaning and improvements in the altar area around the Gohonzon. These are all accomplished by sincere gokuyo offerings from you, and they manifest your spirit to repay your debts of gratitude to the Daishonin. Therefore, I am convinced that the benefits that you will gain as a result are truly infinite.
As it was for the Daishonin, it is difficult, indeed, for a priest to talk about gokuyo offerings. I have talked to you about offerings to the Daishonin today, since this month marks the commemorative ceremony for the passing of Nichimoku Shonin, and I have explained the constant service that he offered to the Daishonin.
I would like to conclude my sermon for this month by sincerely praying for your increased efforts in your activities and for your continued good health.
I truly thank you for traveling long distances to attend this ceremony today.
As you are aware, next month, we will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Myoshin-ji Temple. Moreover, after the ceremony, in the second part of the observance, we will hold a celebration with performances. We still have some additional room for you to attend this event, so if you have the time, I sincerely ask as many of you as possible to join us on this significant occasion.
I extend my sincere appreciation to all of you for your attendance today.