Oko Sermon
Reverend Shogu Kimura
July, 2009
The Significance and Benefits of Offering Gokuyo
“Gokuyo” literally means the practice of “supplying resources.” There are two general types of Gokuyo offerings: the offering of the Law (ho kuyo) and the offering of material goods (zai kuyo). The offering of the Law is the practice of upholding and propagating true Buddhism. The offering of material goods refers to the practice of presenting money and other goods to the three treasures of the Buddha, the Law, and the priesthood.
Today, we will focus on the offering of material goods. “The Poor Woman’s Lamp” is a story told in the Sutra on the Wise and the Foolish (Kengu-kyo).
Long ago, there was a poor woman named Nanda. As a result of her past evil causes, she was poverty-stricken. Determined to change the conditions of her life, Nanda resolved to present the Buddha with an offering of a lamp. She begged on the streets and finally earned a meager coin. Pleased by what she earned, she tried to purchase a small container of oil, but the coin was not enough to buy it. However, when the merchant heard about her plight, he felt sorry for her and sold her the oil. The destitute woman went to Shakyamuni and said, “As a benefit for making this offering, I would like to be reborn as a wise person in my next life, so that I will be able to eliminate the suffering of all people.” Since the amount of oil that she offered the Buddha was so miniscule, anyone would have assumed that the oil would not last long and that the fire would soon go out. However, the oil kept the flame lit for much longer than the lamps offered by those who were wealthy. Shakyamuni explained that “her light did not go out because she possessed the vast determination to save all people.” (Koku-yaku issai-kyo Hon’en bu-7-138)
This indicates that the single light offered by the poor woman with a big heart was more valuable than the lights offered by those who were wealthy. This teaches us that our sincerity in offering Gokuyo is more important than the amount of the offering itself.
I would assume that you use your work income or spending money to make Gokuyo offerings. Many of you probably participated in the special Gokuyo these years. The construction work to renovate the Image Hall (Mieido) at the Head Temple is moving along systematically, as one of the commemorative projects to celebrate the 750th Anniversary of Revealing the Truth and Upholding Justice through the Submission of the Rissho ankoku-ron. The new construction of the lodging temples along the Tatchu pathway has been completed. Furthermore, your regular attendance and Gokuyo offerings to your respective temples have supported their continued prosperity. As a result, you will all receive vast benefits.
Nichiren Daishonin states the following in his Gosho, “The Drum at the Gate of Thunder” (“Sennichi ama gozen-gohenji”):
Tokusho Doji, who offered a mud pie to the Buddha, was reborn as King Ashoka. (Gosho, p. 1289; MW-5, p. 285)
Long ago, two boys, Tokusho-doji and Musho-doji, were playing in the sand. Shakyamuni happened to pass by them. When Tokusho-doji saw Shakyamuni, he was deeply impressed by his stately demeanor and immediately offered him a mud pie. As a benefit of this action, Tokusho-doji was later reborn as King Ashoka. Born into the kingdom of Maurya, Ashoka went on to establish the greatest empire in the history of India. His achievement was a direct benefit of the sincere offering that he made to the Buddha in his previous life.
Nanjo Tokimitsu, who lived during the lifetime of Nichiren Daishonin, was a man of pure faith. He was the steward of the region, but was encountering severe difficulties. The Daishonin stated:
Moreover, your small village has been heavily taxed and its people have repeatedly been put to forced labor, until you yourself have no horse to ride, and your wife and children lack for clothing. (Gosho, p. 1529; MW-5, p. 309)
Even though he lived in such poverty, he presented Nichiren Daishonin a Gokuyo offering of one kan of copper coins.
The Atsuhara Persecution took place in the tenth month of the second year of Ko’an (1279). It was a tremendous oppression against the increasing number of the Daishonin’s followers in the Atsuhara region of Suruga Province. On the 21st day of the ninth month of the second year of Ko’an (1279), the Hokkeko believers of Atsuhara were helping Nisshu harvest his private rice fields. Seizing this opportunity, Gyochi, the deputy chief priest of Ryusenji Temple, used Yatoji as a pawn to falsely accuse the Hokkeko believers of stealing rice from Gyochi’s fields and carrying it to Nisshu’s residence temple. They lodged a false complaint to the petitions office of the military government in Kamakura. As a result, twenty Hokkeko believers were arrested and taken to Kamakura. They were not given a fair investigation or trial and Jinshiro, Yagoro, and Yarokuro were ultimately executed.
Nanjo Tokimitsu was a major figure in the Suruga region, and he was affected by this persecution. Although his district was small, he was burdened with excessive responsibilities. This led to severe difficulties in his daily life. Thus, although he was the steward of the region, he had no horse for transportation. Furthermore, he could not adequately provide even clothing for his wife and children. Even though he was experiencing such difficulties, he still made a Gokuyo offering of one kan of copper coins. Nichiren Daishonin addressed Tokimitsu, who exhibited such pure faith, and stated:
Your offering is like that of…Rida who gave the millet in his jar to a pratyekabuddha. (ibid.)
Rida represents Aniruddha in a prior lifetime. According to the Sutra on the Wise and the Foolish, there were two brothers, Rida and Arida. The elder brother, Rida, took religious vows and became a pratyekabuddha.
One day, a pratyekabuddha came to Arida and begged for alms. Arida was not aware that this was his older brother. Although Arida, himself, was poor and eked out a living selling firewood, he offered his meal of millet gruel to the pratyekabuddha. As a result of making this offering, he was later able to live a life of abundance and comfort. (Koku-yaku Issai-kyo Hon’en bu 7-348)
Furthermore, in his future life, he was reborn as a prince in the kingdom of the prosperous King Dronodana, entered the priesthood, and became a disciple of Shakyamuni. He attained the benefit of being foremost in divine vision. Nichiren Daishonin likened Nanjo Tokimitsu to Arida, and explained that Tokimitsu would receive great benefits.
Nanjo Tokimitsu disregarded his own difficulties and suffering and continued to present Gokuyo offerings, mindful of what Nichiren Daishonin needed the most at any given time. The Daishonin wrote the following in his Gosho, “Reply to Lord Ueno” (“Ueno dono-gohenji”):
While one would appreciate offerings of coins when he is starving and supplies when he is thirsty, these could never draw forth the same gratitude as timely offerings of rice and water. (Gosho, p. 1436)
This Gosho was Nichiren Daishonin’s response to Nanjo Tokimitsu’s Gokuyo offering of rice. Nichiren Daishonin is the True Buddha of the infinite past of kuon-ganjo. However, he made his advent into this world taking the form of a common mortal. Without food, a common mortal cannot survive. It is only natural that an individual who is starving would seek food more than water, and a person who is terribly thirsty would seek water rather than food. Nanjo Tokimitsu was always concerned about Nichiren Daishonin’s well being. At the time, there was a food shortage, but the Daishonin had received an offering of rice from Nanjo Tokimitsu.
Nichiren Daishonin was overjoyed by this offering. Since he would be able to maintain his life by eating the rice, he wrote, “[The coins and supplies] could never draw forth the same gratitude as timely offerings of rice and water.”
In later years, our Second High Priest Nikko Shonin, who inherited the entirety of the Law from Nichiren Daishonin, left Minobu, which had transformed into a center of slander. I am convinced that Nanjo Tokimitsu’s strong faith heavily influenced Nikko Shonin’s decision to establish Taisekiji in the district of Ueno.
The Daishonin states the following in the Gosho, “On Priestly Robes” (“Ho’e-sho”):
Food maintains life, and garments clothe the body. Those who offer food to sentient beings (ujo) will be rewarded with long life. Those who steal the food of others will, in effect, live a short life. (Gosho, p. 1546)
Nichiren Daishonin explains that we can live a long life as a benefit of making offerings of food, since we enable people to maintain their lives by eating the food. By contrast, if we steal food from others, we will live a short life. Moreover, by making offerings of clothing, we will receive benefits that enable us to always be clothed. However, if we steal the clothes of others, we will suffer the terrible effect of feeling as though our skin is being peeled off.
The Daishonin wrote the following in the Gosho, “On Gowns and Unlined Robes” (“Onkoromo narabi ni hitoe-gosho”):
An offering of even a single unlined robe to the Lotus Sutra amounts to an offering to each Buddha represented by the 69,084 characters of the Lotus Sutra. (Gosho, p. 908)
Thus, if one offers even a single robe to the Lotus Sutra, he can receive the benefits equivalent to having made offerings to 69,084 Buddhas, the number of characters contained in the Lotus Sutra.
This is like a single seed that produces numerous fruits. Making a Gokuyo offering—even if it is a single piece of clothing, food, or a coin—to the three treasures of the Buddha, the Law, and the priesthood of the Buddhism of the Sowing, brings forth tremendous benefits.
We frequently encounter the phrase, “First comes faith; second comes practice; and third comes study” (ichi-shin, ni-gyo, san-gaku). The three practices of faith, practice, and study are essential to correctly uphold our faith in true Buddhism. Of these, faith is the most important. Next in significance is practice. Presenting Gokuyo offerings falls under this second item of practice. However, we need faith in order to perform this practice and offer Gokuyo. Our incentive to make a Gokuyo offering is in itself a manifestation of our faith. We must also understand the importance of offering Gokuyo through our study of true Buddhism.
Nichiren Daishonin teaches the following in “The True Entity of Life” (“Shoho jisso-sho”):
Exert yourself in the two ways of practice and study. Without practice and study, there can be no Buddhism. You must not only persevere yourself; you must also teach others. Both practice and study arise from faith. (Gosho, p. 668; MW-1, p. 95)
Today, the world is on the verge of a financial crisis prompted by the collapse of Lehman Brothers last September. I am certain that under these conditions, it is difficult for many of you to make Gokuyo offerings. However, the benefits of offering Gokuyo in difficult times such as these are truly tremendous.
Let us all bear in mind and emulate the spirit upheld by Tokusho-doji, Aniruddha, and Nanjo Tokimitsu. I sincerely pray that you will all amass increasingly great benefits by making Gokuyo offerings.