Guidance from Sixty-eighth High Priest Nichinyo Shonin On the Occasion of the July Kosen-rufu Shodai Ceremony
September 6, 2009
Reception Hall, Head Temple Taisekiji
Good Morning, everyone!
On the occasion of the September Kōsen-rufu Shodai Ceremony, conducted today at the Head Temple, I would like to expressExceeding our expectations, 78,423 believers gathered at the Head Temple for the General Meeting of the Great Assembly of 75,000 believers in Commemoration of the 750th Anniversary of Revealing the Truth and Upholding Justice through the Submission of the Risshō ankoku-ron. Blessed with good weather, the meeting was splendidly conducted with great success.
This was the fruit of the assiduous efforts of the chief priests and believers of Hokkeko chapters across the country. Again, I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to you for this great success.
This great achievement was the result of hard work by members in many chapters, up to the very last possible moment. I imagine they must have faced various difficulties during that time. However, I firmly believe that such hard work will greatly help each chapter in its practice toward the achievement of our new goal.
Through this experience, I think the members of each chapter realized that, “If you try, you can do it.” It is truly important to feel certain that, “You can make it, if you try” in everything you do. It works the same for shakubuku. If you try, you can surely achieve shakubuku.
As I mentioned on July 26, our future challenge is a shakubuku-based practice. The basic policy of Nichiren Shoshu will be to make sure that each chapter achieves its goal of increasing the number of the Hokkeko members by fifty percent by 2015. Furthermore, we will establish a membership of 800,000 Hokkeko believers by 2021, in order to contribute to kōsen-rufu.
To achieve these goals, each chapter should start doing shakubuku without delay, since the start of this next challenge already began at the great Kick-off Ceremony on July 26. First and foremost, all chapters must achieve this year’s shakubuku goals without fail.
As the saying goes, “All’s well that ends well.” At the same time, there is another proverb that says, “Well begun is half done.”
Once you have made a good start, even moderate effort afterwards will bring a good result. On the contrary, if you have a tough time at the very beginning, it will be difficult to get on track.
Thus, the key to success is for each chapter to exert every possible effort to achieve this year’s shakubuku goal.
Again, the focus of our next challenge is to build a membership of 800,000 Hokkeko believers by 2021. To achieve this, each chapter should first accomplish the goal of increasing the number of its members by fifty percent by 2015.
I imagine the recent General Meeting of the Great Assembly of 75,000 believers must have been quite a challenge for you. However, you were able to achieve such a great success. This is the result of each individual’s devotion to the practice, based on firm resolution and conviction, with unity between priesthood and laity in the spirit of itai dōshin.
Therefore, if the members of the chapters are persistent in their shakubuku efforts based on a “can-do” attitude, the goal will surely be achieved. The point is, you can make it if you actually try to do it. But at the same time, nothing can be accomplished, unless you take action.
There is a saying that goes, “Good deeds alone cannot bring honor, unless they are accumulated.”
Shakubuku is the best way to save all living beings. It is also the practice to repay one’s debt of gratitude to the three treasures. Shakubuku is the best Buddhist practice for attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form. However, wishes alone cannot accomplish anything.
The Daishonin teaches in “The Doctrine of Ichinen sanzen” (“Ichinen sanzen hōmon”):
Even though one has compounded one hundred or one thousand kinds of medicines, if one never takes them, he will never be able to cure his illness. Even though one’s storehouse may be full of treasures, if he doesn’t open it, he will starve to death. Likewise, if one has medicine in his pocket but never takes it, how can he stay alive? (Gosho, p. 110)
We must carefully read this Gosho passage. Faith is an actual practice. If one regards Daimoku and shakubuku merely as theory, nothing will happen. One will see results only after taking action. Furthermore, in conducting shakubuku, it is important to have absolute faith in the Gohonzon.
If one believes in an erroneous teaching—for example, if one chants Daimoku to a counterfeit honzon issued by the Ikeda Soka Gakkai—he has no reason to expect true happiness. A counterfeit honzon is the root cause of misfortune. We must strongly appeal to others with confidence that nothing will lead us to obtain true happiness other than the Gohonzon based on the legitimate Heritage of the Law. Such firm belief and single-minded consideration for others will certainly move people’s hearts.
The “Orally Transmitted Teachings” (“Ongi kuden”) reads:
Great mercy is like a mother’s compassionate feeling for her child. Nichiren’s deep compassion is just like this. As Chang-an says, “He who makes it possible for an offender to rid himself of evil is acting like a parent to him.” (Gosho, p. 1733)
Pointing out the erroneous ideas and slanderous thoughts of others, based on sincere consideration for them, and admonishing them to correct their understanding is like a parent’s compassionate act toward a child. Such a great practice of compassion is, after all, the best way to free people from the sufferings caused by slandering the true Law.
The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra (Hokke Gengi) teaches:
The practice of the Lotus Sutra is shakubuku, the refutation of provisional doctrines. (Gakurin Gengikai-bon, vol. 2, p. 502)
The Lotus Sutra does not teach the practice of shōju, which was taught in the Nirvana Sutra (Nehan-gyō) and other sutras. Instead, it teaches shakubuku. Herein lies the way to lead both oneself and others to the attainment of Buddhahood through refuting provisional teachings.
The only way to save all living beings in the Latter Day of the Law is to do shakubuku. Practicing faith without doing shakubuku leads one to fall into a practice for one’s own sake only. One who practices like this may not be able to save himself. Practice for oneself only does not accord with the Daishonin’s will.
The Daishonin teaches in “Encouragement to A Sick Person” (“Nanjō Hyōe Shichirōdono-Gosho”):
No matter what great good deed one may perform, even if he reads and transcribes the entirety of the Lotus Sutra a thousand or ten thousand times or masters the meditation to perceive ichinen sanzen, should he but fail to denounce the enemies of the Lotus Sutra, he will be unable to attain the Way. (Gosho, p. 322; MW-6, p. 24)
In short, the Daishonin teaches that unless one practices shakubuku, one cannot create happiness for oneself.
“On the Three Great Secret Laws” (“Sandai hihō-shō”) reads:
There are two methods for the practice of Daimoku. The first was used during the Former and Middle Days of the Law, and the second is to be used during the Latter Day of the Law. Although Bodhisattvas Vasubandhu and Nagarjuna themselves chanted the Daimoku during the Former Day of the Law, they did so for their own sakes only, and did not tell many others about it. So did Nan-Yueh and Tiantai during the Middle Day of the Law. This method might be called practice in principle only. Now, in the age of the Latter Day of the Law, the Daimoku that Nichiren chants is different from that of previous ages. It is the Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo of both practice for oneself and for others. (Gosho, p. 1594)
Taking these words of the Daishonin to heart, I hope you will single-mindedly devote yourselves, first and foremost, to the practice of shakubuku, as you advance toward the achievement of this year’s goal. With this, I will conclude my address for today.