Nichiren Shoshu Seiganzan Myoshinji Temple - New Year's Address, High Priest Nichinyo Shonin/title> <meta name="keywords" content="" /> <meta name="description" content="" /> <link href="/default.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> </head> <body> <div id="page"> <div id="logo2"> <h1><a href="http://www.nichirenshoshumyoshinji.org">Nichiren Shoshu </a></h1> <h2><a href="http://www.nichirenshoshumyoshinji.org">Myoshinji Temple </a></h2> </div> <div id="menu"> <ul> <li class="first"><a href="/index.php" accesskey="H" title="Link to Home Page"><b>H</b>ome</a></li> <li><a href="/sermons/index.php" class="active" accesskey="S" title="Link to Sermons"><b>S</b>ermons</a></li> <li><a href="/ceremonies/index.php" accesskey="C" title="Link to Ceremonies"><b>C</b>eremonies</a></li> <li><a href="/schedule/index.php" accesskey="T" title="Link to Temple Schedule">Sche<b>d</b>ule</a></li> <li><a href="/faq/index.php" accesskey="F" title="Link to Frequently Asked Questions"><b>F</b>AQ</a></li> <li><a href="/hokkeko/index.php" accesskey="K" title="Link to Hokkeko Section"><b>H</b>okkeko</a></li> <li><a href="/galleries/index.php" accesskey="P" title="Link to Temple Photos"><b>P</b>hotos</a></li> <li><a href="/links/index.php" accesskey="L" title="Link to Other Temples"><b>L</b>inks</a></li> <li><a href="/contact/index.php" accesskey="U" title="Link to Contact Page">Contact <b>U</b>s</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="content"> <h1>New Year’s Address</h1> <h3>High Priest Nichinyo Shonin<br /> January 1, 2009</h3> <p> On this early spring day of the New Year, we have welcomed the 750th Anniversary of Revealing the Truth and Upholding Justice through the Submission of the Rissho ankoku-ron. I am pleased that our Honorable Retired High Priest Nikken Shonin has welcomed the New Year in high spirits.</p> <p> I extend my sincere congratulations to all of you, the priests and lay believers of Nichiren Shoshu, for your pure vitality as you embrace this New Year.</p> <p> This year, designated the “Year of Revealing the Truth and Upholding Justice,” marks the seventh year since Nikken Shonin’s pronouncement in 2002 (the 14th year of Heisei) of the objectives to Double the Number of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth and to gather at the Great Assembly. This is the year when we must successfully achieve these objectives. It is an important year, when all the Hokkeko chapters must fully accomplish the doubling of the number of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth and the much-anticipated Commemorative Grand Ceremony, the General Meeting of the Great Assembly of 75,000 believers, and the General Tozan of 500,000 Hokkeko Believers. This is the year when we must present our achievements to Nichiren Daishonin, the Master of the Three Treasures, and to Nikken Shonin who gave us these goals.</p> <p> In particular, the General Meeting of the Great Assembly of 75,000 believers represents the most powerful gathering of the Hokkeko, and the successful accomplishment of this objective is absolutely essential, in order to achieve kosen-rufu in the future.</p> <p> Furthermore, the General Meeting of the Great Assembly of 75,000 believers will be the manifestation of our successful efforts over the past seven years. It also represents the ceremony that marks a new point of departure towards the attainment of kosen-rufu in the future.</p> <p> The future achievement of kosen-rufu through our concerted efforts is precisely the will of the Daishonin, the True Buddha. As priests and lay believers of Nichiren Shoshu, we must accept his sacred instructions to never begrudge our lives for the sake of propagating the Law, until the very day we achieve the kosen-rufu of the mystic principle of the true cause (honnin-myo) throughout the world. We must actively continue to do shakubuku without ever slackening.</p> <p> In other words, there is no means other than the practice of shakubuku to actually enable us to achieve the Daishonin’s objectives of kosen-rufu and securing the peace of the land though the establishment of true Buddhism (rissho ankoku).</p> <p> The phrase “establishment of true Buddhism” (rissho) literally means the “establishment of the truth.” The “truth” denotes none other than the Dai-Gohonzon of the Three Great Secret Laws, signifying the Secret Laws to save all mankind in the Latter Day of the Law. To “establish the truth” refers to the practice of doing shakubuku, by sowing the seed of Myoho-Renge-Kyo of the Three Great Secret Laws into the hearts of all the people in the Latter Day of the Law, which is rife with evil confusion, heresy, and slander against the Law.</p> <p> Nikko Shonin stated in his “Twenty-six Admonitions” (“Niju rokka jo”):</p> <blockquote> <p>Until kosen-rufu is achieved, propagate the Law to the full extent of your ability, without begrudging your life.<br/>(Gosho, p. 1884)</p> </blockquote> <p> We must never lose sight of these instructions for all eternity. We must etch in our hearts the awareness that the best way to actualize the securing of the peace of the land through the establishment of true Buddhism (rissho ankoku) is to continue to offer our efforts without ever begrudging our lives and to advance with ever-increasing devotion toward the achievement of kosen-rufu.</p> <p> I would like to conclude my New Year’s address by sincerely praying for your continued good health.</p> </div>  <div style="clear: both; height: 0;"></div> <div id="footer"> <div class="wrapper"> <p class="links">Site designed and built by <a href="http://www.prophegy.com" title="Prohegy Web Design and Development" target="_blank">Prophegy</a> · Last update: February 5th, 2012 · This site is <a href="http://validator.w3.org/check/referer" title="This page validates as XHTML 1.0 Strict" target="_blank"><abbr title="This page validates as XHTML 1.0 Strict">XHTML</abbr></a> · <a href="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/check/referer" title="This page validates as CSS" target="_blank"><abbr title="Cascading Style Sheets">CSS</abbr></a> compliant.</p> <p class="legal">© 2012 Myoshinji Temple</p> </div> </div>  </div>  </body> </html>