Oko Lecture in Praise of Nichiren Daishonin
Reverend Shogu Kimura
March, 2010
The Significance of Memorial Offerings For Our Deceased Ancestors
As practitioners of Buddhism, making memorial offerings to the deceased is a fundamental practice that we must always observe.
Nichiren Daishonin stated the following in his Gosho, “Repaying Debts of Gratitude” (“Hō’on-shō”):
The aged fox will never turn its back on the knoll where his home lies, and the white turtle repaid his debt of gratitude to Mao Bao. Since even beastly creatures know to behave in this way, those with human morals should be all the more aware….What, then, could be said of those who study and practice Buddhism? Indeed, how could they ever neglect their debts of gratitude to their parents, their teachers, and their country? (Gosho, p. 999)
In this passage, the Daishonin explains the importance of being aware of the favors that we have received and repaying those debts of gratitude. In other words, our awareness of the debt of gratitude that we owe to our parents is a fundamental factor that makes us human. Only when we develop this awareness can we manifest our intelligence and wisdom as mature adults. Furthermore, it is essential for us, as Buddhists, to repay our debts of gratitude. According to the teachings of Buddhism, repaying our debts of gratitude does not mean to simply return favors to the people who have done favors for us. Repayment of such debts can be deemed successful only when we are able to cultivate an understanding of the feelings of others, when we develop a sense of appreciation, and when we, ourselves, are able to perform good deeds toward others.
We have learned on many occasions about the significance of repaying our debts of gratitude to those who are deceased. We must take this a step further and understand the importance of making such offerings to our ancestors. It has been a tradition in Nichiren Shoshu to make these offerings, without fail, every morning and evening during Gongyo. Making memorial offerings to ancestors is a common custom for those who live in Asia, but it may be an unfamiliar tradition for those in the West.
As you are aware, the principle of karmic bonds is a fundamental doctrine in Buddhism. All existence is characterized by encounters—people encountering other people, people encountering situations and events, and people encountering things. These encounters function to put life in motion and cause emotions to develop, such as joy, anger, sadness, and humor. These emotions give rise to various forms of behavior that create the causes that determine our karma in the future. Then, a new existence is created once again. In other words, the bonds among people and things mark the beginning of existence.
In our present lives, our existence today began with the encounter between our fathers and mothers. As individuals, our parents grew into adults. They fostered determinations of self-improvement and hopes for the future. A karmic bond caused our parents to meet and become husband and wife. Once they got married, they sought to create a happy home, and they gave birth to children. Then, the sense of being a father and mother developed in the hearts of the husband and wife. They nurtured the strongest love and passion and held the highest dreams for their children. There was no hardship or expense that could deter them from doing their best to raise their children. Based on the sincerity and efforts of the father and mother, the children are able to thrive in society as common-sense individuals with healthy emotions.
According to Buddhist teachings, our lives today did not come about as a result of random circumstances, nor were we created by some alternate being. Karmic bonds from the distant past and the thoughts and actions of our parents have caused us to exist here today. In our growth process as humans, the instructions provided by our parents form the basis of our lives. We learn how men act in society by watching the actions of our fathers. We learn how women act in society by watching our mothers. This is how we learn to live in society.
Parents also learn about life from their children. In other words, the individual lives of the parent and child are determined by their relationship with one another. The reason that the lives of the parent and the child assume a similar course and direction and that they frequently encounter similar experiences is based on their profound karmic bond from the distant past. This strong bond between the parent and child functions to characterize their mutual existence, and it forms a single entity of life that can never be separated.
In the Gosho, “The Forgotten Sutra” (“Bōji kyō ji”), Nichiren Daishonin wrote:
My head is that of my father and mother; my legs are also of my parents; my ten fingers are of my father and mother; and my mouth is also that of my parents. This is like the relationship between a seed and its fruit and a body and its shadow. (Gosho, p. 958)
Thus, our lives represent the product of our parents’ lives, their determinations, and their actions. While our lives are shaped by those of our parents, our actions and thoughts, in turn, have a direct effect on them. Such is the nature of our eternal relationship with them.
Conversely, our fathers and mothers did not randomly become parents. They also had parents who deeply loved them and raised them with the same passion and expectations that they later exhibited. Before them, the grandparents and the great-grandparents were raised in much the same way by their parents. The thoughts and good deeds of all the fathers and mothers from the past continued in succession to provide the long and profound karmic bond that still exists today. The entirety of their passion and expectations fueled the power of life and created the karma that is now present within us. Herein lies the connection between our ancestors and us.
Nichiren Daishonin quoted the following in his Gosho, “On Women’s Attainment of Buddhahood” (“Nyonin jōbutsu-shō”): A passage in the Meditation on the Mind Ground Sutra (Shin ji kan-kyō) states:
“The transmigration of sentient beings in the six paths is similar to the circle on a wheel that has no beginning and no end. It is also like the father and mother and the man and woman who are together through lifetimes, owing favors to each other. (Gosho, p. 344)
When we look upon past lifetimes, we find that there were countless individuals we have encountered—not only family members but also relatives, friends, and other people with whom we share karmic bonds—who have loved, protected, supported, and nurtured us. We are able to encounter true Buddhism today and enjoy a life of good fortune in which we are able to amass benefits precisely because of the sincerity and good deeds of people in past lifetimes. Their sincerity and deeds have been concentrated into positive karma to form causal bonds that have enabled us to become Buddhists. In other words, the kindness and good deeds performed by those in past lifetimes with whom we share a karmic bond are alive and well within us today.
The workings of these karmic bonds are not unilateral, from the past to the present where we exist today. Indeed, all our actions now will have an effect on our forefathers and foremothers from the distant past.
The sincerity and good deeds of these people with whom we share karmic bonds have been manifested as good karma that powerfully connects the three existences, and as good fortune that has enabled us to encounter true Buddhism today. These are all the workings of the power of the Law (hō riki). The power of the Buddha (butsu riki) has enabled us to encounter true Buddhism and start our practice. The powers of the Law and the Buddha represent the entity of the Law of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo. The entity of the Law that enables us to attain enlightenment is expounded only in the Lotus Sutra. The ultimate objective of life is to cultivate a supreme character and deep virtue in order to achieve a life condition that manifests good fortune. It is to attain enlightenment. It is to embody the principle of ichinen sanzen (three thousand realms in a single life-moment). Nichiren Daishonin manifested this entity of the Law in the form of the Gohonzon and bestowed it upon us, the people of the Latter Day of the Law.
In the Gosho, “On the Urabon” (“Urabon-gosho”), Nichiren Daishonin wrote:
When the esteemed Maudgalyayana took faith in the Lotus Sutra, his good deed enabled not only himself but also his father and mother to attain Buddhahood. Furthermore, amazingly enough, all the fathers and mothers who preceded him and followed him by seven generations—indeed, the fathers and mothers of infinite lifetimes before and after him—attained Buddhahood. (Gosho, p. 1377)
Thus, first and foremost, we must embrace the Gohonzon and attain enlightenment, based on the fusion of reality and wisdom (kyō chi myogo). The Daishonin explains that the benefits of doing this will affect all those who share a karmic bond with us from seven generations in the past and seven generations into the future. Embracing the Gohonzon is premised on cultivating a spirit of appreciation and returning our debt of gratitude as Buddhist practitioners. Indeed, our performance of Gongyo, Daimoku, and shakubuku, based on an understanding of the profound karmic bond that we share with our ancestors and never forgetting the spirit of making offerings (kuyō), characterizes our practice in Nichiren Shoshu.