Shin Buddhism Shinshu Izumoji-ha Ryokei-ji Temple真宗出雲路派 八王子山 了慶寺 |
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Dharma Card
(September, 2008 ↓)  Dharma Card for This MonthDharma Card for May, 2012 I
was born into this world
********************* Physically speaking, Rev. Osa is right. It is really Dharma Card for April, 2012 The Tohoku Earthquake;
…………………………………………………………………………………….. In Rikuzentakada City, Iwate Prefecture, Arika Kozuchi (24 yrs. then)
wasvictimized by the Tohoku Earthquake with an 8-month babe in her
womb, and his husband Jun’ichi Kozuchi is thinking of asking for a Dharma
name for the little life on the occasion of the first anniversary service. …
Arika’s body was found on May 11 last year, just two months from the calamity. When
the body was cremated three days later, there remained a small number of tiny
bones around her belly. The baby really was trying to live there with all
its might,” contemplates Jun’chi. (The Tokyo Mainichi Evening News, Feb. 15,
2012.)
My illness has made me aware 
************************ Looking at these Dharma
words on the Think well in your life time,
2012 It is easy to wake up a sleeping person, but it is extremely hard to wake up a person who is asleep with his/her eyes open. ---Anonymous
…………………………………………. It is said that fishes go to sleep all right with their
2012 Majestic Radiance of Amida Buddha Only to be beheld in wonder Spring coming to the foolish ---Guseki …………………… Humbly Welcoming the New Year On the morning of January 1, The 24th Year of Heisei The 2555th Year of Buddha (Southern Buddhist Calendar)
Myokonin Saichi Asahara of
Iwami Province (Shimane Pref.) My
darkness He means: “My own foolishness is recognized only by the
Japanese Dharma Card for December, 2011
“So far, for a hundred long years,
Dear my Heart has been working
Without stopping even a second,
for me, to my inexplicable joy.” ---a certain temple wife
＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
On the occasion of the One Hundredth
Birthday Celebration Dharma Card for
November, 2011 Those who deeply entrust themselves
To Amida’s Vow of great compassion
Should all say Namu-amida-butsu constantly,
Whether they are waking or sleeping.
---Hymn of the
Dharma-Ages Photo by Isamu Tsugo *********************************************** The Goshoki Ho’onko, when we are reminded of Shinran Shonin’s
“Singly say the nembutsu, and you will be saved by Amida Buddha’s Thereafter he always kept on saying the nembutsu thinking of Amida’s
Say, are you going to take the seat of the nembutsu? Say, are you going to take
the seat of shinjin? Nay, I am going to
take the seat of the Vow. by
Muso Kimura
Yea, I am going to
take the seat of hearing.
by Guseki ************************************************* Amida Buddha vows, “All sentient beings, entrust yourselves to the compassionate wisdom of the
Tathagata and say the nembutsu, and I will save you without fail.
“Believing in this Vow and saying the nembutsu will surely lead you to
enlightenment (saving)” was the basic teaching Shinran learned from
Honen. However, among Honen’s various disciples were those who practiced the
nembutsu alone neglecting shinjin. Therefore, one day Shinran
attempted to make sure of their faith by asking each of them to take either
the seat of practice (nembutsu) or the seat of shinjin ---the famous
episode of Shinjin-Nembutsu Seats. In consequence, Shinran and a few others
took the shinjin seat, followed at last by Honen himself. This episode
does not imply that shinjin excludes the nembutsu, but the Vow stresses both shinjin and the
nembutsu---this is Muso’s viewpoint. In order to realize how deeply the Vow
and the nembutsu is aimed at saving our own selves, however, I would like to
conclude, the seat of Dharma hearing is the most important seat for us modern
people to take frist. Japanese Dharma Card for September, 2011 Other person’s wrong is easily seen, while One’s own wrong is hardly recognized. ---Ven. Rennyo
In relation
with my work, I often have to edit writings, and then I
often find that I detect the wrong spelling or wording written by
others very easily, but that my own mistakes are very often over-
looked. This trend comes from the fact that I am stuck in the idea that my own thought and writing is always correct. People tend to have this kind of prejudice
(ego-attachment). Buddhism teaches that this attachment is the root of delusion. We are awakened to this subconscious pit by the wisdom light of the Buddha. When we hear the calling of “Namuamidabutsu” (“Be awakened to your own attachment; Be saved by My compassion”), we are aware of our own delusion and feel grateful for His
salvation from this plight. Japanese A
child can be alone
when he or she is with someone.
---Donald W.
Winnicott
************************** You may happen to see a small child absorbed in playing,
say, on the
sand beach, by him/her-self, but there must be someone like his mother
watching nearby. That is why the kid can be alone safely without
any anxiety, remarks an English psychiatrist Donald Woods Winnicott.
He must have meant that one can be independent when one is
supported and guarded by someone close.
Shinran says, “How joyous I am, my heart and mind being rooted in the Buddha-ground of the universal vow,…” He means that we can
lead
Shall we not look back from time to time to make sure that there is the one
who watches us all the time and say “Namuamidabutsu”?
2011
Even if you
want to live on,
（Photo by Isamu Tsugo） …………………………………………………….. While coaching the gymnastic club at
a junior
To live does not merely mean that your body is alive,
2011
The Name of Amida is the only path through which we can meet the world of the Buddha. - ----Rev. Shizuka Miyagi
………………………… Helen Keller lost her hearing and eyesight at the age Namuamidabutsu is not a mere name of the Buddha, but
2011 Not knowing that the person in front of you Might be a Buddha in incarnation, How could you know the Pure Land? ---by Uhei Takahashi ********************* “Finally I have attained shinjin,” said Masanao Maeda to his senior Nembutsu person Uhei Takahashi. The latter then retorted, “Your shinjin is just like a nap in the hell. Do you worship your wife every day?” “What?” “If you cannot worship your wife who has devoted herself to you just like an Avalokitesvara (Bodhisattva of Compassion), you are not qualified to hear the Dharma.…You should not take the person in front of you just as an ordinary human being. Our Parent Amida has disguised Himself as that person simply for your sake, so receive His virtue in full appreciation.” So saying, Takahashi went on to compose the above poem. It is a well-known story that Shinran personally worshipped his wife Eshinni as the Bodhisattva of Compassion, while she had a secret dream that he was also the same Bodhisattva. They were the couple who worshipped each other as Bodhisattvas. If we can worship the person before us as Buddha’s revelation, what a super evolution of the nembutsu it must be! Japanese The ocean of birth-and-death, of painful existence, has no bound; Only by the ship of Amida’s universal Vow Can we, who have long been drowning, Unfailingly be brought across it. ---Hymn of the Pure Land Masters
By Miyoko Tsutsumi ************************************************ First of all, let me
express my sincerest sympathy for those who “Our
transmigration in the realms of birth and death is like drifting on Dharma Card for Previous Months
that we could not solve by any means however hard we might try. It is at that time that the true
nembutsu will come out of our mouth.
by Mitsuo Aida
Photo by Isamu Tsugo …………………………… We all remember how the whole world
heartily cheered over A similar story is told in Shan-tao’s parable White Path Dharma Card for February, 2011 I keep a few killifishes. Mom and I are working very hard to keep them, but
they cannot be with us for all our lives. Living things of any kind
are not death free, so you know, however kindly we care them
or however hard we cheer them up, they will die in
time. Therefore, killifishes will die when they get old.
Our killifishes are three years old now, so two of them are
dead. I am sad.
First grader T．T．
…………………………………
i ro ha ni ho he to chi ri
nu ru wo (Colorful
flowers are all to fall; (Soshi Onki Shinran's 750th
Anniversary Mono no Mi to naru May everybody be fruitful Toshi nareya) This very year ---by Guseki
********************************** A Happy New Year
On the morning of January 1,
The 23rd Year of Heisei The
2554th Year of Buddha
(Southern Buddhist Calendar) This is the year of Shinran Shonin's 750th anniversary. He noted his wasan saying “Kanarazu mono
no mi to naru” (Amida Buddha works on us so that our
life will be fruitful without fail.) What will be your “fruit”
may depend on your thought, but Shinran Shonin teaches “Believe in
Amida Buddha’s Original Vow and say the nembutsu, and
you are to become a Buddha; therefore Becoming a Buddha
should be your fruit.” Let us hope that this year
will be truly “fruitful” for each of us. Dharma Card for December, 2010 Say the nembutsu! This is the essence of the Original Vow of Amida Buddha; Within it are all His provisions made to save you. To believe in this is to “rely on Him”. ---by Rev. Josen
………………………………………… Some sixty years ago or so when I was a high school boy, the Ho’onko (Thanksgiving) services were being held in my temple. An over-ninety-year-old temple follower named Kayoemon from the neighboring village attended the occasion in the evening and called me to sit and write down what he would utter with a brush and black ink. “This is what I learned from your great grandfather as a Dharma phrase for shinjin,” he revealed and dictated the above. An ancestor of mine as he was, his phrase is well said, I think. “Believe in Amida’s true mind to save you and say the nembutsu, and you will surely be born in the Pure Land to become a Buddha.” This is the core of the Original Vow, and so all the
power and functions to save us are completely realized in the Vow and Nembutsu.
All we have to do is deeply hear and
believe in His great Wisdom and Compassion on us, and entrust ourselves to Him. This is what Ven. Rennyo meant, Josen
seems to have interpreted, when he would often say “Rely on Amida Buddha.”
Let us obediently follow his call, “Say the nembutsu!” Japanese Dharma Card for November, 2010 Children are scolded by adults, Adults scold children, but adults are not scolded. Isn’t there anybody in the world who scolds adults? Do adults do only good every day?. ----by Masayoshi Kikuchi, 5th grade.
by Miyoko Tsutsumi …………………………… In the Tang monastery in China, there lived a famous poet and high officer named Pai Lo-tien, who was interested in Buddhism, especially in Zen. One day when he met Monk Tao-lin who was practicing Zen in the tree, he asked him, “What is the true spirit of Buddhism?” “Don’t do anything wrong, but practice all good and purify your mind. This is what all Buddhas teach,” remarked Tao-lin. “Such is known even by a three-year old kid,” replied Pai. but at the monk’s retort “Yes, even a three-year old kid knows it, but even a 80-year-old person cannot really practice it,” Pai admitted his ignorance. Asked by children “Do you do only good?”, adults are at a loss for an answer. Though we may seem to tell good from evil, to practice only good is really difficult. Only when we come to realize this deplorable fact in ourselves, we can appreciate the nembutsu. “Real” (Jitsu実) means that things will unfailingly reach fruition. ---Shinran’s note on his Wasan
At this season of harvest, persimmon and chestnut trees, etc. are literally bearing their fruits and nuts.
Shinran Shonin noted in his wasan (Hymns) as follows: “The light of wisdom exceeds all measure, And every finite living being Receives this illumination that is like the dawn, So take refuge in Amida, the true and real light.” (*true and real: True means free of falsehood and flattery. Real means that things will unfailingly reach fruition.)
All we have to do is hear Dharma and entrust ourselves to Him. Dharma Card for September, 2010
In feeding and
excretion, nobody else can take your place, for
it is a vital function for your own life.
……………………………………………………………… “Nobody else can take your
place” appears in the Larger Sutra as follows: Japanese When you have come to say the nembutsu through experiencing the loss of your kin or friend, the deceased becomes a Buddha. by Rev. Shizuka Miyagi
………………………………. It is popularly said that when a
person dies, he or If you don’t make the most of your only self, Goichi was in the second year of the upper primary school 2010 Some day when I have had enough money, Sometime when I have built a house, Some day when I have raised my children, Sometime when I have settled this lot of work, Some day when I can find enough time, Sometime…. Some day…. Sometime…. While I am repeating these excuses for postponement, Nothing will have been achieved; The curtain will fall on my fruitless life stage, And the lonely tombstone will stand over my head. Some day, sometime “When the sun has
set; on the road we have taken.” ---by Mitsuo Aida
This is not a matter for others; our only life is sure to come to a “sunset.” I hate to end my life in vain. I surely want to fulfill the purpose of my life here; I truly desire to hear the way to become a Buddha. Let’s stake our life on this wish now, without adding “sometime.” Dharma
Card for May My life, which would be easily blown off to perish, owes its existence to the whole universe, from heaven to earth.
---by
Dr. Hideo Yonezawa
The earth we live in is about Dharma Card for April, 2010 Spring sun shining evenly
on everything in the Dharma garden;
Short and long are the branches
that bear their own blossoms. --Adapted from Kiankokugo (Zen
Article)
………………………………….
The fields and mountains are
joyfully revived by the “breath” of spring. The spring sun is shining as a blessing evenly on all things on earth, without discriminating high trees from low ones. This equal benevolence is enjoyed by them and emerges as various blossoms and
flowers, say, of plum, peach, cherry trees, etc.
The branches bearing such ornaments vary from each other;
some short and some long; and still they all live a
lively life in spite of their differences. This is the natural way. Our body is said to be composed of six trillion cells, which form numerous tissues and organs and function as divided systems like digestive and respiratory ones. And yet each system delicately relates with others and preserves harmony to sustain our lives. Each part of our body does its utmost separately and plays an equal role to maintain our lives. Amida Buddha works equally on various and numberless beings to save them. Let us enjoy this even compassion in our own distinct positions and accomplish our ultimate purpose of human life. Japanese Dharma Card for March, 2010 take refuge, and to take only the good teacher as
essential is a serious error.
---Ven. Rennyo’s Letter (II-11)
goes:
That we must strive to return it, even to the breaking of
our bodies; Such is the benevolence of the
masters and true teachers, That we must endeavor to repay
it, even to our bones becoming
dust.” gratitude that, whereas
he could not expect to save himself out of delusion, he came to be
saved by Amida’s original vow and born in the pure land to
become a Buddha. This immeasurable benevolence must be repaid even if it
breaks one’s body to pieces, he says. In the same way, he stresses that the
enormous benevolence of his teacher Honen-shonin and the other Pure Land masters who guided him to this bliss ought to be
returned by all
means. Thus he placed the taking refuge in Amida
first and the encounter of his good teachers
second; not the reverse. But some people have the mistaken idea, “Even
if we take refuge in Amida, this is to no avail without a good teacher
(zenjishiki). Therefore, there is nothing for us to do but rely on a good
teacher,” warns Ven. Rennyo. Even in the present time, there are some
heretical people who try to attract people to
their specific teacher saying that he is the only one in the world that can
promise them their salvation. Those who teach the nembutsu neglecting
Amida are decidedly “bad teachers.” 2010 Even while you have forgotten Him, there
exists your parent-like Buddha who never forgets
you. from Dharma Bulletin 
*********** During the
busy time towards the last year end, I was struck by an unusual
wonder and joy. I received a calendar as is shown above
from Ms. M.P. , an American teacher who had
stayed in my temple for more than a week last July. What
a funny cover with a funny photo of geta clogs!? What a funny calendar
title with the personal name of
“Fujieda”!? Turning the pages on, I was surprised to find
every month having a nice photo of my temple and family
taken from artistic angles---some revealing wonderful “frames”
of the temple garden and some showing the backs of
the family members. It was certainly the “Fujieda
Calendar”. As a matter of
fact, after her return to never heard from her, so I
felt something strange about the American way in
comparison with the Japanese who usually express thanks in some way
on such an occasion. However, she had retained her
heart-felt memories in her mind for six months and intently produced
this special calendar. What an expression of
mindfulness! I had almost forgotten about her, though. In reflection,
our parent-like Buddha is always wishing and calling to us to rely on
Him. Why not really be mindful of this Vow and say the
nembutsu?
2010 His Light is like a cloud; It has no hindrances Like open sky. ---Shinran’s note to his hymn
Painted by Keiseki Osawa ********************************* Greetings for the New Year 2010 (Western Calendar) 2553 (Buddhist Calendar) 22nd of Heisei (Japanese Calendar) The above is Shinran Shonin’s left-side note in kana to his hymn starting with “The cloud of light is unhindered, like open sky” (the sixth of the Hymns of the Pure Land). Amida Buddha’s light is not hindered even by any evil passions or karma, but breaks through their darkness with wisdom and finally saves them with compassion. When you are illuminated by the light, all such hindrances (“sawari”) of yours as “mezawari” (hindrances to your eye or eyesores), “mimizawari” (hindrances to your ear or ear grating), “kizawari” (hindrances to your mind or offences), etc. will be clearly shown up. Moreover, you will be taught by the Unhindered Light that such hindrances originate from your own sentiment against what opposes you and that the problem is rooted on your own side. Professor emeritus Masahiro Mori of Tokyo Institute of Technology has a unique opinion that you can succeed thanks to what opposes you as you can transmit electricity thanks to insulators that do not conduct it, or that oppose it, so to speak. When the cause of your hindrances is revealed like this, your sticky mood will be solved naturally. Such is the unconceivable power of the
Unhindered Light.
To call your name is to love you To call your name is from the deep wish ---Adapted
from Rev. Seison Nakagawa’s essay.
……………………..
A
prefectural school inspector visited an elementary school in the mountain area and went around the
classrooms. The moment he stepped into a third grade classroom, he
was surprised to see all the classmates’ faces shining so
bright with lively vigor. “What is your secret?” he asked the teacher
in charge. “I am the youngest of all the teaching staff
of this school,” she answered. “I am the least experienced and skilled, so
I always feel sorry for the children. To compensate for it, I just determined to call every child’s name and talk to them at least once a day. To call them with love like their mother is
all that I can do.” Yes. By her calling their names, the school children became revived, feeling sure of her recognition and love for them. Certainly name calling initiates love and trust. Yes, we are also being called by Amida
Buddha now: “O traveler, with mind that is single, with
right-mindedness, come at once!” We are called, “Namuamidabutsu!”
---Adapted from the Osho no Suzuribko 440. Japanese Dharma Card for November As a foolish being, I feel all the more gratitude; To think I will be tied up with the Original Vow ---by Rev. Ryokan
………………………………… I wonder why great Buddhists call themselves “foolish” as above? Shan-tao in “We ignorant beings”; Rev. Saicho or Dengyo Daishi who initiated the Hiei Buddhism labeled himself as “the most foolish of all the foolish” ; Rev.Genshin, the author of the Ojoyoshu (The Essential Collection Concerning Birth), defined himself as “such a foolish man as I am”; Honen Shonin named himself as “Honenbo of Ignorance; and lastly Shinran Shonin designated himself as “Gutoku (Foolish and stubble-haired) Shinran.” Why is it that all of them sternly realized that they are certainly “foolish”? Presumably, finding oneself foolish is the conclusion of one’s sincere treading of the you would think of yourself as being clever and wise, but if you encounter the light of Buddhism, you would come to realize the fact about yourself--- “How foolish I have been!” Rev. Ryokan sharply remarks: My foolishness truly cannot be compared. Bowing one’s haughty head down like this must be an evidence that one has been immersed in the light of the Buddha’s wisdom. The wise man turns out to be a foolish man
in the Light of the Buddha’s Wisdom as Honen Shonin states:. “Persons of the in the Reaction (Example) I believe your monks are right about one thing:
I also feel often foolish, rarely clever and never wise. Maybe it is something that comes with age, as in my case, having the time to reflect on one's daily moments of foolishness, and invariably concluding that maybe wisdom, for most of us common mortals, means recognizing how foolish we can be. Be well my wise friend.
from Mr.J.F.B., USA)
“Let’s take a roundabout way and go home,” you said? Good. Be sure to
come home even after taking a
detour. ---Guseki
******************** ♪So bright is the moon, why not take a roundabout way for home…?♪ goes a song. Perhaps it is a pleasant evening in the fall
when a friendly couple are tacitly taking a roundabout
way home to continue their happy talk as long as
possible, enjoying the lemon-like taste of
adolescence. Human life is the same. When you
are absorbed in happiness or engaged in business,
your world is expanding and you are going the long way
round far away from the original point or the
basis of your life. It cannot be helped as a
natural tendency. The problem arises after that
detour or big activities; “Do you have the home, the place of
repose at all where you are to return?” If you are on the roundabout way in life now,
where are you heading for finally? Drawn by the Buddha, we return
effortlessly to naturalness (jinen): Jinen
is itself the (Shan-tao) Dharma Card for September, 2009 “Thank you.” “I beg your pardon.” “Please.” A world which lacks these words is called Hell, the realm
of hungry spirits, and the realm of
animals. ---by Rev. Shizuka Miyagi
*****************************
Photo
by Isamu Tsugo The worldly renowned critic Ms.Michiko Inukai remarks that if you want to make human contact with people
anywhere in the world, you should
be accustomed to use the three phrases above; even in your family they are requisite
lubrications. “Thank you” comes from feeling grateful for the benefit you receive. However, in the realm of hungry ghosts, they have nothing but greedy hunger and thirst, far away from being satiated. ‘Uzaigaki*’ or a rich hungry spirit wants to take all the more because he/she owns a lot. In the realm of
hungry spirits there is neither
satisfaction nor gratitude. “I beg your pardon” is uttered when you admit your fault and
feel like bowing your head. However, in Hell, the prisoners only assert themselves and attack the others, injuring each other all the time without a hint of self-negation. “Please” originally meant “if it pleases you,” which is an
expression of respect to the other’s situation when you ask him/her a favor. Rev. Miyagi admonishes: "If you are involved with your own selves all the time,
without respect to others, you live
in the realm of animals. Now, “Namuamidabutsu” is a sacred word full of gratitude,
repentance and respect. (*Note: There are two types of hungry spirits, it
is said, Muzai gaki and Uzai
gaki. Muzai means no riches, and Uzai means having riches.) < to Japanese>  Dharma Card for August, 2009 Money is what you save up and leave behind; Karmic sin is what you commit and carry with you; Dharma is what you do not hear, and so you fall. ---from Dharma Bulletin
Painted by Miyoko Tsutsumi ………………………… In the Himotoki-no-gosho (New Year’s Message) written Shrinking and wriggling itself, a caterpillar is coming on; We are leaves, How can we escape? by a Canadian fifth grader (Quoted from Oriori-no-Uta)
********************************** This boy has a sharp observant eye, doesn’t he? He finds himself as a leaf and is staring at the caterpillar that is nibbling its way towards him. Don’t you feel something serious at this poem? Isn’t a caterpillar approaching us, from which we can’t escape? Yes, there are a caterpillar called Aging, another called Illness, and still another called Death, all coming nearer and nearer very quietly. A lady composed a haiku: “Silently
coming along every second She rightly witnessed that caterpillar. “Why such a gloomy topic?” someone may say. "Why not try to live a sunny-side life cheerfully, this one-time life?” Yes, we do wish to do so, but the caterpillars are coming along without fail. We should be determined then; we should proceed to hear the Dharma, if we are wise enough. <Japanese>
Dharma Card for June, 2009 Desire to believe in
the Buddha
………………………………………. Here is a poem by a ninth grade girl. “Sometimes I think by chance: People tend to think and worry in many ways as they  Dharma Card for May, 2009 Toy windmill, Do you think you are whirling by yourself? ---from Senryu Column ………………………………….  Photo by Isamu Tsugo Well said! It is rooted in the Buddhist principle, the thought of Dependent Origination. In Japanese it is called “Engi," meaning that every being cannot exist by itself, but as a result of intertwined causes and bi-causes. Your life comes from your parents and is nourished and supported by innumerable other lives such as rice, wheat, vegetables, fish, meat and so on. You may think your knowledge is of your own power, but it derives from your family, friends, teachers, books, newspapers, and many other information sauces. You may be sure of your thinking power, but it is greatly dependent on the DNA from your parents and ancestors. Thus it can be said that nothing exists on its own power. We are all helped to live and act thanks to other things and beings, which may be unseen. Without realizing this, if you think you are moving by your own power, it is like the windmill that is not aware of the wind. Let’s say the Nembutsu, realizing the Other Power. <Japanese> Dharma Card for April, 2009 That man values rationalism is one thing, but whether man is a rational being is quite
another. ---Dr. Hideki Yukawa ………………………..
ending in a pub crawl unwittingly----; I know, I know, but I simply can’t
give it up.♪
“Is it all right for me to sing this kind of slovenly song (“Sudara
Bushi”) ?” asked Mr. Hitoshi Ueki of his father, a Shin temple
priest. “Why not?” answered the priest. “As far as human
beings live on, this sort of “I know, I know, but I simply
can’t give it up” life wouldn’t be rooted out. This idea is
related to Shinran’s teaching. Well said! Cheer up!”
Rationalism is your head’s work, but it cannot control your various
strong emotions that arise in your “bosom”, nor your
uprising desires or will that is said to be settled in your
“belly.” Your head tries to go rationally, but your body or way of
life would not go that way so easily. Nay, perhaps
emotions and volition will try to utilize the head, rationalism,
for their own fulfillment.
This state is what Shinran calls “a foolish being full of blind
passions,” and hence “Amida’s Primal Vow” shines on us. ............................................................................................................................................................... Dharma Card for March, 2009
I entered this primary school
…………………………………………… March is the season for graduation in Japan and I happened Nightingale
calling
(Note:
Ven. Rennyo took a nightingale’s call as “Hokikeyo” …………………………………………………………. Dharma Card for February Oh, those matters
of this saha world, During the year-end and new year time, a couple of Dharma Card for January, 2009 Dharma-body’s wheel of light is without bound, Shining on the blind and ignorant of the world. ---Hymn of the Pure Land
Painted by Mr. Mahito Tachikawa …………………………………. A Happy New Year 21st Year of Heisei (2009) 2553 BE “Human life is a mountain of treasures, but in the darkness
Dharma Cards for the Previous Years
Dharma Card for September, 2008 Attracted by the power of the
Great Being, how
unsteady my footsteps have been! by Takeko
Kujo
*************************** September 1 is Disaster Prevention Day in memory of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 which devastated the city of Tokyo and I am reminded of Lady Takeko Kujo. Born as the second daughter of Myonyo, the 21st Abbot of the Nishi Hongwan-ji sect of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, she founded the Buddhist Women's Association
and from the earthquake herself, she devoted herself to the relief work of the quake-injured persons and orphans founding Asoka Hospital and to the reconstruction of Tsukiji Hongwanji Temple which was razed to the ground. With all those remarkable achievements, she reflects in the Nembutsu mind that they were the results of her being guided by the Great Power of the Buddha, not of her own efforts. What are we guided by in our daily life? By the desire
for money or fame? Or by the emotions of love and hate? Or are we just spending time aimlessly? How desirable it will be for us to lead a peaceful and steady
life under the guidance of the Great Being! Dharma Card for June, ２００８ No matter on what day I may die, my life until that time is to be a blessed one brightened by the Light of Amida Buddha. from Shigenobu Shirai’s Blue Lotus
…………………………………. Shigenobu
Shirai sensei was a professor emeritus of Light is a function that locates everything in its proper place where it ought to be. ---by Rev. Shizuka Miyagi
”M-chan, don’t be so rude, please!”
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| © 2009 Rev. Koju Fujieda, Hachiohji-zan Ryokei-ji Temple | |
