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New Year's Greeting - January 2006 |
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Written by Monshu Koshin Ohtani
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Saturday, 07 January 2006 |
Editor's Note - This is an excerpt from the January 2006 issue of the Buddhist Wheel
Honpa Hongwanji
Kyoto, Japan
“Immeasurable Light and Life.”
At the beginning of the year, I send you my greetings from the Hongwanji. May we all continue to live every precious moment of this year in appreciation of the Nembutsu.
The Hongwanji in Kyoto will be conducting the Seven hundred
fiftieth Memorial for Shinran Shonin from 2011 through 2012, and in
commemoration of this observance the Hongwanji Long-Range Development
Project has been formulated. I hope that you will also work on plans
that are appropriate for the betterment of your own districts. In
order to have the teaching of Shinran Shonin transmitted widely to
modern people as a beacon of life, we must continue to be creative and
ingenious in directing our enthusiasm towards this effort. As a
starting point, I have asked myself what kind of Nembutsu follower I
should aspire to be, and what kind of religious organization we should
build for the future.
The immediate thought that came to my mind
is that I must become a person from whom the Nembutsu flows regardless
of time or place. Our recitation of the Nembutsu in front of the
Buddha or before meals is important, but in the Nembutsu that emerges
without ceremonial formality, we also experience gratitude for being
keenly reminded of Amida Buddha. Through this type of recitation,
reflection on the Nembutsu guides us to accept our current situation,
and joy and courage also arise within us.
When we look upon the
history of Jodo Shinshu, we come to understand that, in many cases,
Nembutsu followers settled in new areas first and the ministers began
their propagational work afterwards. In considering today’s population
distribution, I imagine that Nembutsu followers can be found throughout
the world as sell as Japan. It would be ideal if everyone everywhere
could have a place where the teaching of the Nembutsu could be heard
and discussed with friends, regardless of whether or not a temple is
nearby. To that end, we must create a way to maintain such close
connections. Let us spend the coming year in using our ingenuity to
map out our various visions.
January 1, 2006
OHTANI Koshin
Monshu
Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha
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