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ON THE GREAT RESTORATION OF
THE HONGWANJI FOUNDER'S HALL
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It has been determined that,
with the tireless efforts and support of all concerned parties
and individuals, the Founder's Hall of the Hongwanji will undergo
restoration work.
The Founder's Hall has its origins in 1272, when the grave
of our founder Shinran Shonin at Otani in Higashiyama was moved
to a site at Yoshimizu. There, a mausoleum was constructed and
an image of Shinran Shonin was enshrined. The present Founder's
Hall was built in 1636, slightly more than forty years after
the Hongwanji was established at its present location, and now,
363 years have passed. During this interval, extensive repair
work was conducted for a period of ten years beginning in 1800,
but today, damage is quite severe, and even greater repair than
in 1800 is necessary.
For we who revere the teaching of Shinran Shonin, the
Founder's Hall is our old home, our refuge. Shinran Shonin guides
us to the nembutsu, Namo Amida Butsu, which calls to each of
us, who live injuring our own lives and that of others, without
anything truly to rely upon. Persons who venerate Shinran Shonin
look to the founder, who shares their pain and sorrow and joy,
and to this statue of him, and they have preserved the Founder's
Hall out of their profound feeling and handed it down to us.
The restoration on this occasion will receive assistance
from the national treasury as an Important Cultural Property
of the whole country. Today, as an expression of our resolve
to preserve for those coming after us the achievement of the
past generations who built and maintained this cultural property,
which has been designated a World Heritage Site, and to transmit
to the next generation the teaching of Shinran Shonin, with
the earnest support of ministers and lay people and the cooperation
of as many people as possible, we set the successful completion
as our goal. During the restoration work, which will require
ten years, there will surely be various difficulties, but I
look forward to the observance of the 750th memorial of Shinran
Shonin upon its splendid completion.
January 16, 1999
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SHAKU SOKUNYO
OHTANI Koshin
Monshu of the Hongwanji
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ON THE CONCLUSION OF
THE FIVE-HUNDREDTH MEMORIAL OF RENNYO SHONIN
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The observances
for the five-hundredth memorial of Rennyo Shonin, which
began last March 14, have today reached completion. Needless
to say, our performance of the services of the observance
with solemnity and splendor for one hundred days over
ten periods has been made possible by the protection of
the Buddhas and masters and the virtue of Rennyo Shonin,
and by the earnest response of gratitude on the part of
ministers and lay people throughout the world; I am deeply
grateful.
Jodo Shinshu is the teaching that foolish beings
attain Buddhahood through the working of the Name, Namo
Amida Butsu, which embodies the fulfillment of the Primal
Vow. Further, that we become persons of the stage of the
truly settled means that our rootedness in the ignorance
of birth-and-death has been resolved, that we have been
made aware that all life is encompassed in Amida Buddha's
great compassion, and that we have come to know that human
beings are fellow practicers to one another. From this,
love for others and respect for all living things deepen,
and a new life, in which one aspires to live in accord
with the heart of Amida Buddha, is born.
Through this memorial observance, we have studied
about problems of the environment that nurtures our lives
and about the family. All around us there are immense
problems in which the dignity of life is harmed. The axial
movement that we are advancing proposes that while we
study the teaching and say the nembutsu, we engage in
these problems as issues of our own lives.
The aspiration that Rennyo Shonin held all his life
was that even one more person entrust himself or herself
to the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha and rejoice in the nembutsu.
From now on, let us respond through concrete action. For
that purpose, in addition to listening to the teaching,
we must conduct meetings in which we speak with each other
and exchange views. Further, in order that the teaching
spread widely and be passed on to succeeding generations,
it is important that close communication with temples
be carried on through written and other propagational
means, and at the same time, that family life be conducted
with Amida Buddha, our principal object of reverence,
at center.
Let us all endeavor so that the Shin Buddhist teaching,
which was founded by Shinran Shonin and widely implanted
in the hearts of the people by Rennyo Shonin, become the
refuge of the lives of people throughout the world, and
the light of our hearts.
November 13, 1998 |
SHAKU SOKUNYO
OHTANI Koshin
Monshu of the Hongwanji
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RESCRIPT ON THE OCCASION OF
THE ACCESSION COMMEMORATIVE CELEBRATIONS
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RELIGION IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD |
The ultimate solution for the sufferings of illness, old-age, and death lies in religion. The Renunciation of Sakyamuni Buddha was motivated by his realization of these sufferings, and mankind cannot but seek the meaning of life when confronted by approaching illness, old-age, and death. Herein lies the fundamental significance of religion which seeks liberation from suffering.
Man lives within the confines of history, and society and religion, too, cannot survive if they deny this fact. The present is an age of unprecedented cycles of changes brought about by the rapid developments in science, technology and industry, and the fluxions deeply affect the minds of mankind.
The advances of technology and economics have made the realization
of man's dreams possible, but at the same time they have increased greed
and avarice beyond bounds. This egocentric desire disregards the others
and gives birth to inequality and discrimination. The isms that emphasized
man of course brought about his liberation and equality, but these also
caused him to become an absolute unto himself and begot strife and insecurity.
The swift urbanization of society causes the weakening of the sense of community solidarity and the growing centralized control results in eroding the foundation upon which the individual can rely causing him to forfeit himself and in the end depriving him of his capacity to correctly see others, their personalities, and even the nobility of life itself. Moreover, these factors highly influence the development of civilization and culture as well as religion by undermining the standards of their traditions.
In this critical period when man's very existence becomes questionable, religion must not be just a temporary diversion. Today's religion has the responsibility of teaching the way by which mankind can truly become humanized. It behooves us, the religionists, not to ingratiate ourselves to secular powers, but to become fully knowledgeable of the teaching in which we place our faith and courageously walk the path to Truth hand in hand with those of the same faith. Furthermore, we must not forget to hold earnest dialogues with others whose religions are historically and traditionally rich in truth.
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JODO SHINSHU AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ITS DEVOTEES |
The Nembutsu doctrine of Jodo Shinshu founded by Shinran Shonin has been handed down to us these more than 700 years by the succeeding generations of our faithful forebears. The teaching is rich in tradition, but there is a tendency today to drift into formalism. It is, therefore, necessary for us to deeply reflect and rediscover within that tradition the true spirit of the Founding Father.
Jodo Shinshu teaches us that we are blessed with faith through the work of the Primal Vow-power, and by living in the Nembutsu we shall be given the beneficence of birth and Buddhahood in the Pure Land. He, who hears and has faith in this Dharma and lives resolutely with the Nembutsu, is the true devotee. He places absolute reliance in the Primal Vow of Amida Buddha and fully aware that he is a simpleton, subject to birth and death and filled with avarice, anger and malcontent, leads a life of contrition. Again, because he is awakened to the realization that the great Compassion of the Tathagata embraces all men equally and constantly, his is a life of brotherhood and mutual trust in all men. Therefore, he is able to break out from the shell of isolation, egocentricity and selfishness and become actively concerned with society and its well-being. This also, at once, should be the response of the total Hongwanji organization that will have an open door to the world.
This open door policy underlines the main program of our Hongwanji and shall see its positive manifestation in the people to people relationships that will be developed. Of course the propagation of faith in the Nembutsu will be pursued so that each of us can become a true devotee, but the responsibility for the well-being of the world-at-large today and tomorrow shall be shouldered as our own. It is vital, then, that we endeavor to firmly establish within ourselves the doctrinal foundation and extending beyond the confines of the Hongwanji propagate the teaching widely throughout the world, and looking to the future educate and enrich the lives of the youth of today with religious culture. Herein lies the materialization of the true development of the Hongwanji.
In the face of the many complex problems that bring anxiety and suffering to mankind the worth of a true religion is discovered. Fully aware of the heritage from the Founder Shinran Shonin, I am determined not to rest within the comparative quiet of a closed door, but as a Nembutsu devotee of this new era I will take a meaningful and positive step to strengthen and enlarge the circle of Nembutsu and advance the good and weal of all men.
April 1, 1980 |
Monshu OHTANI Koshin
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