February 2011

Rissho Kosei-kai Marks Anniversary of Buddha's Entrance into Nirvana

On February 15 Rissho Kosei-kai members celebrated the anniversary of Shakyamuni Buddha's entrance into nirvana, in the Great Sacred Hall at the organization's headquarters in Tokyo as well as at all Dharma Centers across Japan. Some 3,300 members gathered in the Great Sacred Hall to learn about the significance of Shakyamuni's entrance into nirvana and rededicate themselves to diligent practice of the faith and dissemination of the teachings.

The event in the Great Sacred Hall began with a recorded reading of an account of the Buddha's death. Then sixteen young women members in saris from the Tama Division made offerings at the altar before the image of the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni. After that, President-designate Kosho Niwano led the assembly in sutra chanting and recited a prayer of devotion to the Buddha, composed by President Nichiko Niwano. Rev. Kosei Sawada, minister of the Nagano Chuo Dharma Center in Nagano Prefecture, gave testimony to his faith, and President Niwano delivered a Dharma talk.

The president said most people go through life without knowing even what is happening in their own bodies, in which, he said, hundreds of billions of cells go through a life cycle of reproduction and death. He stressed the absolute truth that everyone eventually dies, so it is important for people to practice the teachings by firmly facing the truth of life and death. Furthermore, quoting the words of the Roman philosopher Seneca, who wrote, "It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it," President Niwano emphasized the importance of doing one's best to lead a serious a life, with buddhahood as the true goal.

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