by Masuo Nezu

These are personal reminiscences about the late founder Rev. Nikkyo Niwano from his former chief secretary, Masuo Nezu, now in retirement. During his years of service, the writer accompanied Rev. Niwano on dissemination tours, interreligious cooperation activities, and peace promotion work, both in Japan and overseas. This series recalls not only heartwarming episodes from the founder's everyday life, but also the spiritual insights derived from his words and deeds.

13

A Great Revered Teacher

How did Rev. Nikkyo Niwano, the founder of Rissho Kosei-kai, first encounter the Lotus Sutra? Why did he become so interested in religion? Most fortunate was his encounter with Sukenobu Arai, a chapter leader in the lay Buddhist organization Reiyukai, whom he greatly revered.

In August 1934, Rev. Niwano's nine-month-old second daughter suddenly became ill with a very high fever and fell unconscious. A pediatrician who lived nearby said that the infant's condition could become grave unless she was hospitalized at once. Since his only work at the time was making and selling Japanese pickles, Rev. Niwano could not afford to put the child in a hospital. After exhausting all other possibilities, one week later, on the recommendation of a member of Reiyukai he called on Mr. Arai one rainy day and joined his group that very day. He began offering reverence to the spirits of his ancestors by chanting the Lotus Sutra. In a week's time, the baby's condition had improved.

What surprised and touched Rev. Niwano the most--even more than the miraculous recovery of his daughter--was the wonderful power he sensed in the Lotus Sutra, and the joy which it suddenly called forth in him upon his discovering it. So he started attending Mr. Arai's lectures on the Lotus Sutra and continued doing so every day for three years. Rev. Niwano later wrote in his autobiography, "Lifetime Beginner,"

"Listening to lectures on the Lotus Sutra, I realized that I had found what I had been looking for. The Lotus Sutra was the perfect net in which to save everyone in the world. Physically and spiritually it could help both the individual and all of society. I was profoundly shaken by what I had learned. The impression made on me was of astonishing, vibrant freshness."

He also said,

"The more I read the sutra, the more impressive and profound it seems. Is there another teaching with this power? Is there another book that can be read with amazement and growing emotional impact every day for forty years?"

First Sutra Copies Were Mimeographed

Copies of the Lotus Sutra for members' recitation were run off by mimeograph to be ready for Rissho Kosei-kai's founding ceremony on March 5, 1938.

On March 5, 1938, Rissho Kosei-kai was founded. The headquarters was on the second floor of Rev. Niwano's home in Shinmei-cho, Nakano Ward, in Tokyo, where he was then running a milk shop.

The founding ceremony was held on the same day, blessed with fine weather, at the house of the cofounder, Mrs. Myoko Naganuma, in Hatagaya-Honcho in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward. Some thirty members gathered there. Starting at six in the evening, recitation of the Lotus Sutra was conducted in a small tatami-matted room.

Rev. Niwano later reflected, "The sutra for the recitation had not yet been printed. We hurried to make temporary copies by mimeograph and somehow managed to hold the founding ceremony."

At that time, Mrs. Naganuma's house contained only two small Japanese-style rooms. The rest of the available space was devoted to a shop selling ice in the summer and baked sweet potatoes in the winter. The late Rissho Kosei-kai Special Advisor Rev. Motoyuki Naganuma, who was a young boy helping out in his aunt's shop at the time, later remembered:

"The small house soon became full of members. The large oven-like metal drum in which sweet potatoes had been baked during the day was still warm at night. Some members leaned against it while listening to Rev. Niwano's sermon, a sermon that was very easy to understand."

A small, young religious organization cannot preach mere ideals. What it must do first is help people to overcome their various sufferings through the use of hoben, skillful means. Then people can gradually be led to the true Way of Buddhism, which involves helping others.