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.

30

"Once I begin, I never quit"

On August 14, 1972, Rev. Nikkyo Niwano wrote in his diary in his hotel room in Heidelberg during his "Peace Pilgrimage" for the second world assembly of the World Conference on Religion and Peace.

Founder Niwano had been keeping a diary for decades. "I have been blessed with good health all my life," he said. "So my diary consists simply of such things as what I did each day, whom I met with, and so on, after I got up in the morning."

Wherever he went in Japan or abroad, Rev. Niwano would quietly write in his diary in his hotel room each morning before the regular sutra recitation. Always, each night, or the first thing the following morning, he would reflect on the day and jot down his impressions, no matter how busy his schedule.

"Just as with sutra recitation, I make sure to write down something every single day. Once I begin something, I never quit. It is not my way to write only when there is something special to write about. And I am not afraid to be repetitious when similar things happen again and again."

They say that keeping a diary is a way of polishing oneself--rather like a gem. Founder Niwano seems to have considered keeping a diary like practicing the Way. He never forgot to make an entry. No "three-day-bonze" (early quitter) was he.

For a while during World War II he used a simple memorandum notebook. After the war, he was able to buy regular yearly diaries prepared for daily entries. Sometimes he was able to write quite extensively, but on other days only briefly when his time was limited.

"Eiji Yoshikawa [a famous novelist of the time] used to say, 'Except for myself, everyone is my teacher.' It is nice to meet all kinds of people and to learn from them all--new things and useful stories," Rev. Niwano said. "I feel that wherever I go there is something to learn."

Often taking notes about what he heard or saw, Founder Niwano would later transfer them to his diary--sometimes adding a personal comment or impression. For instance, he wrote, "Once I was traveling with Mr. Sohachi Yamaoka [another noted author of the day]. We stopped at a Japanese inn and talked all through the night, sipping sake. We had a lot in common--we were of the same generation and both of us had come to Tokyo from the same part of Japan--so we chatted freely. One thing I remember talking about was his habitual attitude toward paying taxes. When the tax bill comes, he said, he always put it in a small wooden box and placed it before the family shrine--as an object of worship--because he was thankful to be able to pay so much tax! Surely it was that different way of seeing things which made him such a fine novelist, read by so many people."