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.

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"A taste of the natural beauty of Japan"

On April 28, 1990, Rev. Nikkyo Niwano (left) guided Dr. Norman Cousins, seventh recipient of the Niwano Peace Prize, in the Japanese garden attached to the Horin-kaku Guest Hall.

The Horin-kaku Guest Hall was completed in 1978, for the fortieth anniversary of the founding of Rissho Kosei-kai. The building stands adjacent to the Great Sacred Hall in the headquarters complex in Tokyo. Since then, members both at home and from abroad have come to the building on occasions such as group pilgrimages to the headquarters, and there have been visitors from all over the world. The interior of the hall expresses the "World of Buddhism" theme so cherished by Founder Niwano, who put his heart and spirit into its construction and decoration.

The building is designed to express the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha as made manifest in the Lotus Sutra, and to reflect the fundamentals of Buddhism. Rev. Niwano's hope that it might be a place where visitors from all countries could comprehend "the spirit of Buddhism" and "what the faith of Rissho Kosei-kai is" is obvious to anyone who enters the hall.

Carved on four tall black marble pillars in the lobby--fully 5.2 meters high--are Shakyamuni Buddha's first teachings, the Four Noble Truths. Eight kanji characters representing the "Truths" appear there: kutai, the Truth of Suffering, stating that we humans have to recognize how life is filled with suffering; jittai, the Truth of Cause, teaching us to grasp where suffering comes from; dotai, the Truth of the Path, showing us that there is a way to end suffering; and mettai, the Truth of Extinction, pointing out the state where suffering is overcome. In short, according to this doctrine, we must face sufferings and understand their true cause so that we can attain a peaceful state of mind through our daily religious practice. All of the characters are based on the founder's own calligraphy, a very vigorous brush style, two characters engraved on each of the four columns. His autograph is also inscribed, commemorating the completion of the building--"Nikkyo Niwano, on an auspicious day of November in 1978."

"Buddhism begins and ends with the Four Noble Truths," it is often said. With this in mind, Rev. Niwano wrote those characters many times in a style full of life and energy and chose what he felt were the best examples for use on the columns.

On both the eastern and western walls of the lobby of the Horin-kaku Guest Hall, tapestries based on paintings by Rev. Niwano can be seen. One is titled "Shakyamuni's Enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree" and the other, "The First Rolling of the Dharma Wheel at Deer Park." The pictures were painted on large sheets of paper which were then sent to Kyoto to serve as guides for the tapestry weavers. The work took about a year and a half to complete.