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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"Since they are going to be seen in the 21st century. . . ."

When members and visitors enter the lobby of the Second Group Pilgrimage Hall, one of the first things they see is the three ceramic photographic murals of three sacred mountains of Buddhism-Mount Gridhrakuta (Sacred Eagle Peak) in India, Mount Tiantai in China, and Mount Hiei in Japan. These photographic plates are an impressive 3 meters high and 27 meters wide and hang on the upper part of the right wall.

The Second Group Pilgrimage Hall

Founder Niwano said he originally had them in mind as a concrete image when he visited the Ise Grand Shrine in Mie Prefecture in January of 1987. In the evening he was thinking about how to express the flow of Buddhism, particularly of the Lotus Sutra tradition, as it moved from India, through China, and to Japan. The following morning, he described his idea to his aides.

After returning to Tokyo he examined about forty books of photographs and other materials. He studied the angles and compositions of photographs and drew numerous rough sketches. The founder concentrated on this project, devoting much time to it, until he was satisfied with the plan.

When the design had been finalized, photographers from Kosei Publishing Company, affiliated with Rissho Kosei-kai, were dispatched to India and China to photograph the two mountains in those countries, and in the case of Mount Hiei, an aerial photo was taken after a long time had been spent observing the mists around the mountain.

The photographers later said that since the composition of the images had clearly been grasped in advance, it was as if Founder Niwano himself had taken the pictures and they had only pushed the shutters of their cameras on his behalf.

Rev. Niwano spent a long time considering what words or captions to put with the photographs. It is said he thought about this for days and days--while traveling to and leaving Rissho Kosei-kai headquarters in Tokyo in his automobile, while bathing, and even in bed at night. One day, at last, he said. "I have now decided." In order to write in the shortest possible way, he wrote only in Chinese characters. For Sacred Eagle Peak he wrote, "The sacred place where the Lotus Sutra originated"; for Mount Tiantai, "Where Buddhism was transmitted and the theoretical study of its teachings established"; and for Mount Hiei, "The site appropriate for the teaching of the One Vehicle to spread through the world. The teaching is based on the universal and great wisdom of the Sutra of the Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, by which bodhisattvas are instructed and which the buddhas guard and keep in mind." Above his signature, he wrote "Mountains, rivers, plants, and trees are all becoming Buddhas." These expressions convey his deeply felt conviction that "On the way to the 21st century, indispensable ideas for the whole of humankind are in these characters."