by Masuo Nezu

Regarding the daily devotional services in the morning and evening, Rev. Niwano said: "Performing sutra recitation every day at a fixed time might seem like a trifling matter to others. Such a daily practice is spread by word of mouth among one's neighbors, however. They hear the voices in recitation and say, 'At that house, every morning they chant a sutra at such and such hour. In the evening, they do it at such and such hour.' In this way, the number of people who believe in the Dharma gradually increases."

All members of the Niwano family gather and recite the Lotus Sutra in front of the Buddhist home altar in their Tokyo residence. The photo was taken on October 3, 1982.

In Rev. Niwano's own home, family members gathered at six in the morning before the Buddhist home altar and recited the sutra readings, excerpts from the Threefold Lotus Sutra, together. Each day, one full chapter of the Lotus Sutra corresponding to that day's date would be added to the regular sutra chanting, instead of the usual excerpts from that chapter. The selection of chapters started from the beginning of each month. For example, on the first day of the month, chapter 1, "Introduction," was recited and on the sixteenth day of the month, chapter 16, "The Lifetime of the Tathagata," would be recited.

On February 29 of a certain leap year, on the way back to his home, I said to Founder Niwano, without having anything special in mind, "Today is the end of February." He responded, "Today, we recite the Repentance Sutra at home."

"It could be possible for even a frog to recite the sutra if only the sound is needed. When reciting the Threefold Lotus Sutra, it is important to try seriously to appreciate the meaning of the words and to understand the teachings," he said.

"Buddhism is a teaching which covers three temporal worlds-the past, the present, and the future," he said on another occasion. "Transferring merit to the spirits of the dead by performing devotional services for one's ancestors and elevating oneself in the present world by following the bodhisattva practice is connected to bringing up children and grandchildren so they can live well in the future. No child who grows up seeing his or her parents sincerely reciting the sutra every day will ever get into trouble through family violence or juvenile delinquency. Such children will naturally develop a spirit of reverence toward their ancestors and want to follow the teachings of the Lotus Sutra."

"If one thinks that he or she is doing what one naturally ought to do, sutra recitation will not become nervous or strained. On the other hand, if one thinks it is only a duty, it may become a strain," was another of his comments.

Rev. Niwano was born into a pious family and when he was given the moral instruction by his elementary school principal to pay homage to the gods and the buddhas, he immediately put it into practice on that very day. Reflecting on his own experience, he taught the members how to develop an appropriate mental attitude for sutra recitation in various ways.

This series of articles was originally published in Japanese in 2000 under the title Kaiso Zuimonki: Egao no Ushirosugata.