January 20, 2025
LOTUS JEWELS（Nichiren Shu News NO242）
Be earnest and amicable without showing any sign of detesting people. Act modestly and do not be accompanied by servants or ride on horseback. Go about holding a saw in hand and a hammer attached to the waist, all the while smiling with a joyful heart. If you go against this instruction even slightly, you will destroy yourself and fall into the evil realms in your next life.
—Nichiren Shonin, Hachimangu Zoei no Koto (ST 405)
This instruction from Nichiren Shonin was written to the Ikegami brothers, Munenaka and Munenaga, about how to conduct themselves as they participated in the reconstruction of the grand Hachiman Shrine. In our time today, we are beginning to reconstruct our lives and the world, as the pandemic, which has caused so much suffering for the last year, appears to recede. Nichiren’s instructions are a guide for us also, as we set our efforts towards helping one another recover from the losses we have experienced, and as we move the world towards our true purpose of bringing the Buddha’s compassion and wisdom to life.
—Rev. Shinkyo Warner