Rinban
Rotating the Watch over Founder's Tomb
Because Nichiren Shonin's dying request had been that his tombstone be erected on Mt. Minobu and that he be allowed to remain there forever, his disciples and believers exerted every effort to make sure that this request be carried out. They all wanted to obey and serve. On January 23, 1283 when his disciples gathered at Mt. Minobu for the 100th day memorial service, they decided to take turns watching over his tomb. Each of the Six Senior Disciples was assigned one month: Nissho, January; Nichiro, February; Nitcho, April; Nichiji, May; Nikko, September; and Niko, October. On the other six months, the twelve Churoso Disciples who were next in rank after the Six Senior Disciples, would watch over Mt. Minobu in pairs, for one month each.
From "Nichiren Shonin at the Mt. Minobu Hermitage" by Chief Abbot Nichiyu Iwama
only available at Minobusan Kuon Ji
When we got to the Arch Bishops area of the Temple complex, the ministers, Bishop Kanai and myself (Rev. Faulconer) were separated from the group to change into robes for the ceremony. The group would meet in the audience hall with the Arch Bishop in a traditional ceremony. This ceremony would symbolically transfer the responsibility of taking care of Nichiren Shonin's remains from the Arch Bishop to one of us for the day. To my surprise Bishop Kanai wished me to take on the responsibility. As my Japanese is very poor, the Bishop would stay by my side helping with readings.
The Arch Bishop sitting behind a screen would ask our intentions and give a fan to the minister conducting the ceremony. The room in the picture above is the audience hall. The Arch Bishop sits behind the doors which are opened once he is in position. A screen separates us but allows us to barely see him in dim candlelight.
After the ceremony we would go over to the Goshinkotsudo. The Goshinkotsudo consists of two buildings connected by a hallway. One room contains the Urn and the other is a hall for conducting services.
The octagon building is the columbarium and the roof of the prayer hall can be seen on the right hand side of the above picture. A hall connects the two buildings and can be seen from inside the prayer hall. In the picture below in the center of the room the hall with stairs going up to the columbarium can be seen.
Rev. Faulconer leads the service with the assistance of Bishop Kanai. This was the first time a non Japanese minister had conducted this service.
A special prayer was read by the LA member in Japanese during the ceremony.
After prayers we filed into the hallway up to the columbarium and circumambulated the Stupa containing Nichiren Shonin's relics. A special omamori is given to all participants in Rinban. The Omamori contains Omandala and a special prayer and vows that had been spoken during the ceremony. All members vowed to follow and uphold the Lotus Sutra, Eternal Buddha and Nichiren Shonin.
We descended the steps into the courtyard and took pictures as a group after the service. Later that night we would go to the Mausoleum and conducted a evening service there.