Home
Introduction
- English
- Japanese
Contents
1. Nichiren
Buddhism
* Nichiren Shu
* the Lotus Sutra
* Our Practice
* Major Temples
2. The Buddha
& Nichiren
Shonin
* Life of the Buddha
* Life of Nichiren Shonin
* History of Nichiren
Buddhism
3. History of
Nichiren Mission
of Hawaii
* Part
I (When the Nichiren
Buddhism came to Hawaii)
* Part
II (Before the World War
II)
* Part
III (After the World War
II)
4. Sunday
Service
* Morning Service
* First Sunday - Kito
Service
* Second Sunday -
Combined
Service
* Third Sunday -
Special
Service
* Forth Sunday -
Shodaigyo
Service
* Fifth Sunday -
Activity Day
* This
Year's Calendar of
Services and Events
5. Memorial
Service
* About
Memorial Service
* How
to hold Memorial
Service
6. Funeral Service
* About Funeral Service
* About other Services
related
to Funeral
Service
* How to hold Funeral
Service
7. Kito (Blessing)
Service
* About Kito Service
* How to hold Kito
Service
8. Wedding
Ceremony
* About Wedding
Ceremony
* How to hold Wedding
Ceremony
9. Other
Activities
* Columbarium (Niches)
* Eitaikyo (Perpetual
Memorial
Service)
Program
* Eitaikuyoto (Eternal
Peace
Tower)
* Visitation
* Class
* Counseling
* Sunday School
* Fujinkai (Women's
Auxiliary)
* Rainbow Conference
* Fundraise
10. Newsletter
* This Month's Newsletter
* Archive
11. This Month's
Sermon
* This Month's Sermon
* Archive
12. Facilities
and Map
* Facilities and
Pictures
* Map
13. Links
14. Contact us
15. Copyright |
Newsletter October 2007
October Calendar
October 2 (Tue)
10:00 a.m. Avalon Care Center Visitation
October 3 (Wed)
7:00 p.m. Dharma Circle
October 7 (Sun)
9:00 a.m. Fujinakai Meeting
10:00 a.m. Monthly Kito Service
Sunday School Activity
October 9 (Tue)
10:00 a.m. Island Nursing Home Visitation
October 14 (Sun)
10:00 a.m. Oeshiki (Founder’s 726th Memorial Service)
October 16 (Tue)
10:00 a.m. Liliha Health Care Visitation
October 21 (Sun)
10:00 a.m. Sunday Service
11:00 a.m. Directors’ Meeting
October 28 (Sun)
9:00 a.m. Sunday School Meeting
10:00 a.m. Shodaigyo Service
October 30 (Tue)
9:00 a.m. Newsletter mailing
*Morning Services will be held every
Sunday from 6:30 a.m.
Worship of
Buddhist Guardian Deities and Bodhisattvas
One day, I was asked by a member of the
Mission why we worship not only the Eternal Buddha but Nichiren Shonin, Kishimojin,
Seishoko, and some bodhisattvas such as Manjusri, or the World-Voice-Perceiver (Kannon or
Kanzeon)? And what is the difference between those deities and bodhisattvas? So, I would
like to explain about worship of Buddhist guardian deities and bodhisattvas in this issue.
Not only Nichiren-shu Buddhists but also all Buddhists worship the
Buddha. So, the Buddha is the one whom we should worship as long as we call ourselves
Buddhists. However, there are many Buddhist guardian deities people worship. In the
Nichiren Mission, we have Kishimojin and Seishoko, too. Actually most of them originally
came from India. They were gods of Hinduism. Some other deities are from China, Japan and
other local worship. Why did they become Buddhist guardians? It is because, when they
heard the Buddha Dharma (the teachings of the Buddha), they were enlightened and became
Buddhists. And they made a vow in front of the Buddha that they would protect whoever
believed in the Buddha Dharma. Since then, poeple worship those Buddhist deieties as
guardians, such as Indra (Taishakuten). The same thing happened to other local worship,
such as Seishoko (Samurai general Kiyomasa Kato of Kumamoto Prefecture), Shichimensan (a
dragon deity of Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan).
Meanwhile, bodhisattvas are described in the sutras (Buddhist
scriptures) and they are devoted Mahayana Buddhist practitioners. Some of the bodhisattvas
are described as saviors of people, such as the World-
Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva. Therefore, people worship those bodhisattvas to be saved from
suffering.
Our founder Nichiren Shonin was a
Buddhist monk and after several hardships he overcame, he was confident that he was a
reincarnation of the Superior Action Bodhisattva who was described in Chapter 15 of the
Lotus Sutra. In the sutra, the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni gave a mission to Superior Action
Bodhisattva to spread the sutra in the future. Superior Action Bodhisattva is a leader of
innumerable number of bodhisattvas who sprang up from the ground in Chapter 15. That is
why we call our founder, Nichiren Shonin, the Great Bodhisattva.
This may not be enough at an explanation of why we worship of deities
and bodhisattvas. Whenever you have questions about it, just ask me by e-mail, phone or
just come and visit our church anytime. Also, if you have anything in Buddhism that you
want me to pick up and write an article about it, just let me know. I would like to try to
answer you as much as possible. (Rev. Imai)
WE WANT YOU TO KNOW WHAT WE CAN
DO FOR YOU!
In order
to serve you and your society better as a Buddhist church and Buddhist ministers, we want
you to know what we can do for you in this issue.
What we can do are...
Sunday services
Memorial services
Wedding ceremonies
Blessing ceremonies for new born babies
Blessing ceremonies for any occasions
Buddhist Classes (Dharma Circle)
Visitation to nursing and care homes
Visitation to individuals
Counseling (individual)
Funerals
Social Hall rental
Volunteer activities
etc... (ask us if you have something else that you want us to do. We
will see if we can do it.)
We would also like to ask your volunteer to keep our church clean. In
the last issue, we asked for volunteers. Now, we have two persons to join the pond
cleaning on Wednesday morning. If you have time and you want to volunteer, but, you
don’t know what you can do, please feel free to ask us by calling at 595-3517 or
sending an e-mail to nichiren@hawaiiantel.net. Thank you for your cooperation in advance.
NOTICE BOARD
Second Dharma Circle
The Second Dharma Circle will be held on Wednesday, October 3, 2007
from 7:00 p.m. This time, we are planning to hold the Shodaigyo practice, English chanting
of the Lotus Sutra and discussion with refreshment. Last time, ten people came, practiced
and enjoyed the discussion. I hope more people will be coming next time.
Notice From Fujinkai
The ladies of Nichiren-shu Fujinkai will participate in the City &
County Mayor’s Cultural Fair on Saturday, November 10, 2007. Fujinkai is requesting
your help and donations of handmade craft items, baked goods, patch work, small plants,
and pickeled items. Due to the Board of Health restrictions, bentos and sushi will not be
sold. Please see Mrs. Aoki with any questions. Thank you.
The Editor ’s Notes
Did you read the Honolulu
Advertiser newspaper on September 8 and 15, 2007? They put a notice of the Dharma Circle
which we have recently started as our new meeting. We had ten people attended last time.
If you are busy coming to the Mission on Sundays and are not doing anything on the first
Wednes day of every month, please come and join our Dharma Circle to acquire the Buddha
Dharma with us. (Rev. Imai) |