Teachings from capon shonin

One of the things which we do on New Year’s Eve is to ring a suspended bell called a “bonsho” 108 times, with each toll of the bell representing the leaving behind of one of the previous year’s 108 "bonnō" or "kleśa"- our worldly concerns which torment and disturb our minds. …

As you may know, our founder Nichiren Shōnin underwent many attacks and suffered many persecutions throughout his life as a result of his efforts to propagate the Lotus Sūtra. He was criticised, insulted, ridiculed, threatened, physically attacked, exiled, attempts were made on his life, and false accusations were made against him to the government.…

There are many people who are interested in Buddhism, have read lots of books, and sometimes have a much more extensive collection than we have in our temple library. However, does that mean they are a Buddhist? Maybe…but not necessarily.

I would like to share part of a writing by Nichiren Shōnin called Matsuno-dono Gohenji, which is in volume seven of the “Writings of Nichiren Shōnin”. Please read and contemplate this quote:

What does it mean to be a Buddhist? Everyone who is reading this must be a Buddhist, or at the very least, interested enough in Buddhist practice to have asked to clicked onto this page. So, I have a question. Do you live a spiritual life?

Have you ever thought who the most important person in your Buddhist practice is?

One of the very curious things about Nichiren Shōnin and his teachings is that there is no single work which can be considered his “magnum opus”. A large number of works survive until today, and there are five which are known today as his “Five Major Writings”.

This time I would like to talk about a nice and light topic…slander! As some of you may know, “Slander of the Dharma” is a term that appears in many Buddhist sūtras as well as in Nichiren Shōnin’s writings. Unfortunately the term “slander” is sometimes bandied about by people with little understanding of what it means as a way of dominating others based on ego, arrogance, and a strong sense of self-righteousness.