Meditation on the impact of one man

In our world today we can become jaded. There are huge numbers of people, huge problems, devastating wars, massive environmental catastrophes.

I often wonder about how can I, in the singular, make a difference? Over my many years of work in education  I often heard the same sentiment from my students. I am just one of the crowd:

And then I stumbled into the world of Nikkyo Niwano and Myoko Naganuma.

This all began on a rainy night when Shelley and I were exploring the back alleys around our neighbourhood and we stumbled  across this huge building. 

Everything being written in Japanese we debated what it could possibly be...a hospital, a university? We walked up the gorgeous marble stair case and peaked through the wrought iron doors to see an enormous ornate presentation hall with a huge, sparkling golden statue of Buddha.

  
We knew that this was a temple, but that is all we could figure out.

With Shelley in Canada, I have had some time to do a little research which culminated in my attendance at the worship celebration and my guided visit to Rissho Kosei-kai, the world headquarters of the Kosei faith.

I sat mesmerized through the solemn service of recitation of the Sutras, along with the massive pipe organ and the Tako drums.

After the service I had a long conversation and a tour of the dramatic head quarter buildings as well as the museum about the founders lives.

From Wikipedia;

Early life[edit]

Born on November 15, 1906 to farmers, Nikkyō had a humble life in a small town. Later in his youth he moved to Tokyo to work and it was here that he began to study several different religions. During his studies he attended a sermon on the Lotus Sutra and he became a Buddhist.

Risshō Kōsei Kai[edit]

Mr. Niwano had been actively involved with the Buddhist group Reiyūkai, and it was then that he encountered Ms. Myoko Naganumaand lead her to convert to Reiyūkai. In 1938 they both attended a leaders meeting where the leadership of Reiyūkai made several comments stating that the Lotus Sutra was outdated. After discussing this matter with each other, they decided that they could not belong to an organization which held this type of view.^[1] On March 5, 1938 they founded Risshō Kōsei Kai, holding the first meeting in Mr. Niwano's house.

Mr. Niwano was to be the President and Ms. Naganuma to be the vice-president. As the organization grew he gave up his job as a milk man and devoted himself full-time to the ministry. He became involved in interfaith activities and helped to found the World Conference of Religions for Peace in 1970. During this time he became involved in numerous religious and cultural conferences and gathers, some of which include the Asian Conference on Religion and Peace and the 6th WCRP in Italy where he presided over the WCRP alongside Pope John Paul II.^[2] He also spoke on several occasions as the United Nations calling for world peace and the abolition of nuclear arms.

In 1991 he stepped down as president and was succeeded by his eldest son, Nichiko Niwano. Although retired, he continued to participate in interfaith and peace activities.

Awards[edit]

In 1979 he was awarded the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion. In 1992 he was made a Knight Commander with the Silver Star of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by the Vatican. In 1993 Mr. Niwano was awarded the Interfaith Medallion from the International Council of Christians and Jews. Daniel Montgomery quotes that "no Buddhist leader in the World has become more widely known or showered with honours than him." ^[3]

Death and legacy[edit]

Nikkyo Niwano died on October 4, 1999. He was cremated and some of his ashes were placed in the Precious Stupa of the One Vehicle, a small stupa located on the grounds of the groups headquarters. He is remembered for his interfaith work and his calls for global peace and disarmament. 

Currently this group exists in countries around the world. " As of 2010 there are over 240 churches and centers in 20 countries.^[7] Membership currently stands at 6.5 million members,^[2] with the majority living in Japan." (Wikipedia)

Here are some photos of the simple beauty, the exquisite surroundings of the centre. 

And his famous calligraphy for peace;

Not knowing this Buddhist sect in-depth, I find it awe-some, amazing, and inspiring that one man, born into poverty, living in our century, co-creative a religious movement for peace and justice that went from 2 members in 1938 to over 6 million members around the world in 2015.

The impact of one man....

A gentle reminder to our friendly viewers

One of the odd things about this new world for us of the Blog-o-sphere as compared to individual emails is the one way communication that generally happens. We write blogs, send them with blessing out to the universe.... And then it's the void. We know that our blog is being read. We have received over 1500 hits so far. We hear every now and then through circuitous feedback that you are appreciating and enjoying the stories.

I just want to remind you about the feature called "comment" at the end of each post. If you felt like a writing a quick "hi" or "that was interesting" or... It will help us feel connected to you as our blog helps you feel connected to us. 

Only a thought...

What do a temple ceremony, the Japanese Mafia, and zombies have in common?

Well, this is Tokyo! This actually is just another day in my life in Tokyo, last Saturday.

To begin with I met up with a group from Tokyo Meet Up at one of the largest spiritual festivals called Sanjay Matsuri. Here is a description from Wikipedia:

Sanja Matsuri (三社祭^?, literally "Three Shrine Festival"), or Sanja Festival, is one of the three great Shinto festivals in Tokyo. It is considered one of the wildest and largest.^[1] The festival is held in honor of Hinokuma Hamanari, Hinokuma Takenari and Hajino Nakatomo, the three men who established and founded Sensō-ji. Sanja Matsuri is held on the third weekend of every May at Asakusa Shrine. Its prominent parades revolve around three mikoshi (three portable shrines referenced in the festival's name), as well as traditional music and dancing. Over the course of three days, the festival attracts 1.5 to 2 million locals and tourists every year.^[2]

So, why not join the 2 million others and make it 2,000,001 visitors?

I was there the day that each neighbourhood carried their own portable shrine around their neighbourhood and then took it to the temple to be blessed. Here's a photo of a portable shrine.

Each shrine would be carried by between 30 and 50 people because they are extremely heavy. The goal is to go all around the neighbourhood shaking the shrine is much as possible because this brings good luck. Then you take it down to the temple for blessing and bring it back. Here are some of the different shrines.

And one carried by kids:

There were 100 of these shrines and they were brought to the main temple to be blessed. This is one of the more beautiful temples in Tokyo, flattened during the second world war and rebuilt afterwards.

To serve the up to guests there were all kinds of fabulous Street foods and street vendors. How about these skewered fish? I enjoyed the battered squid. I definitely am getting enough of the fish oil.

Leading the portable shrines:

You could tell each group by their kimonos:

The more they could bounce their shrine the greater the prestige:

The children had their own shrines, closely monitored by the parents:

All of the 100 portable shrines gathered at the temple for their blessing. Check out the crowd!

One portable temple that drew a lot of interest was the Yakusa shrine. The Yakusa are the shady and very powerful Japanese mafia who function very much in the background of Tokyo. The only time they're visible is at this festival. Members take off their shirts to show their tattoos. Tattoos are a sign of being involved with the group. There seems to be an implicit agreement with the police to let this happen on this date.

They walked around quite proudly that day exposing their tattoos for all to see.

This was quite a moving experience feeling so many people focused on the same thing. All the neighbourhood had all kinds of benches and food set up for the many visitors. This was a powerful event.

But this is Tokyo, got to keep moving! 

Just as an after thought on the way to the metro I went down the street that is nicknamed 'restaurant street'. On that street you can buy anything you need for your restaurant, including stores that sell only plastic food. These food dishes are reproductions of what you sell in your restaurant. You put these dishes in your window so that clients know what to expect at your restaurant. These were beautiful reproductions and actually quite mouth watering.

  Well, got to keep moving! 

Just time to pause to check out one of the local rickshaws:

I took a five-minute break to contemplate a well-dressed Buddha tucked away in a beautiful corner of the street. Notice the disciples at his feet who were also well-dressed.

The  second real stop was at Yoyogi park where the Thai festival was on full swing. Hundreds of booths of Thai food, Thai singers, Thai fashion show, Thai sports, an amazing event. It was pretty hot so I just ended up skimming the surface of this. I stayed long enough to soak in the subtleties of a teen Thai pop group.

But, there's no rest for the new Tokyo resident.

 It was over the bridge and diving into the depths of Yoyogi Park forest to find… The zombies! As it turns out Saturday was a Zombie Day in Tokyo. Why? Who knows, but zombies were everywhere in the forest.

Check out some of these spiritually uplifting characters.

Zombies were clearly enjoying getting photographed, And photographers were clearly enjoying taking pictures.

But I have to admit that by then I was a bit saturated. I gawked at the zombies for about a half an hour then I came home for a quiet evening at home to recuperate  and try to remember everything that happened on that one day.

Yes, What would one expect from a day in Tokyo?

A community craft fair... On steroids!

Let's see.... A craft fair needs similar things around the world.

1.  A venue large enough for the attendees. The Tokyo Big Site should do with 80000 square meters. Today there were 10 000 artists, sculptors, painters, photographers, dancers, painters, actors.

2. It needs people to come and buy the crafts. How about 100000 people over two days? How about clients who are just as interesting as the vendors?

Do you believe in angels?

Or the formal twins?

Or Ms. Box Head?

And then of course any number of "cosplay" clients:

And add to that mix any and every other kind of eccentric outfit and you will get a feel for the attendees at the Design Fiesta; not quite the Kootenays!

Another box head....

Cute...

Antique...

And multiply by 100000 and you'll get the gist of who was there today.

3. So we have the venue, we have the clients... And what will they buy? Here are some suggestions for that hard to buy for person in your life:

- huge paintings the size of your bedroom wall being painted in front of your eyes

- a worm person?

Or plastic cats in snail shells?

Or any number of nightmare monsters:

Or plastic dolls of men with fish or sushi for heads?

Or perhaps the exact model of your block in Tokyo In miniature? (Check out my finger for size!)

Or maybe you have been looking everywhere for a frog with boxing gloves?

The ring holder you always wanted...

Or those princesses for the window sill...

How I ended up here is that I was fascinated by the work of John, from New Jersey and husband of Liz, one of my colleagues, who moved to Tokyo to make figures and sell them. Over three years he has created a niche for himself. Collectors lineup at his stall first thing in the morning to pay serious money for his newly painted figures of the year. He moved to Tokyo because this is where the serious collectors are. He makes quite a good living designing, we're producing, and selling these figures. Check them out.

Yesterday was apparently the serious day. That's when he had his new releases and many other stalls Also had new releases. Serious collectors could spend extra money to buy an early bird ticket to queue up for two hours to buy what they wanted. He said he did really well and raked in the cash yesterday.

4. So, for the well-planned craft fair you need the venue, check! You need clients, check! You need creative artists to sell things, check! All yes, we can't forget the entertainment! A little folk music? Naaaa... Not in Tokyo!

You absolutely need some ninja screaming and sword playing:

You need a play about ultra wrestling and death.

Oh yes, and let's not forget the intense yelling punk band outside on the food court just to set the right mood!

I left the event with my mind totally boggled once again by the vibrancy of this city. This was a huge world in itself that represents only a fraction of what was happening today in the city.