Well, it's still a little dark on Yamashita
Street in Nobeoka even in the day. But, I met some people I know. It was nice. Well, it's still a little dark on Yamashita Street in Nobeoka even in the day. But, I met some people I know. It was
nice. I look forward to the next Tanabata Nobeoka.
...here in Nobeoka, because I am indeed
enjoying my life in Japan. Maybe it's a characteristic of my age. I'm 56. I will have to ask some others that are around my age if in fact they are enjoying their lives as much as I am.
I was having trouble breathing for a few days. It wasn't that 'Kousa' ... that sandy
air from China, it was something else. My wife thought I had a cold, and maybe that's what it was, but I have to admit
that it did give me a scare when i was trying to fall asleep. I didn't know if I was going to wake up.
Kyushu, Japan. I don't know what it is, I don't have to stay busy. I
could just kick back and enjoy the scenery. But, I often times tend to overload my schedule. I suppose I need to guard against
intrusion more than I have been. 'I dig it.' anyway. I already scaled down once in my lifetime. Did you know that 'finder's
keepers, loser's weepers' doesn't apply here in Japan?
They even have a bench near the front
door. That's nice. I hope to have a sit in it one day. I always felt that Nobeoka didn't They even have a bench near the front door. That's nice. I hope to have a sit in it one day. I always
felt that Nobeoka didn't have enough benches. But, more and more, I am seeing benches dotting the countryside.
Beats me how they managed to get
their own lamppost. Maybe it's a street sign. I guess Nobeoka City allows them to put the sign on the public sidewalk. I wonder
if I could get away with that? Then again, maybe they have to pay a certain fee or bribe.
Gee, I didn't know about the tainted milk products. I guess I am less informed here in this country
town. Also, it's selfish of me, after further research, happily finding that the effect on adults is nil even in worst
case scenarios. But, then, who knows.
I sometimes wonder about my cancer. There are a lot of cancer cases
in Nobeoka. No one has brought it up here, but, I tend to suspect. The company here makes Saran Wrap. There are
some dioxide concerns.
In Japan, I suppose the news services are somewhat tainted. But, Japanese have other
ways of dealing with discontent. For example, if one member complains about their company, not only they are conveniently
let go, but their whole family, and relatives are put on the back burner, so to speak.
Such is life. It's
kind of like that line in Hannibal when he spoke to that Italian inspector, "Sometimes people don't tell you what they are
thinking. They just see to it that you don't advance in life."
Reply to Lord Matsuno's Wife
I am deeply ashamed at having failed until now to respond to your gift of one chest of wheat, one basket of yams, one basket
of melons and various other items, which I received on the third day of the sixth month.
This place, the valley of Minobu, is located in the area of the three villages of Iino, Mimaki and Hakiri of Kai Province,
in the northwestern corner of the village of Hakiri. To the north, the peak of Mount Minobu pierces the heavens; to the south,
Mount Takatori’s crest merges with the clouds; to the east, Mount Tenshi rises as high as the sun; and to the west,
great sheer mountains stretch across to the summit of Mount Shirane. The screeching of monkeys resounds in the heavens, while
the earth is filled with the chirping of cicadas.
I feel as if Eagle Peak in India had made its way here, or as if I were seeing Mount T’ien-t’ai in China right
before my eyes.
Although I am neither Shakyamuni Buddha nor the
Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai, because each day I read the Lotus Sutra day and night and discuss the Maka Shikan morning
and evening, this place is like the pure land of Eagle Peak and in no way different from Mount T’ien-t’ai.
Nevertheless, I am an ordinary person dependent on other things for my existence. If I were without clothes, the wind would
penetrate my body, and if I did not eat, my life could not be sustained. It would be like failing to replenish a lamp with
oil, or failing to add wood to a fire. How could I continue to live? If my life should become difficult to maintain, if the
provisions needed to sustain it were to be exhausted, in one to five days the voice that now reads and recites the Lotus Sutra
would also be silenced, and weeds would grow up thick before the window from which discourses on the Maka Shikan are heard.
Such are the conditions under which I live, but I wonder how you were able to perceive this.
Because a hare made offerings to a person walking about in exercise after meditation, the heavenly king took pity on it
and placed it in the moon. Now, when we gaze up at the heavens, in the moon we see a hare. In your position as a woman, you
have made offerings to the Lotus Sutra in this defiled latter age. Therefore, King Bonten will look after you with his divine
eye, Taishaku will press his palms together and pay obeisance to you, the earthly deities will delight in reverently holding
up your feet, and
Shakyamuni Buddha will extend his hand from
Eagle Peak to stroke your head. Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
With my deep respect,
Nichiren
The twentieth day of the sixth month in the second year of Koan (1279), cyclical sign tsuchinoto-u
