Spring 2021 Volume 48(PDF)
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Religions for Peace Japan First World Assembly in Kyoto, Sixth World Assembly in Rome Japan, 1970 and Riva del Garda, Italy, 1994 Religions for Peace was established in 1970 as an international nongovernmental organization. It obtained general consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 1999. As an international network of religious communities encompassing over ninety countries, the Religions for Peace family engages in conflict resolution, humanitarian assistance, and other peace-building activities through dialogue and coop- eration across religions. Second World Assembly in Religions for Peace Japan was established in 1972 as a commit- Seventh World Assembly in Leuven, Belgium, 1974 tee for the international issues supported by Japanese Association Amman, Jordan, 1999 of Religious Organizations. Since then it has served as the national chapter of Religions for Peace. 1. Calling on religious communities to deeply reflect on their practices, address any that are exclusionary in nature, and engage in dialogue with one another in the spirit of toler- ance and understanding. Third World Assembly in 2. Facilitating multireligious collaboration in making peace Eighth World Assembly in Princeton, the United States, 1979 initiatives. Kyoto, Japan, 2006 3.Working with peace organizations in all sectors and coun- tries to address global issues. 4. Implementing religiously based peace education and aware- ness-raising activities. ! Religions for Peace Japan promotes activities under the slogan: “Caring for Our Common Future: Advancing Shared Well-Being,” which include cooperating and collaborating with Religions for Fourth World Assembly in Ninth World Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, 1984 Peace and Religions for Peace Asia; participating in the Non- Vienna, Austria, 2013 Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference; cooperating and collaborating with both international and local faith-based organ- izations; and building networks with various sectors (politics, economics, academics, culture, media, and so forth). Religions for Peace Japan also promotes various programs related to peace education that include hosting peace research seminars and peace university symposiums. Fifth World Assembly in The fiftieth anniversary ceremony of Religions for Peace Japan Tenth World Assembly in Melbourne, Australia, 1989 will be held in November in Kyoto. Lindau, Germany, 2019 Religions for Peace Japan Different Faith, Common Action Fumon Media Center 3rd Floor, 2-7-1 Wada, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 166-8531 E-mail: [email protected] SPRING 2021, VOL. 48 FEATURES: What Is Prayer? 2 Prayer in Rissho Kosei-kai and the Power of the Sangha Dharma World presents Buddhism by Takanori Kumano as a practical living religion and 3 Contemplating Prayer promotes interreligious dialogue by David R. Loy for world peace. It espouses views 6 A Shin Buddhist Perspective that emphasize the dignity of life, on Prayer: Petitionary Prayers seeks to rediscover our inner nature and bring our lives more in accord and Prayers for Buddhist Photo: Gaynor Sekimori with it, and investigates causes of Awakening human suff ering. It tries to show by Kenneth K. Tanaka how religious principles help solve 10 Th e Christian Meaning of problems in daily life and how the Prayer as Intercession least application of such principles by Juan Masiá has wholesome eff ects on the world around us. It seeks to demonstrate 14 Revisiting “Homage to Hell, the truths that are fundamental to all Great Bodhisattva” Today religions, truths on which all people by Masaki Matsubara can act. 18 Prayer in Shugendo by Gaynor Sekimori Publisher: Keiichi Akagawa 22 Prayer as Action: Buddhist Priests During COVID-19 in Japan Director: Naoki Taketani by Levi McLaughlin Senior Editor: Kazumasa Osaka 26 Editor: Katsuyuki Kikuchi What Is Prayer? by Tomoshi Okuda Editorial Advisors: Dominick Scarangello, Miriam 29 Zen Prayer? Maybe, Maybe Not Levering, Michio T. Shinozaki by Pamela D. Winfi eld Copy Editors: DeAnna Satre, Stephen Comee, 32 Catherine Szolga Prayer in Rissho Kosei-kai by Dominick Scarangello Editorial Staff : Kensuke Osada, Mariko Kawamoto 39 People Who Bring Joy to Others Subscription Staff : Kazuyo Okazaki by Nichiko Niwano Layout and Design: Abinitio Design 40 Th e Th ree Pillars of the Lotus Sutra by Nikkyo Niwano Cover: THE THREEFOLD LOTUS SUTRA: A MODERN COMMENTARY Photos: Shutterstock.com Photoshop work by Abinitio Design 43 Th e Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Law Chapter 28: Encouragement of the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue (2) Dharma World is published semiannually by Rissho Kosei-kai International, Fumon Media Center 3F, 2-7-1 Wada, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 166-8537. E-mail: [email protected]. Copyright © 2021 by Rissho Kosei-kai International. All rights reserved. Printed in Japan by Komiyama Printing Company. Change of Address: Please provide both old and new addresses. Six weeks’ advance notice is requested. Requests for permission to reprint all or part of any article in this issue must be made in writing to the editor of Dharma World. FEATURES Prayer in Rissho Kosei-kai and the Power of the Sangha by Takanori Kumano Takanori Kumano is director of the Prayer is a wish, an expression of love and hope for a Dharma Dissemination Department of change for the better in the situation in which we and others Rissho Kosei-kai in Tokyo. ¿QGRXUVHOYHV It is hardly any exaggeration to say that when our sangha friends fi nd themselves More than a prayer or a wish, this our life is bound together by prayer. We hard-pressed, we join our hearts and pray was a rigorous vow of self-refl ection pray whether or not we have a faith. together. I wonder how many people have as well as an off ering to the gods and And at the same time, our lives are sup- been heartened and given courage by the the buddhas. Th is was a prayer off ered ported by prayer. sincere prayers of the sangha. Prayer is by a person of religion, full of love for When we are born, our parents and powerful, certainly not unreliable. humanity. It was not as if any single prob- family pray that all will go well. As we In his book Cultivating the Buddhist lem caused by the pandemic is some- grow, they pray for our healthy devel- Heart, President Nichiko Niwano writes: one else’s but one that concerns us all. opment: when we start to crawl, they “For Buddhists, prayer is the same as It was as if all prayers and wishes had pray for us to stand up, and when we what is called a vow, and both are at the become a single thought that echoed stand up, they pray for us to walk. As core of our being” ([Kosei Publishing, throughout the three thousand realms. we grow older, they pray that we will be 2008], 93). We are believers, and as such can’t successful in our exams, and when we On April 1, 2020, at 10 p.m., make vaccines or provide cures. But we become adults we pray for things such President-designate Kosho Niwano can refl ect on our daily lives, feeling that as our job, our marriage, and the birth off ered a prayer for the whole world the world is connected to us, and pray that of our children. When we become ill, from Rissho Kosei-kai’s headquarters in we might be able to fulfi ll the Buddha’s our family prays that operations and Tokyo. In response to the spread of the wishes. Prayer leads to action. I hope treatment will be successful and that we coronavirus, the International Council that if there is someone close to us who will be able to overcome our many tri- of Religions for Peace, broadcasting live is suff ering, we will be able to listen to als. At the end, they pray for the repose on social media, connected people of what they have to say and give them the of our souls. religion from diff erent countries to orga- courage to live together with us through Prayer is a wish, an expression of nize the Interfaith Moment of Hope and the many hardships of life. ≥ love and hope for a change for the bet- Solidarity in the Time of COVID-19. ter in the situation in which we and oth- Aft er reciting the daimoku three ers fi nd ourselves. We can say it is life’s times, President-designate Niwano activity itself as, both praying and being recited the words of the prayer: “When prayed for, we try to live through the we have to cancel plans to go out with many painful moments of life together. friends, may we have compassion for How we perceive the power of prayer those who have to work outside the may vary. As I did when I was young, home to make ends meet. When we many probably feel that prayer is unre- are stressed staying at home all day, Some nine hundred delegates and guests of liable and that prayer alone solves noth- may we remember those who have no the Tenth World Assembly of Religions for Peace, which was held on August 19–23, ing. However, the sincere prayers of a safe place to stay. When our country 2019, in Lindau, Germany, took part in an person of faith are beautiful and pow- is ruled by fear, may our bright smiles interreligious and spiritual ceremony at the erful. In Rissho Kosei-kai, for example, be like lights shining in the darkness.” island town’s Luitpold Park on August 20. 2 Dharma World Spring 2021 FEATURES Contemplating Prayer by David R. Loy David R. Loy is a professor, a writer, Although theistic prayer is often petitionary (“God, please do and a Zen teacher in the Sanbo Zen WKLV´ LQDZD\WKDWDVVXPHV*RGLVVHSDUDWHIURPXVLV tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism.