A Letter to Lady Ueno

スリランカも土曜日、週末に突入しました。御講、お総講、結婚式、御会式と続きます。

今日の午前中はシャンタ・ペレラさん、得度名・Ryosho-shiがご奉公されている香風寺スリランカ別院で御講を報酬させていただきました。

お花を持ってビハンガ君がお出迎えしてくれました。クリンドゥ君もお参りしてくれていました。僕が会うのは久しぶりです。あんなに小さかったのに、僕よりずっと背が大きくなっていて、ビックリしました。17才になったそうです。福岡御導師は彼に学徒として修行するように勧めておられます。そうなったらいいですー。

午後は結婚式なので、お昼のご供養を頂戴して大白蓮寺まで戻って参りました。あと10分でスタートです。

ありがとうございます。

下記は、今日の御法門です。

Today I will be preaching on the most important and most used prayer in the HBS training, the text of "Mushi Irai.”

What Is “Mushi Irai”?

In this teaching verse, it is explained that our souls never vanish (“Mushi,” or no beginning) and have continued through repeated cycles of birth and death until the present day (“Irai,” or continuing to this point).

Because our souls do not cease to exist, both good deeds (merit) and bad deeds (sinful karma or negative karma) are carried forward.

Therefore, we must always keep this truth in mind. 

Every day, we should wholeheartedly chant the Odaimoku “Namu Myoho Renge Kyo” in front of the Gohonzon, Mandara and do our best to practice faith in this lifetime. 

This is the core of what this teaching emphasizes.

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Two Kinds of “Life”

The Lotus Sutra, HBS, The Primordial Buddhism teaches that we have two kinds of life:

1. Short Life (the physical lifespan)  

   This is the life of our physical body, which ends after roughly 100 years at most.

2. Long Life (the life of the soul)  

   This is the life that has continued since a time too far back to measure. It goes on through countless cycles of birth and death, and it is said that this life of the soul is our true self.

Understanding this “long life” forms the foundation for living a life without regret.

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Through Birth and Death, Again and Again

Humans continue to be reborn and pass away in a never-ending cycle. During this process, we form various relationships—meeting people, parting ways, sometimes loving one another, sometimes causing hurt.

Everyone we encounter in this life can be seen as someone we share a deep karmic connection with, stretching back into the distant past.

Even if that past karma is negative, whether we transform it into something positive in this lifetime depends on our own actions and efforts.

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A Letter to Lady Ueno, Whose Husband Passed Away

Nichiren Shonin wrote the following letter to Lady Ueno, who was grieving the death of her husband:

“In your countless cycles of birth and death, you must have had husbands more numerous than the grains of sand in the ocean.

Yet the husband you were united with in this life is truly the most important connection you have ever had.

Why? Because it was through his encouragement that you met the Lotus Sutra and became a practitioner.

Therefore, you should honor him as you would the Buddha himself.”

Among the many karmic connections we have, the husband who guides us to the true teachings of Buddhism is the one with whom we share the most genuine bond.

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Deepening Our Understanding of “Mushi Irai”

Since the soul continues on forever, we accumulate all sorts of karma and connections (both good and bad) over our many past lives. The further back we go, the more likely it is that negative causes (slander of the Dharma and sinful karma) outweigh our good deeds.

This is why we need to recognize, “I have a great deal of negative karma and harmful causes,” and aim to extinguish them by chanting the Odaimoku each day and engaging in practices such as shakubuku (spreading the Odaimoku) and bodhisattva-work and acts of compassion.  

This commitment is contained in what is called the the text of "Mushi Irai. We reaffirm this vow during our morning and evening prayers so that we never forget it.

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Only While We Are Alive Do We Have the Chance

Though the soul exists forever, we can only eliminate or change “slander of the Dharma” and “sinful karma” while we are alive in this human form.  

That’s why it is so vital to value each day, to chant the Odaimoku aloud, and to engage in actions that help and support others—transforming bad karma into good.

This teaching verse reminds us that “because our souls have no beginning and will continue through the cycles of birth and death up to this moment, we should devote ourselves wholeheartedly to our faith as long as we have life.”

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Conclusion

“When we say the soul has no beginning, we call it ‘Mushi.’  

  When we say it continues through birth and death, we call it ‘Irai.’”

These words remind us that our souls extend across countless pasts and countless futures.  

During this long journey, we carry both the merit of good deeds and the burden of negative karma.  

Never forget that “now, while we are alive, is the time to redirect it all for the better.”  

May we therefore persevere in our faith and practice each day.