The Docho Ceremony
This past July 29th of this year, I had the good fortune to
attend the Docho or Registration Ceremony at Seicho-ji, the
temple where Nichiren himself was first educated and ordained as
a priest. It has been my hope for years that I would get the
chance to visit the many places that were of significance in the
life of Nichiren, so that I could see for myself a little of the
world that he lived in and the sights that inspired him. Seeing
these places has helped make them more real to me, and has helped
me to gain a deeper understanding of Nichiren’s heart as
well as his teachings. Of course, none of this would have been
possible if it were not for my own sensei, the Venerable Ryusho
Matsuda, who prepared everything for me and accompanied me to
Seicho-ji and to many other places in Japan so that I could
further my training as a Nichiren Shu novice. I want to take this
opportunity to publicly thank him at this time for all of his
time and effort, without which I could not have done any of this.
Rev. Matsuda has asked me to briefly share with you my
impressions of the Docho ceremony and my other experiences in
Japan. Before I do that, however, I would like to remind you of
the parable of the hidden jewel in the Lotus Sutra,
because I feel that the hidden gem of the Wonderful Dharma was
something that continually came to mind while I was in Japan. As
you may remember, the parable is about two friends, a rich man
and a poor man, who are drinking together one night. Towards the
end of the evening, the poor man is on the point of passing out
and the rich man must leave the next day on a long business trip.
Concerned for his friend, the rich man takes a precious gem and
hides it in the lining of the poor man’s jacket so that when
he awakes the next morning he can sell it and live in luxury for
the rest of his life. The poor man, however, does not remember
the gift and never discovers the gem in his jacket and spends the
next few years in poverty, barely able to survive. When the rich
friend returns, he is shocked and reveals the gem to his friend,
saying “I had already provided for you. You were wealthy all
this time and never noticed.”
The reason this story came to mind is because several times in
Japan, I was asked why I was willing to undergo so many
difficulties in order to become a priest of the Nichiren Shu.
When I was in Okayama, a high school student named Takuma Maeda
volunteered to show me around Kurashiki, and afterwards we went
to dinner at his father’s Thai restaurant. His father was
very interested in South-East Asian culture and had a great
respect for Thai Buddhism, which he told me was a living
tradition which had a real place in the lives of the Thai people.
Japanese Buddhism, however, he did not feel was anything more
than empty ceremonies and museum like temples, the mere shell of
the Buddha Dharma. When I was taking the overnight train back to
Joenji Temple in Tokyo from Myokoji Temple in Shimane, I met a
business man named Haruo who had studied English and he was also
curious about my interest in Japanese Buddhism. He also seemed to
feel that Japanese Buddhism had no real connection to everyday
life. Finally, on my last day in Tokyo I met a woman from Oregon
named Leslie who had been teaching English in Kobe for a year and
was sight-seeing in Tokyo before returning to the States. She was
curious about Buddhism and had even visited several temples, but
none of her Japanese friends could tell her anything about it,
nor were they interested in it. In fact, she told me that I was
the first practicing Buddhists that she had met while in Japan.
In each case, I told these people the story of the hidden gem and
I explained that Japanese Buddhism, and Nichiren Buddhism in
particular, was like a hidden gem. The teachings of Nichiren, I
feel, are very relevant, not only to the people of Japan today,
but to people all over the world. However, these teachings do no
good if they are taken for granted and neglected. I was sad that
these people had not seen and experienced what I had at
Seicho-ji.
When Rev. Matsuda and I arrived in Kominato, where Nichiren was
born, I was very impressed by the beauty of the surrounding hills
and the ocean. At that time, I could understand why Nichiren felt
so homesick during his time at Mount Minobu, so far from the
shore and hidden away in the mountains. When Rev. Matsuda and I
took the taxi from Kominato to Seicho-jo, I was amazed at how far
away it seemed. It only took maybe fifteen or twenty minutes, but
as we drove further and further inland into the mountains, I
realized that when the young Zennichi-maro and his father hiked
to Seicho-ji, he really was leaving home. I can only imagine that
it would have taken an entire day or more to hike up to the
temple. This was no ten minute walk. I realized at that moment
what was involved for Nichiren to have left home at such a young
age to study Buddhism. I can’t imagine that anyone would
hike so far away from home to such a remote place and leave
behind one’s family to merely learn how to perform mere
ceremonies or learn esoteric trivia. In Nichiren’s time, the
Buddha Dharma was still a matter of life and death.
At Seicho-ji, I gained a deeper understanding of what it means to
be a part of the Sangha and what it means to be a part of a
lineage that goes back hundreds even thousands of years. That
evening, all of the novices gathered together in the
Founder’s Hall where we practiced reciting the Jigage,
the verses of Eternity from the 16th chapter of the Lotus
Sutra. For the first time, I had the opportunity to recite
the Lotus Sutra in the company of a hall full of fellow
novices. At that time, I truly felt that I was following in the
footsteps of Nichiren and in fact of all those who have strived
to realize the Dharma back to the time of Sakyamuni Buddha. I
felt this again the next morning, as we greeted the dawn chanting
Odaimoku from the very sight where Nichiren first recited Namu
Myoho Renge Kyo and began his mission of propagating the Lotus
Sutra.
Even though I was only there for a single night and a single
morning, and I could not understand any of the talks, the
important thing for me was that I was able to make a connection
with Nichiren through experiencing life with my fellow novices at
Seicho-ji and that I was able to receive the recognition that I
too was a part of the lineage of Nichiren Shu. Here in America,
it is sometimes difficult to imagine the history and long
tradition of Nichiren Buddhism. It is easy to feel very isolated
as one tries to maintain a Buddhist practice in a non-Buddhist
culture. Even Japan, it seems, has become so secular that
Buddhism has become something remote and strange judging from my
meetings with Mr. Maeda, Haruo and Leslie. At Seicho-ji, however,
I saw and experienced Buddhism as a living tradition, and I was
able to recite the Lotus Sutra and Odaimoku with 57
other young novices. Together, we committed ourselves to the
propagation of the Lotus Sutra under the direction of
our masters. Like a hidden gem, the Wonderful Dharma has been in
the world for over 2,000 years. It is my hope that like the poor
man in the parable, the world will discover the great wealth that
it has overlooked for so long and that we novices will be able to
complete our training and as priests of the Nichiren Shu
demonstrate that Buddhism is still a living tradition of vital
significance for the whole world.
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