The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1910-08-12
sofat hsanliversaxysof hiss death NhkJz
took place 1882 at this spot

ofst anlltvers6rysof his death yhky1
took place 1882 at this spot
thu Beg ofYedo In 1922. When II
years9 aid ~ becam1 IN acolyta of the.
shhgpn sect ana &C ia priest. He.
quickly. however. became discomfort
ed with the teachings Of that body
and had various miraculous revela-3
tione It vas at this time that he
adopted the name 81 Nichiren. by
which he is called now, which has
reference to his miraculous birth.
Lfke so many other saints and deftaes
in all religions, his was an immaculate
conception. In a dream his mother
saw the sun resting upon a lotus
flower with the result that Nichiren
was born. His life is full Of miracles.
He did not need to study the canon.
Of sacred scripture, but received it at
a moment Of revelation. He composed
formula of four words-Namu, myo-
no. frenge, kyo-the repetition of which.
is the essence of his worship and the
chief religious act of his sect. He was
eternally getting into trouble with
rulers in his lifetime. and always es-
Gaping from their efforts to destroy
him. Thus, on one occasion he was
sentenced to execution, but the knife
of the executioner had no effect upon
him. His greatest temple is at Mino-
blu. where he spent considerable por.:
ton Of his life. The one at 1kegami Is
perhaps the second In importance of
the sect, which is large one in its
membership. Zeal and intolerance
were the essence of Nichiren's char
acter, and zeal and intolerance form
the marked characteristics of his fol-
lowers. to the present day. Nichiren
was the very democrat of Buddhism.
He not only taught the worship Of the
great Gautama. and other worship
common to Buddhists, but extended
divinity to all the world. According
to his teachings, not only man. but
animals, plants. and mud itself are
capable of attaining to Buddhahood.
After plodding and splashing for a
mile and three-quarters through q
liquid mud that would do credit to st.
Louis, one can but feel grateful at his
discovery.
Two days later with better weather
we visited Ikegami once again. this
time to secure some pictures. It Isl
almost typical Buddhist temple:
After mounting the great stairway one
passes under the heavy. deliberately
decorated gateway of red painted
wood, guarded by the two great Mo
figures, into the temple courtyard. Be-
fore us to the left is the main temple
dedicated to Buddha himself, and
known for that reason as the Shaka
shrine. To the right is the founders
temple with a great image Of Nichiren.
High up behind the great tenn
pie are the priests quarters. The
old ones were destroyed by fire
some years ago, but new ones
have been, and are being, constructed.
By chance we we're taken through
them, and the rooms were so large
and lofty, SO clean and beautiful, as to
arouse our envy, and make US wish
that we, too, we're Buddhist priests
entitled to occupy them. At the last
one to Whioh-We were taken a delights
full surprise came to us. We looked
out upon a scene of the rarest beauty,
the garden of the monastery. It's
beauty lies largely in the fact that it
is to a great degree unartifcial. A
natural basin has been utilized, the
further border of which rises in a love-
Within this natural basin is pretty
pond, little stream of water and
rock work partly artificial, planted
with splendid shrubs and trees. A
scene Of perfect peace and tranquility!
What contrast between the two
aspects of our little street! Two
days ago the din and hustle and con-
fusion; today, the calm and peace and
loneliness. Yet as we pass again be-
tween the double line Of little shops
and booths, now listless and deserted,
we now and then come upon bit of
promise for the future. Groups of
small boys, almost toddlers, are out
upon the streets with toy banners and
Illuminated miniature lanterns and
small drums and tin cans on which
they beat, the while muttering:
Manu-, myoho, renge, kyo." They are
playing, but it is training for future
celebrations of the FESTIVAL of Ten
Hundred Thousand Lanterns" and in
these little fellows Of four or five
years old, we see signs of the same
vigorous earnestness shown b. the
groups of pilgrims of the other night.
It is this same vigor and force and
earnestness, the same devotion and
blind enthusiasm, which hurled the
bands of Japanese soldiers up the
slopes at Port Arthur.
The sect of Nichiren is militant and
warlike.
Copyright. 1910. by w. g. chapman)