Barbour County index., 1910-07-27

summit in a special squirt of vigor.
The drums were beaten more vigor-
ously, the prayers sung more earnest
ly as they concluded the ascent and
| nearcd the sacrifcial shrine. 1t was
the most striking picture of vigorous
| and active energy that 1 have seen for
a long time. But this group was but
one of hundreds. We stood there long,
looking at one after another as they
came up the great stairway. The
noise was so great that conversation
was impossible The little bands
varied in size from three or four wor
shippers to parties of fifty or sixty;
some were notable for their poverty
| and decrepitude, others for their ex-
travagant display and physical vigor.
Finally we followed one of the large
bands up to the temple sacred to
Nichiren; we stood behind them as
they beat their drums before the saint,
throwing their coppers into the col
lection box, repeating their prayers
with earnestness. 1t is perhaps the
most genuinely Japanese of all Bud
dhist sects. The drum beating is its
characteristic. Nichiren is pre-emi-
nent1y a favorite of Tokyo. 1t was
here and hereabouts that the old saint
| lived and died, and the celebration
which we witnessed is commemorative
| of the anniversary of his death, which
took place 1882 at this spot.
Nichiren was born at Kiminato on
the Bay of Yedo in 1922 When II
years old he became an acolyte of the
Shingon sect and at Is a priest. He
quickly, however. became discomfort
ed with the teachings of that body,
and had various miraculous revela-
tions. 1t was at this time that he
adopted the name of Nichiren, by
which he is called now, which has
, reference to his miraculous birth.
Like so many other saints and deitieS
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, renge. 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-
bu, where he spent considerable por-
ton of his life. The one at Ikegami is
perhaps the second in importance of
| the sect, which is a 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
mile and three-quarters through a
| 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. 1t is
| almost a typical Buddhist temple
After mounting the great stairway one
passes under the heavy, elaborately
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 were 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, were Buddhist priests
entitled to occupy them. At the last
one to which we were taken a delight
full surprise came to u.s. We looked
out upon a scene of the rarest beauty,
| the garden of the monastery. It's
beauty lies largely in the fact that 1t
is to a great degree unartificial. A
natural basin has been utilized, the
further border of which rises in a love-
ly pine-covered ridge as a background.
Within this natural basin is a pretty
pond, a 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-
fx1-oor, tho double I;,o 0f 1;++Io