Today I would like to talk about the meaning of the O-eshiki One-Vehicle Festival. O-eshiki is a Buddhist festival commemorating Saint Nichiren (1222-82), who passed away at Ikegami 　on October 13,1282. People throughout Japan have celebrated Nichiren’s advent with parades　and with religious services for hundreds of years.
　In Rissho Kosei-Kai we combine this tradition with an appreciation for the life of our founder, Nikkyo Niwano. His posthumous title is “the Great Teacher of One Vehicle.”

　　By calling our celebration the “O-eshiki One Vehicle festival,” we commemorate and honor two great teachers, Saint Nichiren and Founder Niwano. Both of them devoted their lives to reviving and transmitting the Dharma of Shakyamuni Buddha.
　Since Nichiren died on October 13th and Founder Niwano died on October 4th, we have a combined observance on the first week of October.

　One of the legends about Nichiren tells us that when he passed away, cherry blossoms bloomed out of season. The same thing happened when Rev. Niwano passed away. The cherry trees in the gardens of several Rissho Kosei-kai churches bloomed quite unexpectedly.

　O-eshiki is traditionally celebrated with parades in towns and cities all over Japan. Parade crews wear brightly colored　traditional outfits and include musicians playing flutes, bells and drums. Each team carries one or more matoi, a special pole decorated with streamers, and a kind of float called a mando.

　The mando is a portable pagoda festooned with strings of cherry blossoms made of folded paper. The central part of the mando is in the shape of a lantern. This lantern is decorated with the words Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, religious slogans like itai doshin (Many bodies with a unified spirit), and with pictures showing episodes from Nichiren's life. The Mando is escorted by a group of people in traditional dress who take turns carrying it.

　In the evening the pagoda is illuminated from inside, symbolizing the light of the Dharma. Rissho Kosei-kai members are able to recognize the essential meaning of life and thus achieve true happiness through realizing the Dharma in their lives. This Dharma, and the teachings which enable us to realize it, come to us thanks to the heritage that starts with Shakyamuni, passes to Nichiren and then to Founder Niwano. Even though Saint Nichiren passed away, his spirit remains, forever and everywhere, in the hearts of the people who have been touched by his teachings.

　In the same way, Founder Niwano’s teachings remain with us in spirit. When we celebrate the O-eshiki One Vehicle Festival we give thanks that these teachings have come down to us, and also help to ensure that they will remain for future generations. The traditional term for this is Houon Kansha, which literally means “gratitude toward and repaying of the Dharma.” On the occasion of the O-eshiki One Vehicle Festival we re-awaken to the Dharma by commemorating the lives of Saint Nichiren and Founder Niwano.

　Another key significance of the O-eshiki One Vehicle Festival lies in the divinely inspired messages that Founder Niwano received through co-founder Naganuma. These messages may be understood as upaya, one of the myriad skillful methods through which the truth of Buddhism is made known. These divine messages are not the absolute truth, but a useful and necessary means to direct us to the unchanging heart of the Dharma. We can understand the history of Rissho Kosei-kai better if we consider past events in the context of these divine messages.

　We can trust these divine messages as long as they do not go against the Buddha Dharma or the Lotus Sutra. If we see these messages realized in the course of our organization’s growth, we know them to be reliable.
Rissho Kosei-kai has been watched over and guided by the buddhas and gods since its founding. When we reflect on the history of Rissho Kosei-kai, we can see that the founding, maturation and future of our organization is the fulfillment of their divine influence and protection.

　Co-founder Naganuma described it this way: “Rissho Kosei-kai was founded not by human intention, but by the deep compassion of the Buddha.” In the early days this compassion and influence manifested in divinely inspired message delivered to Founder Niwano through Co-founder Naganuma. She was the medium through which the Eternal Buddha made his intentions known to the Founder.

　Our organization was founded in 1938. By 1941 Founder Niwano was living apart from his family in order to dedicate himself completely to religious training. During this time he read and studied only the Lotus Sutra, because one of the divine messages had told him to put newspapers and books aside.

　In 1945 he received another divine message: that from that day forward he should read only Nichiren’s writings. This was on February 15, the anniversary of Shakyamuni Buddha’s death.

　He was delighted to read Nichiren’s writings, and found answers to many questions that had come up in his study of the Lotus Sutra. Then on October 13th of the same year, four divine messages determined the future course of the fledgling organization. These messages are as follows:

1) The image of the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni should be enshrined as the focus of devotion for Rissho Kosei-kai 　members. This enshrinement should take place on founder Niwano’s birthday, November 15th.

2) Rissho Kosei-kai will be the cause for the spread of the Lotus Sutra all over the world.

3) Mrs. Myoko Naganuma has been sent to be the witness for Nikkyo Niwano, the devotee of the Lotus Sutra. She will serve as a continuing reminder and guide for the realization of Niwano’s mission.

4) In order to fulfill its mission of revealing the Buddha nature of all things, Rissho Kosei Kai must adopt the practice of Bodhisattva Never Despise. The society and its members must be prepared to bear all difficulties of life, and 　even blows from sticks and stones, just as the Bodhisattva Never Despise did.

　These pronouncements made clear the missions of Rissho Kosei-kai, the two co-founders, the main object of worship and the fundamental practice of Rissho Kosei-kai. We celebrate on that day because it is the day that Rissho Kosei-kai’s mission in the final period of the Dharma was clearly identified. These messages were delivered on the 633rd anniversary of Saint Nichiren's death.
　
　Nichiren suffered many persecutions in his lifetime. One of these was when the military government exiled him to the island of Sado. Conditions there were so harsh that he was not expected to survive. Just before going into exile he wrote, “Today, I, Nichiren, practice Chapter 13, ‘Exhortation to Hold Firm.’ In a previous time I practiced Chapter 20, ‘Bodhisattva Never Despise.’ In the future it will again be time for practicing in accord with Chapter 20.
At that time, I will be a Never-Despise Bodhisattva.”

　If Nichiren were born today, he would be born as the Never Despise Bodhisattva. If we consider the message Founder Niwano received regarding the practice of Bodhisattva Never Despise, we find confirmation for our practice in Nichiren’s prediction. Nichiren’s writings affirm the practice of bodhisattva Never Despise in this contemporary world.
The celebration of Rev. Niwano’s birthday, the enshrinement of the eternal Buddha and the O-eshiki festival are all related.
　The creation and installation of the image of the Eternal Buddha marked a great milestone in the history of Buddhism.
I think that in completing this task Founder Niwano demonstrated his identity as the great leader of Bodhisattvas in the final period of the Dharma. He made manifest the mission entrusted to him by the Buddha. The day of enshrinement may be thought of as the birthday of the Eternal Buddha’s embodiment in this world.

　The divine messages Founder Niwano received included further tasks associated with the day of enshrinement.
One of them was for the founder to perform a pilgrimage to Mount Minobu and to Mount Shichimen to give thanks for reaching this important milestone in the spread of the Lotus Sutra. Mount Minobu is the location of the head temple of Nichiren School. By traveling there, Founder Niwano signified the connection between the tradition of the Lotus Sutra as established by Nichiren and the mission of Rissho Kosei-kai’s to spread the Lotus sutra.

　In visiting Mount Shichimen, the founder paid tribute to the guardian deity of the followers of the Lotus Sutra in the final period of the Dharma. The original body of the deity Shichimen is said to have been Naga, a dragon which symbolized psychic power and or energizing life force.
　The dragon symbolizes rebirth in its mythical transformation from lowly serpent to a celestial flying deity. The heavenly dragon is thought to influence weather, and so it is of central importance to agriculture, upon which human life depends.

　Shichimen is considered a protecting deity for our organization, and his image is installed at the original headquarters
of Rissho Kosei-kai. On the day of the O-eshiki festival the first parade begins on the street outside the original headquarters, under the protection of this guardian deity. Because Shichimen is associated with the fundamental elements of life, rebirth has become one of the themes of the O-eshiki festival. From a Buddhist perspective we understand that ordinary people are reborn as the true followers of the Lotus Sutra by awakening to the Dharma.

　On this occasion it can be your good fortune to follow the example of Shichimen’s power of rebirth and transformation.
Participants in the O-eshiki should have a concrete wish. This wish can become reality if you have the resolution to be a true follower of the Lotus Sutra. That is the power of the O-eshiki festival.

　I would like to conclude today’s Dharma talk by introducing an episode. It was almost fifteen years ago, at the time of the O-eshiki Festival. We had had rain for the previous four or five years. The head of the festival asked Founder Niwano for some guidance in faith. Founder Niwano suggested that all of the festival organizers get together and pray at the old headquarters at six o’clock on the morning of the parade.
　If they were truly resolved to be true followers of the Lotus Sutra, with a mind-set of itai-doshin -- many bodies with a unified spirit -- there would be a fine weather for the parade.

　I was the head of the guard group for the Mando, so I participated in the morning prayer. It was raining as we prayed, just as the weather bureau had predicted. Surprisingly, the weather turned fine and warm in time for the start of the festival. At the time I felt something mysterious. I understood why people called Rev. Niwano “a man who can have fine weather wherever he goes.”
　
　There have been many mysterious and miraculous experiences at O-eshiki festivals since then. The important point is that we should approach this happy occasion with a seeking mind for spreading the Dharma, the Wonderful Dharma of the Lotus Sutra. This is the Dharma that leads us to mysterious and miraculous experiences in our lives that transcend comprehension.