Oko, February, 2007

Good Morning! It is good to see so you have taken time and the effort to come to the temple to hear this month’s Oko address. Reverend Kimura mentioned one time that the important thing is to be here to hear the lecture so that along with the priests we can demonstrate our appreciation to the True Buddha, Nichiren Daishonin.

By taking this action, I am sure that we will all benefit from being here. So on behalf of the Hokkeko, I would like to thank Reverend Kimura for his fine address. I would also like to thank him as well as Reverend Arima for conducting this morning’s Oko and Otanjo-e Ceremonies.

Last month, we heard a lot about our 2007 goals and objectives. So today, I thought that I would like to talk a little bit about goals and objectives in general. If you have ever done any reading about the traits or habits of success oriented people in our society, you would have found that they believe in the use of goals and objectives to make things happen for themselves. Most importantly, they write them down and look at them on a regular basis in order to keep them in mind.

In general, goals are used for long term planning; and objectives are used for short term planning. From objectives, action items can be derived that allow the objectives to be achieved. Achievement of the objectives helps to define and support the accomplishment if the long term goal.

We are very fortunate that we are practicing one of the few religions that utilize goals and objectives. The difference is that we are able to use our faith in the power Gohonzon to make our goals and objectives happen. Each time we accomplish our goals by chanting and taking action to achieve our objectives it serves to deepen our faith and in a long run helps us demonstrate success in our individual lives. We become actual proof of the validity of this practice which helps others want to practice as well.

As you know, Nichiren Daishonin has given us the long term Goal of achieving Kosen Rufu and each year our High Priest gives us objectives to achieve that help us move toward that goal. 2007 wasn’t any different.

This year was named the “Year of Action” I hope that we have all made our determinations for the “Actions” that we are going to take to support the objectives that were given to us by our High Priest Nichinyo Shonin.

In our January Officer meeting, the District Coordinators presented their 2007 Determinations and the goals for their areas to Reverend Kimura. Some of these included the following:

Attaining a certain number of Shakabuku in their area by the end of the year.
Performing consistent Shodai with members on the alternating months from their Area Meetings
Encouraging more members to attend Temple Activities
Encouraging all members to attend the Tozan in 2009
Improving their area’s efforts to take care of each member
Making sure that new members are consistently visited during the first 6 months to help them learn Gongyo properly.

I would like to encourage everyone to join in and support your District Coordinators with their goals and determinations. Working together to do Shakabuku and helping to take care of members will give everyone a feeling of joy, accomplishment and deeper faith when these goals are achieved. No one will feel alone in their practice when everyone works together.

In making your individual determinations, I hope that you did not forget about the objective that was given to us by 67th Honorable Retired High Priest Nikken Shonin for each Hokkeko member to achieve one Shakabuku per year. I know that when we hear that we are striving for a certain number of Shakabuku, we think automatically think that we are trying to achieve a quota. High Priest Nikken Shonin mention this about the individual goal to achieve one Shakabuku per year.

“When I ask you to “individually Shakabuku one person” what I am referring to is an attitude. It represents the sincere attitude that prompts you to visit your temple for New Year’s Gongyo, to vow to the Gohonzon at that time that you will accomplish at least one Shakabuku and to endeavor to actualize such a promise. What I am asking is for you to move ahead with that kind of spirit. Thus, I refer here to an attitude that I would like for all of you to foster as you advance forth. It does not represent a quota that everyone must fulfill.”

So often we tend to chant for our problems and when they are serious enough, we really chant with sincerity, focus and intensity. So why not use this same attitude to chant to achieve your objective of achieving one Shakabuku this year. Write it down and offer it to the Gohonzon. Look at it on a regular basis. Determine the actions that you need to take and then use the power of your faith in the Gohonzon and take those actions to make it happen.

Reverend Kimura works very hard and is very diligent in making sure that we have some actions that we can take to help us achieve our goals and objectives. He has given us the Myoshinji prayer. He has given us some Shakabuku prayer forms. He holds the introduction to Buddhism meetings to teach us things to say that will help us in our Shakabuku efforts; he is always giving us guidance and encouragement to share this practice with our friends and relatives. And on top of that, he is always setting a real life example. We can always count on our priest to be here for us when we come to chant. They don’t miss or call in sick if you know what I mean.

So, if you haven’t done so already, give some thought to setting some goals and objectives for yourself for this year and the years to follow. Determine some action steps that will help you reach your objectives and then take ACTION so we can support the Nichiren Shoshu priests and especially, Reverend Kimura with the goals that he has set for Myoshinji temple.

Thanks for listening.