“I had always thought the Kanto district, to which Shinran Shonin journeyed in order to teach others to attain faith through his own living faith, must have been an uncultivated wilderness. Instead I learned that it was already at that time a land of ‘accumulated good from the past’, having long been cultivated by the energy of kami (gods) so that Shin Buddhism could be introduced to the people there.” Head Priest.

“When I visited the Aso Shrine to attend the funeral of its former Head Priest, I discovered the Shintoist tradition of silent clapping and was reminded of a famous Zen koan: ‘the sound of one hand clapping’. That koan rose up and filled my whole being. Wherever I go, listening always to the Dharma, I find myself constantly encountering the Japanese mind, known as kamnagara (just-as- kami [gods]-are), that is so deeply imbedded in our long tradition.” Head Priest.

“When I heard that the divine body of the kami (Japanese gods) is a mirror, I found myself nodding in agreement. It is said that when a monkey looks into a mirror he tries to make a grab at it, a dog barks and a human stands in fear and awe. I feel that the Japanese people, accustomed as they are since ancient times to look into mirrors, have been finding their own karma reflected and illuminated therein.” Head Priest.

“Amida Buddha is the Buddha who ‘embraces all and abandons none’ but, with sharp insight, holds on firmly to those who would flee. An officiator at the ceremony gazed with pure reverence directly at the Buddha without ever blinking. I always feel his sense of tension to be the core of the Shin Buddhist religious ceremony.” Elder priest at the temple.

“Very close to the end of his life, my father said to me, ‘Although I have always said that everything, including my body and the whole environment, is a gift from Amida Buddha, I have now found that this serious disease is also in fact a gift from the Tathagata. ‘Tathagata is Nirvana and Nirvana is called Buddha-nature. At the stage when we are ordinary beings we cannot hope to understand, but on reaching the Land of Peace and Rest, then realization will come to us.’ Do you understand the meaning of this wasan (Japanese hymn composed by Shinran Shonin)? Alas! My whole life has been nothing but self-power, hasn’t it!” Lady attending the seventeenth memorial service of her father’s death.

“As my family had been responsible for this temple for many hundreds of years, I used to consider myself endowed with ‘accumulated good from the past.’ But now I have understood that on its own it is nothing. Only when I attain true faith through my encounter with a good teacher can I say I have ‘accumulated good from the past.’” Responsible Trustee of Shogyoji Temple at one of the Hoonko meetings.

“In March 1937 I was accorded a personal interview with Daigyoin sama. After many questions and answers Ｉ felt a great tide of relief as I found myself able to revere Daigyoin sama as a Buddha. I really had the feeling that all the phenomena of this world were working for me alone. All my sorrow and loneliness were immediately wasted away and my whole being, both body and mind, was filled with joy and gratitude in a boundless world.” Elder Dharma friend taught by Daigyoin sama.

“The essential purpose and meaning behind holding a meeting known as wasanko lies in the fact that we are opening our home to other people. At the same time it is an important place in which a young priest is to be trained.” Head Priest.

“When I gave a Dharma talk at a nearby temple, it was heartwarming to learn from the Head Priest that when they had funerals to conduct, he would ask his father (the retired head priest) to play the role of the leading priest again because seeing this made the temple followers so happy.” Head Priest.

“Towards the very end of his life, after a long struggle with illness, my father spoke to me with a radiant face, ‘Although we are used to pronouncing life to be a gift, I have found that this disease itself is a gift’. He talked of the incomparable joy of faith he had experienced when he encountered Shinran Shonin’s wasan, ‘Tathagata is Nirvana and Nirvana is called Buddha-nature. At the stage when we are ordinary beings we cannot hope to understand, but on reaching the Land of Peace and Rest, then realization will come to us’.” Lady attending the seventeenth memorial service of her father’s death.

“In perfect accordance with the words of Rennyo Shonin, ‘A proper response to the invisible aid of the Buddha is to take refuge in Amida Buddha,’ this meeting taught me that everything comes together, beyond time and space, at the very moment of entrusting oneself to Amida Buddha.” Head Priest.

When I visited the village where Heitaro, one of Shinran Shonin’s disciples, had lived and found myself in front of the monument on which was inscribed the message that Shinran Shonin had once worked here too in the vast rice field, Ｉ suddenly recollected Shonin's words, ‘It is entirely meant for me, Shinran, alone.’ I really felt at that point that life was indeed a solitary journey.” Young priest at the temple.

“On visiting Anrakuji Temple in the company of Professor White (the same temple Asahara Saich used to visit), I encountered a poem by Saichi, ‘A wretched person goes [to the Pure Land]. If this wretchedness is removed, there is no mind [within me]. This wretched one goes [to the Pure Land].’ I was very moved to encounter this poem, because it allowed me to understand that my being allowed to keep going forward did not depend on first ridding myself of the wretchedness of my coping mind, but that I was allowed to go forward just as I am, despite of my wretchedness.” Young priest at the temple.

“Taya life has not been easy for me because all the problems which I had previously hidden or ignored in my daily life have been illuminated by those around me; which has meant I can no loner ignore them. But, this light that allows me to see my true nature, is a compassionate light that has given me the faith and trust to follow in the footsteps of my friends and teachers.” Young English man visiting the temple.

“Although I am often asked what Daigyoin sama was like, there is actually no Daigyoin sama without the present Head Priest.” Old taya resident who recently died.

“When my suffering was at its height, I was comforted by picking up fallen leaves one after another.” Female Dharma friend at the temple.

“You say you are ‘going’ to Shogyoji Temple, mother, but to me it seems that you are ‘returning’ to the temple.” English female Doctor who had lived at the temple speaking to her mother who was leaving London to undergo an introspection session.

“When I discovered that I was completely imprisoned by my karma and unable to flee from myself, I found all at once that I had started pronouncing the nembutsu quite without knowing it. With my life given back to me through the nembutsu, it was a profoundly moving experience for me to read the words of Daigyoin-sama, “(Selfish) love is death, faith is life.” Female Dharma friend who had journeyed all the way from London to undergo a session of introspection.

“’Harmony’ appears when my selfish mind melts away.” Head priest.