CHENG-MING Service (Acting like the Buddha)
By.Rev.Nun Myosho Obata

We just had CHENG MING (??) service today. We are gathered here together to pray for the attainment of enlightenment for our ancestors, deceased relatives and to pray for our own enlightenment. We, Japanese also have the same observance like CHENG-MING service. It refers to Higan-E (???) service, a unique Japanese observance. Today, I would like to share with you the meaning of Higan (??).

Higan in Japanese means the other shore. Suppose, there is a river between this shore (??) and the other shore (??). This shore means this world we are now living in. This world is filled with much desires, suffering and dissatisfaction. The other shore is the Eternal Buddha’s Pure Land. So, we have to cross the river with the teaching of the Buddha and our founder, Nichiren Dai Shonin. How can we cross the river? We can swim. However, if we swim to cross the river individually, only people who have enough energy can reach the other shore. That’s not fair. The Eternal Buddha and Nichiren Dai Shonin hope for all of us to cross the river. We need a big boat that we all can board to do so. Our Nichiren Buddhism is Mahayana Buddhism. Maha means great. Yana means the vehicle. So, what is a great vehicle for us to cross the river? That’s the O’daimoku, NAMU MYOHO RENGE KYO. We can cross the river with a big boat names NAMU MYOHO RENGE KYO.

There are 2 Higan periods in a year. One of them is the Spring Higan. Another one is in the autumn. The Higan period is for a week. During the 2 Higan weeks in a year, we should put forth our efforts to learn and practice the teaching of the Buddha and Nichiren Dai Shonin and strengthen our Buddha-nature a little more than usual. So, I would like to share with you a short story to go on the Buddha’s path. It is said in Buddhism we all have Buddha-nature in our minds and we can become like the Buddha if we follow the teaching of the Buddha. Then, what should we do to become like Buddha? I will tell you what we should do. We should act like the Buddha. Just imitate what the Buddha was doing. Then we will naturally become like the Buddha.

There was a man who tried to act like the Buddha long ago in India. The man was a great robber. However, his name was not famous. No one knew his name because he was a great robber. A real great robber is never known by his name in public, and because he never made mistakes, his name was unknown. At that time, there was also a big Buddhist temple that had a pure golden statue of the Buddha. The man wanted to steal it and he made a plan. One day, he visited the head minister of the temple and said, “Reverend, my wife and my only son died suddenly. I don’t have any courage to live. So, I decided to put myself in to the Buddha’s path. Please take me as your disciple.” Listening to the man, the minister said, “Oh, poor man. Okay, I will take you as my disciple.” After the man became a Buddhist minister, he studied and diligently practiced Buddhism because he wanted to gain the trust of all other minister there. He thought that he would be able to steal the golden statue after every one believed in him. So, he carefully listened to the head minister preach and memorized the sutra and meditated everyday. A few years passed, the man sometimes wondered when the time to steal would come. He thought, No, not yet. I’d better wait a little more. Than, 20 years passed. He finally became the head minister of the temple. People said, “I heard that there is a great minister at the temple. If you listen to his sermon, your problem will be immediately solved.” So, the man did not have to steal the golden statue anymore because the statue was now his. That’s not true. As a matter of fact, the man completely forgot that he became a minister to steal the golden statue. What we should do to become like the Buddha is to act like the Buddha. Even a great robber found his Buddha-nature when he tried to act like the Buddha. As long as we are human beings, we might not be able to become like the Buddha completely. However, we are able to get close to becoming the Buddha. There are 6 paths (????) that we should practice to get close to the Buddha. These are the path of offering (??), the path of keeping precepts (??), the path of endurance (??), the path of endeavor (??), the path of concentration of mind (??) and the path of wisdom (??). By following these paths, we can surely pass from the shore of delusion over to the shore of enlightenment. To put it simple, the path of offering is to have a heart to give kindness to others, the path of keeping precepts is to follow the social rules, the path of endurance is not to become easily angry, the path of endeavor is to live positively, the path of concentrating of mind is to always calm our mind, and the path of wisdom is to think out whenever we do. These 6 practices are very important for Mahayana Buddhists to get close to the Buddha. To practice these 6 paths means to act like the Buddha.

We chant the Odaimoku, NAMU MYOHO RENGE KYO to control our mind to always see the truth and keep walking the Buddha’s path together by acting like the Buddha.