![OgazawariAltar](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/OgazawariAltar.jpg)
is a
Buddhist liturgy
Buddhist liturgy is a formalized service of veneration and worship performed within a Buddhist Sangha community in nearly every traditional denomination and sect in the Buddhist world. It is often done one or more times a day and can vary among ...
service conducted in
Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism
Nichiren (16 February 1222 – 13 October 1282) was a Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher of the Kamakura period.
Nichiren declared that the Lotus Sutra alone contains the highest truth of Buddhist teachings suited for the Third Age of ...
. The service is traditionally held at 2:30 AM at the
Kyakuden building of
Taisekiji
, more commonly just , informally known as , is the administrative center of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism. It is located in the foothills of Mount Fuji in Kamijo, Fujinomiya, Shizuoka, Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
Taiseki-ji was founded i ...
Head Temple, located within the lower slopes of Mount Fuji, Japan.
It is the morning prayer service which is indirectly offered to the
Dai Gohonzon
The Dai Gohonzon of the High Sanctuary of the Essential Teachings, commonly known as the Dai Gohonzon (Japanese: 大 御 本 尊 ''The Supreme (Great) Gohonzon'' or Honmon—Kaidan—no—Dai—Gohonzon, Japanese: 本 門 戒 壇 の 大 御 本 ...
image, approximately one mile away from a distance area in accordance to the sect and beliefs of wide propagation. The Buddhist sect claims that the reputed ceremony has been rigidly observed for over 700 years without fail, since the death anniversary of
Nikko Shonin Nikko may refer to:
Places
* Nikkō, Tochigi, a Japanese city and tourist destination
* Nikko Botanical Garden, operated by the University of Tokyo
* Nikkō National Park, in Kantō, Japan
Organizations, products, and services
* ''Nikkō'' ...
on 7 February 1333.
Overview
![Chinese Zodiac carvings on ceiling of Kushida Shrine, Fukuoka](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Chinese_Zodiac_carvings_on_ceiling_of_Kushida_Shrine%2C_Fukuoka.jpg)
Among Nichiren Shoshu believers, several pious customs and folk beliefs are often associated with the reputedly auspicious hours of the daylight prayer service:
* The hours mark the transitional time range when
Shakyamuni Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
entered the state of
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
under the
Bodhi tree.
* Pious beliefs which claim that between these auspicious hours are when Buddhas are said to gain Buddhahood.
* Nichiren was persecuted between these hours, proving his "true nature" as the "True Buddha" in the Three Ages of Buddhism, when the Buddhist gods, sometimes disguised as Shinto gods of
Honji suijaku
The term in Japanese religious terminology refers to a theory widely accepted until the Meiji period according to which Indian Buddhist deities choose to appear in Japan as native ''kami'' to more easily convert and save the Japanese.Breen and Te ...
(Japanese: ) are reputedly came to his aid and rescue.
* Nichiren as the identity of True Buddha (Japanese: Hombutsu) and the passing of Shakyamuni Buddha transitioned within these auspicious hours said to have occurred in the Buddhist mountain of Vulture Peak, from 15 February (Shakyamuni's entrance into Nirvana) and 16 February (Nichiren's rebirth into the Saha world (Sanskrit: Manusyalokha / Japanese: Nin)
* A pious Buddhist tradition alleged to be from the early Sangha of Shakyamuni Buddha claims that he preached the
Lotus Sutra
The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...
and the
Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra
The ''Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra'' (or ''Infinite Life Sutra'', Chinese: ''Fóshuōwúliàngshòujīng'' 佛說無量壽經; Vietnamese: Phật Thuyết Kinh Vô Lượng Thọ; Japanese: Taisho Tripitaka # 360) is one of the two Indian ...
during these hours in the holy city of
Rajgir
Rajgir, meaning "The City of Kings," is a historic town in the district of Nalanda in Bihar, India. As the ancient seat and capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty and the Mauryan Empire, as well as the d ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
* A pious legend / custom which claims that the former steward of Mount Minobu, Hagiri Sanenaga, once prayed to Nichiren during these hours for protection, thereby carrying the pious tradition when Nikko Shonin moved to the land property of Nanjo Tokimitsu (Present-day Taisekiji).
The service is officiated by the High Priest of Nichiren Shoshu, or his proxy senior priest if he is unable to attend for varying reasons such as travel, preoccupation or illness. It is one of the first duties of the High Priest, who begins his official duties at midnight. The High Priest takes on a specialized seat called Mokushiza, held to be reserved for the position of third High Priest
Nichimoku
, Buddhist name: ''Niidakyo Ajari Nichimoku'', was a junior disciple of Nichiren who sided with Nikkō Shōnin after Nichiren's death. Nikkō Shōnin later appointed Nichimoku as his successor as Head Priest (''Kancho'') of Taiseki-ji temple.
...
Shonin, who is piously believed to return someday from the state of Nirvana in a future rebirth to usher the conversion of the Emperor of Japan and the full propagation of Nichiren Shoshu to the world (Japanese:
Kosen Rufu). The sect also maintains that it has never broken this ceremonial service of obligation since 10 November 1332, the day that Nikko Shonin passed his priestly successorship to the third High Priest, Nichimoku Shonin, and four months later was fully refined and institutionalized on 6 February 1333.
After the service, the High Priest then makes his second duty to attend and supervise another Gongyo liturgy by younger priests in training in an ancient building next door called the Mutsubo, where another Gohonzon transcribed by Nikko Shonin is enshrined. Younger priests take a monthly rotation to attend this required service once per week, as part of their priestly training until their full graduation as trainees.
Description
The ceremonial service is named denoting the
traditionalist Japanese time system between the Chinese Zodiac signs of Oxen (Japanese: Ushi) and Tiger (Japanese: Tora), translated into the Western time format between 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM. The timing is also relevant to the belief that such hours are said to represent the Buddhist beliefs on fusion of objective reality and subjective wisdom, (Japanese: Kyochi Myogo) light and darkness and the primeval forces of Yin and Yang. In addition, pious beliefs also claim that the timing serves as the most auspicious hour to invoke the Buddhist gods called Shoten Zenjin who are claimed to serve and protect the believers from negative functions that seek to obstruct their karmic fortune and Buddhahood.
The service takes place in the second floor of the Kyakuden building where they face the Ozagawari "Joza" Gohonzon transcribed by Nikko Shonin in honor of the peasant martyr Jinshiro, dating from 8 April 1308, along with grand wooden statues of Nichiren and his secretary Nikko Shonin which represents the three jewels of Buddhism as taught by the sect. This particular Gohonzon commemorates the fourteen years of passing by the persecution of Hokkeko believers by the mercenary Hei No Saimon Yoritsuna, who persecuted Nichiren's peasant disciples in the Atsuhara region in the year 1279.
Customarily, Taiko drums are beaten very loudly to awaken the solemn atmosphere. Afterwards, the High Priest is ushered by six children priests who carry six "Chouchin" lanterns (marked with the words "So–hon–zan"; ; English: Headquarters) illuminating his walkway by his side. A specialized transparent window called "Yohaijo" looking into the Hoando storage where the Dai Gohonzon is enshrined is visible, where the High Priest later moves to give a shortened lecture or words of encouragement as part of the culmination of service.
![Tennin (Japanese angel)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Tennin_%28Japanese_angel%29.jpg)
In addition, the High Priest sits on a Vertical position facing East; representing the lineage of Nichiren to Nikko Shonin, while the believers sit in a Horizontal position facing North, denoting the crosslining intersection taught to be the essence of heritage of the priesthood and believers in perfect unison and harmony (Japanese: Itai Doshin).
Contrary to popular belief, the service qualifies as a morning Gongyo format that is required for believers, and a repeated Gongyo during latter daytime often marks confusion as a doubled service. However, the sect teaches that only the High Priest himself may officiate the Ushitora Gongyo in its specific format, including its elongated "Hiki Daimoku" which is pronounced for each deceased High Priest of the Head Temple.
Sometime in the 1970s, the service was conducted at the western hours of 12:00 AM midnight to 1:00 AM at the request of Soka Gakkai. After its expulsion in 1991 due to doctrinal conflicts and claims of growing heresy, the 67th High Priest Nikken Shonin restored its original 2:30 AM traditional time slot in a concerted effort to restore the Head Temple to its more orthodox practices.
In film
A scene of the Ushitora Gongyo is featured in the original, unedited version of the 1976
Soka Gakkai
is a Japanese Buddhist religious movement based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese priest Nichiren as taught by its first three presidents Tsunesaburō Makiguchi, Jōsei Toda, and Daisaku Ikeda. It is the largest of the Japanese ...
film ''"Zoku Ningen Kakumei" '' (English: Human Revolution). The fictionalized film re-dramatizes the first honorary President
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi and his religious conversion to the sect of Nichiren Shoshu during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The officiating abbot portraying in the film during the nocturnal ceremony was represented to be 60th High Priest Nichikai Shonin, the ancestral father of 67th High Priest
Abe Nikken Shonin, who consequently expelled the Soka Gakkai on 28 November 1991.
[Zoku Ningen Kakumei (19 June 1976) — Soka Gakkai — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164237/>]
References
{{Reflist
Nichiren Buddhism