My grandmother was a devout Buddhist and a member of Soka Gakkai International in Hawaii. When I was young, I spent a lot of time with her, and she often told me the reason she prayed was so that good things would happen for her family and that all of our hardships or sufferings would go away. I never really understood the practice of “religion.” Hardship and suffering happen whether or not you are a devotee. Good things also happen to everybody. Nothing about religion made a

I firmly believed, as taught in chapter 10 of the Lotus Sutra, that I was born into this world to serve as an emissary of the Buddha for the purpose of guiding others to awaken to their buddha-nature.  It was my life mission. I had been studying zoology at the University of Texas and working in the veterinary field. However, it had always been clear to me that I was going to ultimately enter Rissho Kosei-kai’s Gakurin seminary in Tokyo in hopes of becoming a Buddhist minister

As a yoga teacher myself, I was also interested in Buddhism, so I visited the center. The chapter leader, Mrs. Kayo Murakami, and the members warmly welcomed me. Every time I visited, I enjoyed the solemn and calming ritual. I felt my heart being purified in the sutra recitation. “To ever dwell in the city of nirvana, / And to be peaceful with a clear heart, / You must recite the Great Vehicle sutras / And bring the mother of bodhisattvas to mind.”

by Mr. Masayoshi Imura New York Dharma Center, USA   Mr. Masayoshi Imura This spiritual journey was delivered during the   Ceremony of...

I was born fifty-five years ago—the moment I opened my eyes, I was already a Rissho Kosei-kai member, and three generations of my family were already actively participating in spreading the Dharma in Hawaii. Looking back, I had a great childhood, attending the Dharma center and visiting the airport to greet guests from Japan and the neighboring Hawaiian islands. However, at the time, I didn’t appreciate my family’s dedication to the Buddha.