October 2009
Members Observe Week of Prayer for World Peace
The 35th annual Week of Prayer for World Peace (WPWP) was observed around the world October 18-25. Forty-one religious organizations—including Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, and interfaith—took part. Rissho Kosei-kai has participated since 1986.
Rissho Kosei-kai members recited a new prayer each day of the week, which included passages from Dharma talks by the founder and the president. The members recited the prayers at ceremonies in the Great Sacred Hall in Tokyo and at Dharma Centers across Japan, as well as during their daily devotions at home. The week was also an important opportunity for members to reflect on their own thoughts and conduct.
Members of many Dharma Centers throughout the country also attended interfaith prayer meetings. On October 20, the Kanuma Dharma Center in Tochigi Prefecture organized a joint prayer meeting with the temple Rinnoji in the town of Nikko, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Some 121 people, including Rissho Kosei-kai members, took part in a ceremony in the Shiunkaku lecture hall in the temple grounds. A speech by the chief priest of Rinnoji, Rev. Eiko Sugawara, was followed by a prayer and chanting of the Heart of Wisdom Sutra and the Lotus Sutra by all participants, led by the temple's education director, Rev. Ryusen Nemura. Rev. Nemura then delivered a Dharma talk.
On October 23, twenty-six members of the Misaka Ichinomiya Chapter of the Enzan Dharma Center in Yamanashi Prefecture visited Asama Shrine in Fuefuki City and prayed with the priests. After an offering of sacred evergreen branches to the temple's enshrined deities and a prayer, the chief priest, Rev. Shinsho Uematsu, addressed the participants.
The Himeji Dharma Center in Hyogo Prefecture invited local religious leaders to its training hall for an interfaith prayer meeting on October 25. Two hundred five Rissho Kosei-kai members were joined by priests from a Buddhist temple, a Shinto shrine, and a Catholic church in Himeji City. After they all prayed together, an offering was made of lighted candles. Rev. Ludo Goossens of the Catholic Himeji Church; Rev. Kazutoshi Nishimoto, chief priest of Itate Hyozu Shrine; and Rev. Goen Nakayasu, general affairs director of Engyoji temple, addressed the gathering.
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