Published On:Thursday 23 October 2014
Posted by Celebrate Life Style information Blog
Let yourself become a light for peace
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| The sun sets beyond the San Jacinto Mountains on Saturday, June 29, 2013. (Photo: Denise Goolsby/The Desert Sun |
The first ceremony was conducted in the Andes Mountains in South America on Sept. 14. This service was shared with the native indigenous people of Peru and the Shinnyo Buddhist staff. It was a successful step forward to extend the awakening power of Shinnyo to all sentient beings. The term shinnyo is known as unchanging truth or true reality.
We chant Namu Shinnyo to be one
with the true self. Her Holiness Shinso Ito, head priest of Shinnyo-en,
officiated the service in harmony with nature and the native spiritual
traditions rooted there. The term Saisho used in Saisho Homa is the spiritual liberating
force that is a result of the Shinnyo Esoteric Rite and the merit extended by
the Shinnyo Ever Present Buddhas. The service strengthens one’s prayer and
meditation to continue training and working to guide others altruistically to
the state of Permanence, Bliss, True Self and Purity.
The theme for the Autumn Higan
Equinox Service performed on Sept. 20 at the Shinnyo-en New York temple was “Be
a light for peace.” This service helps people eliminate delusions and attain
enlightenment.
Founder and Master Shinjo Ito
thought that the path lies in eliminating self-centered desires and make
efforts towards Nirvana that Buddhas point to and illuminate.
Our wisdom comes from practicing
and living in a pure land of joy in this very world supported by Buddhas. At
this Spiritual Consolation Service, the officiating priest invites spirits to
the sacred altar and the merit of Shinnyo is received and transferred and the
wondrous state of Great Nirvana is shared by all bringing boundless acts of
merit through paramita practice to fruition.
On Sept. 21 thousands of people
gathered at New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Lantern Floating for Peace.
People wrote personal messages and prayers of remembrance. Beautiful
multicolored lit lanterns floated in the water while performances of music,
dance, singing and prayers were offered by her Holiness Shinso Ito on this day
observed by the United Nations as International Day for World Peace.
This celebration gave people hope
that we can all be a light for peace and with one heart build a world of
friendship.
Pete Carlson is a Shinnyo
Buddhist and Mid Valley Interfaith member.
