I am not sure where everyone is who reads these blogs, and then too not every one reads them on the day they are posted. Sometimes they may be read much later by people new to my blog. Nonetheless this is definitely a winter of 2014 blog post. Tomorrow in the Carolinas and much of the South of the US we are expecting yet another icy artic blast. This time however besides the cold weather we are expecting snow along with it.
In the past several years snow here has been a rare occurrence. When I moved to Charlotte in 1991 for several years it snowed sometimes three or four times a year. There was an elderly lady who lived next door who said that when she was younger it would snow many times a year and several inches at a time. For our readers in the Midwest and Northeast they too have had some extreme conditions this year.
I myself love snow and wished I could live someplace where it snowed a lot, but for now I am here and so I celebrate what we do get. I thought for the blog post today I would share a quote from one of Nichiren’s writings, which might offer us something to reflect upon. It might help to put some things in perspective for us. I hope you enjoy.
“On the 17th day of the 6th month of the 11th year of Bun’ei (1274), we built a makeshift hermitage by cutting down several trees in this mountain. But after 4 years, the pillars decayed and some of the mud walls fell. Because they were not repaired, the condition of the hermitage reached such a pathetic state that we are able to read the sacred teaching at night with only the light of the moon and we do not need to use our hand to turn the pages of the sutra as they are turned by the wind. Finally this year, all 12 pillars have leaned out into the four directions and all the walls have fallen.
We sentient beings, are not able to bear such hardships. We pray that the moon will appear and that there will be no rain, and I forced my students to work hard because no laborers are available here. In addition, we do not have enough food, and have stayed alive by eating snow. In such a situation, we are so grateful to you Lord Ueno, for sending us two loads of taros last time and one load this time. We treasure them as being more precious than jewels.” Ajichi Shufuku-sho, Nichiren Shonin from Writings of Nichiren Shonin Vol. 5 p113
