We would like to report that we held our sutra copying event in March.
This month, 13 people participated, including many who attended for the first time.
Now, in the sermon given before the copying of sutras, the head priest spoke about the "goodness of miscellaneous poisons."
The poison in "Zatsudoku" refers to the three poisons of Buddhism: greed, anger, and foolishness. In other words, "Zatsudoku no virtuous" refers to good deeds that are done out of consideration for the opinions of others and with an awareness of honor and profit.
When we try to do good deeds, are there no evil thoughts in them?
Or, even if you start out doing good deeds, at some point you may become conscious of what others think and your goal may become to be praised or appreciated.
Since we humans are imperfect creatures, these evil thoughts will never go away.
At the sutra copying session, the chief priest stated that he himself is constantly plagued by these evil thoughts, and he spoke about how the important thing is not to be distracted by the evil thoughts of others, but to simply face oneself and approach things with as sincere a heart as possible.
Before and after copying the sutra, everyone recited the Ten Nembutsu together, which seemed to calm their minds and help them concentrate on copying the sutra.
At Shokoji Temple, we hold a sutra copying event on the first Sunday of every month. Anyone is welcome to join, so please feel free to come along. The next event is scheduled for April 8th.
We will provide further information as the date approaches. It is still cold, so please take care of yourself.
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