Being Prayed For Always
Rev. Nichiko Niwano
President of Rissho Kosei-kai

Hands Together in Prayer, the Sign of Wishing for Happiness

When visiting some old or famous temple, we see and are inspired by images of buddhas, bodhisattvas, and historical Buddhist leaders with their hands together in prayer. I see them as reverently praying for us and wishing for our happiness.

There is a statue of the eleven-headed, thousand-armed Kannon enshrined in the Horin-kaku Guest Hall at Rissho Kosei-kai headquarters in Tokyo. The many arms of this Kannon represent the many powers Kannon employs to ease our worries and sufferings.

Among those many arms are a pair with the hands together at the Kannon’s chest level. The bodhisattva Kannon is praying for us in a posture of reverence. In other words, his hands are together in a devout prayer for our happiness.

When I traveled to Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture, I paid my respects at a temple built at the birth site of Ippen, founder of the Ji sect. I prayed before the image of Ippen with his hands together in prayer. With my own hands together, I bowed in prayer before Ippen and when I raised my eyes, I suddenly realized that Ippen also had his hands together and was praying in my direction. My mind instantly became sharply focused again. We receive the gift of life from the one great life-force, invisible to our eyes, and so this life we live is mysterious and precious. When we become aware of the preciousness of the life we have received, we then understand the preciousness of other lives and cannot help but bring our hands together reverently before every type and form of existence.

At that time we are filled with a sense of how precious everything is and of gratitude for everything that happens to us—for being born and for dying as a human being, for sickness and good health, for worry and suffering, and for joy and sadness.

Knowing That Others Are Thinking of Us

Most of us lead our lives surrounded by the affection of other people. Not only those who are close to us, such as parents and family members, friends and acquaintances; but also with the support and encouragement of people we do not keep in mind, such as people we have met only a few times or with whom we once had social exchanges. When we realize this, our hearts are filled with feelings of thankfulness, of the value of life, and of feeling unworthy toward those wondrous connections invisible to the human eye.

When we recognize that we are always being prayed for by the Buddha, and by many people, we can understand how foolish it is to do things such as rashly hurting someone because we are upset or to dispute with someone over a trifling matter. Then we can free ourselves of self-centered, arrogant thoughts and can get along well with everyone.

Founder Niwano said, “The greatest joy in life is to be fully confident that we are given life through the protection of the gods and the buddhas.”

True happiness is to be found by advancing spiritually with peace of mind, knowing that everywhere and always we are being prayed for and protected.

From Kosei January 2004

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