How Can We Help People Grow? 

Raising Children Again!?

Last February, two new disciples joined our temple. Both are women and come from ordinary families. 
Now that my two children have grown into middle school and high school students, I thought that raising children as a single parent had finally settled down. However, it feels as if a new kind of child-raising has begun again. 
People often ask me, “Do your disciples live in the temple?” Certainly, there are perspectives one can only gain by living within the temple, just as the head priest does. However, in an age that values personal privacy, living together can be mentally difficult for both sides. Therefore, we keep our living arrangements and meals separate. The disciples mainly come to the temple on days when there are Buddhist services. On days they spend at home, they devote themselves to practices that can be done at home, such as drafting the monthly manuscript for this bulletin’s Dharma talk. 

The Difficulty of Helping People Grow

In this way, my days of facing the task of “helping people grow” continue as before. Sometimes people ask me, “How can we help people grow?” But through my own experience, I feel every day how difficult it is. 

When it comes to training disciples, there are clear curricula for things such as chanting sutras and putting on and taking off Buddhist robes. Teaching things that have a curriculum is not so difficult, and perhaps even AI could guide them as a teacher. However, the most essential and spiritual aspects—such as the attitude of mind when chanting the Nembutsu—are not easy to pass on. 

Reflecting on my own experience, I feel that my understanding of the true meaning of the Nembutsu teachings came largely from witnessing the sincere way of life of the senior monks I encountered, rather than from the time spent reading texts or being taught at training centers.

Live with a Firm Core in Your Heart

I consider myself fortunate that, having been born and raised in a temple, I had the opportunity to witness firsthand the dedication of senior monks who devoted their lives to spreading the teachings of Buddhism.

I would like to share just one scene that remains vivid in my memory. Venerable KITAGAWA Ichiyu (1925–2022), who served as chief administrator of Chion-in Temple in Kyoto, continued to commute by bullet train between his homes in Tokyo and Kyoto several times a month well into his mid-90s. While those around him were constantly worried, I feel I learned from him that Buddhism holds values worth protecting even at the cost of one’s life.

Of course, if one emphasizes spiritual ideals too strongly when training younger people, it could be taken as harassment in today’s world. Consideration for compliance and privacy is also necessary. However, I learned many things from the example of people who lived with a firm core in their hearts. For that reason, I believe that striving to live in such a way myself will, more than anything else, lead to helping others grow.