During the Rev. Shingaku Kato’s first visit to New Orleans, he performed an initiation ceremony for a new member and spoke of the importance of propagating faith to family.

Kato traveled from Chicago, where he is the chief priest of the Nichiren Shoshu Myogyoji Temple, to stay in New Orleans from Feb. 17 to Feb. 21, in order to practice with members and conduct personal visits with them in their homes. Practice consists of chanting the sacred words nam-myoho-renge-kyo towards the gohonzon, a scroll modeled after founder Nichiren Daishonin’s inscription of his enlightened life, as well as reciting the Gongyo, specific chapters from the Lotus Sutra that Shakyamuni Buddha claimed as his highest teaching.

On Feb. 21, members gathered in a home with Kato for practice, a general meeting and the performance of a gojukai ceremony. The gojukai ceremony initiates one as an official member of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism once they show sincere belief in Daishonin’s belief and a commitment to practice and preserve the gohonzon.

After the ceremony, Kato started their general meeting and lectured New Orleans members about the importance of performing shakubuku, which means to teach and communicate Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism to others, in hopes that they take faith in the religion. Nurse June Smith successfully performed shakubuku on her daughter Sydney Smith, 14, who was initiated as an official member of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism in the New Orleans area, after Kato performed the gojukai ceremony on her.

Smith has been practicing for about 20 years, and she said that her shakubuku process on her daughter consisted of Sydney coming into the room, when Smith would chant to her gohonzon during the evenings.

“She didn’t ask any questions really,” Smith said. “She’d just kind
of listen.”

One day Smith proposed Sydney to attend meetings with her. She was shy about it, but she agreed.

“My favorite aspect of the Daishonin’s faith is how I feel after attending meetings and chanting,” Sydney said. “I feel very uplifted and happy.”

Sydney said that she expects to have a deeper connection with the gohonzon now that she has taken part in the gojukai ceremony. Kato explained in the general meeting that through practice one will obtain the power of the gohonzon and then receive benefit in their lives, but they should also try and share their happiness and fortune with others by encouraging them to practice.

“You should not practice alone,” Kato said.

International shipping businessman Tim O’Hara said that although he’d had trouble doing shakubuku on his family members, he could understand why Kato stressed addressing family first and foremost. Kato sees woven threads of ancestry as highly important.

“The threads of your family and your heritage and just the parts of this mystical law that surrounds us are the reason that you want to do shakabuku with your family,” O’Hara said. “Because you’re riding this crest through time and through space.”

In making a conscious decision not to lecture his children about his religion as they were growing up, O’Hara knows how it can seem more difficult to shakubuku your friends and neighbors, rather than your family. He still relays to his children the benefits of chanting nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

“I add it to the conversation these days, regularly,” O’Hara said.

Leslie Rowland, retired petroleum land manager, offered insight into performing shakubuku.

“It has nothing to do with people being able to say words,” Rowland said.

According to Rowland, chanting is one of the best practices one can do to change their own inner nature, before propagating Buddhism.

“It’s being able to have such a life condition that shows that your inner being is content and is self-worthy; people on an instinctual level will pick that up,” Rowland said.

In sharing their happiness and creation of good fortune with others, Kato said that members will be upholding their karmic responsibility. Kato instructed the New Orleans area coordinator of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, Scott Hanthorn, to find ways to better communicate with the Chicago temple, so that New Orleans members can hear Kato’s guidance.