No. 631
“Of all that you have done there is nothing that will be of no avail.” Head Priest of Kyoganji Temple
人生に無駄なことは、ひとつもありません。 （教願寺様）
No. 632
“It was extremely hard for me to meet my child face to face. Although at the meeting I felt as though I were in hell, illumined by the words of my Dharma friends who were also present, I was awakened to the reality of my trouble and realized that the problem was all of my own making.” Spoken at a meeting to read a Buddhist text.
我が子と向き合うことは苦しく、本当に地獄のようでしたが、傍におられたお同行のお姿によって、私の姿が照らし出され、「これは私一人の問題であった」と、立ち返られました。 （輪読会にて）
No. 633
“Education without religion spawns clever demons.” A quotation by the former Head Priest of Higashi Honganji Temple, from Kōnyo Shonin’s posthumous work, ‘Entrust Yourself to Amida!’
宗教なき教育は、賢き鬼をつくる。 （本山 東本願寺 前門様 御遺著『〈弥陀〉をたのめ』より）
No. 634
“‘ I’m delighted to hear you are so happy in your job. But never forget that in personal gain there is always the risk of harming others’. It was a measure of his love and kindness that the Director imparted to me advice of such vital spiritual importance.” From a recent letter sent by a young man who stayed with us at Three Wheels nine years ago.
「仕事の上首尾は何より。でも、傷ついている人のことを忘れてはいけませんよ」とのアドバイスは、正に慈言でした。 （ロンドン三輪精舎を九年ぶりに訪れた青年の御礼状から）
No. 635
“When they built the Catholic Church near Shogyoji Temple, Venerable Reion Takehara, the thirteenth Head Priest of the temple, gave them a pair of rice cakes, one red and the other white, by way of congratulations.” Senior priest at a daily Dharma-meeting after the morning’s service.
かつてお寺の近くに、カトリックのキリスト教会が建った時、当寺先々代・大行院様は、お祝いに紅白の餅を贈られたという。 （朝の会座にて、寺内止住の老僧分）
No. 636
“When my sister was terminally ill she was able to come into direct contact with the Buddha thanks to the teaching of the nembutsu.” Spoken by a middle aged man from Osaka uttering a brief greeting on the occasion of the seventeenth anniversary of his younger sister’s death.
病の妹は、佛様と直結していました。 （妹さんの十七回忌を迎える大阪の壮年お同行）
No. 637
“Being moved to your very core opens up a world where you yourself can hear the voice that calls you.” Words of a professor in the field of Shin Buddhist history speaking at the 51st Summer Training Assembly.
感動する心、そこに聞こえる世界は開かれる。 （第五十一回青少年夏季錬成会にて）
No. 638
“The pain of parting is such that it leads us to seek the true way of living.” Spoken at the 51st Summer Training Assembly by a professor in the field of Confucianism.
別れの辛さは、本当の生き方を教える。 （第五十一回青少年夏季錬成会にて）
No. 639
“It is not so much that your past conditions your future but that what you do in the future conditions what you have done in the past”. Young priest speaking at the Hoonko ceremony.
これまでがこれからを決定するのではなく、これからがこれまでを決定する。 （報恩講にて）
No. 640
“Before the ceremony began I imagined it would be very dark in the Main Buddha Hall once all the lights were off and there remained only the dim flame of the candles. The moment I took my seat before all the Dharma friends to read out the sacred document, however, I felt as though the entire surroundings had suddenly become suffused with light”. Words of a young priest who read the Godensho (Life of Shinran Shonin) at the Hoonko ceremony.
ご本堂は、照明が全て消され、蝋燭の微かな灯りだけで、真っ暗だと思っていました。でも、お同行の皆様に囲まれ、拝読の座に座らせて頂いた瞬間、一斉に明るくなったように感じられました。 （報恩講『御傳鈔』の拝読者）