2021-06-05
功徳を積む生き方
「功徳」とは、国語辞典に「神仏からよい報いを与えられるような、よい行い」とあります。
さまざまなことが功徳になります。たとえば布施がそうです。布施は金銭とは限りません。お野菜やお米の提供、あるいは仏具や堂宇の寄進なども布施です。また、人と笑顔で接すること（顔施）や、思いやりのあることばで人と話すこと（言施）も布施で、功徳を積むことができます。
お寺参りやお墓参り、法話を聞くこと、一周忌や七回忌などの年回法要を営むこと。さらには、日常の勤行、写経や写仏なども該当します。佛餉(ぶっしょう)をお供えすること、おてらおやつクラブにお菓子などを提供することもそうです。
宗教的な活動でなくても、ボランティア活動に参加したり、公共の場の清掃をすること、さまざまな寄付行為など、見返りを求めず世の中に尽くすことでも功徳を積むことができます。
すべてをお金に換算し、金額に見合う対価を求めることがあたりまえの世知辛(せちがら)い世の中だからこそ、お寺は皆様が功徳を積み、仏さまからよい報いをいただけるお手伝いをしたいと思っています。
合掌
A Way of Living that Accumulate Merits and Virtue
The word kudoku (功徳,),"merit and virtue" is defined in the Japanese dictionary as "good deeds that will be rewarded by the (Shinto) gods and Buddhas.”
Various things can be kudoku. Fuse (布施), charitable donation is one example. Fuse does not necessarily mean money. Offering vegetables, rice, and other crops, or donating altar elements or temple buildings are also fuse. Ganse (眼施), meeting people with gentle smiles and gonse (言施), talking to others with compassion can accumulate merit and virtue.
Visiting temples and graves, listening to Dharma talks, and holding annual memorial services such as the first and seventh anniversaries of the dead are also kudoku. Daily chanting of Buddhist sutras, and Nenbutsu, offering food and sweets for the Temple Treats Club* also fall under this category.
It doesn’t have to be a religious activity, either. We can accumulate merit and virtue by participating in volunteer activities, such as cleaning up public places and serving food to those in need. Any service done for the public with a pure heart, without asking for anything in return will do.
Today everything seems to be valued in terms of money, where people take it for granted to do or ask for anything based on its market rate. Temples should not be influenced by such trends. Temples should assist people to accumulate merit and virtue, thereby, receiving good rewards from the gods and Buddhas.
* Temple Treats Club (Otera Oyatsu Kurabu)
Oyatsu literally means afternoon snacks. The OOC was started by a group of Jyodo-sect monks in 2013 to share the extra food temples receive from supporters with families in need.
The word kudoku (功徳,),"merit and virtue" is defined in the Japanese dictionary as "good deeds that will be rewarded by the (Shinto) gods and Buddhas.”
Various things can be kudoku. Fuse (布施), charitable donation is one example. Fuse does not necessarily mean money. Offering vegetables, rice, and other crops, or donating altar elements or temple buildings are also fuse. Ganse (眼施), meeting people with gentle smiles and gonse (言施), talking to others with compassion can accumulate merit and virtue.
Visiting temples and graves, listening to Dharma talks, and holding annual memorial services such as the first and seventh anniversaries of the dead are also kudoku. Daily chanting of Buddhist sutras, and Nenbutsu, offering food and sweets for the Temple Treats Club* also fall under this category.
It doesn’t have to be a religious activity, either. We can accumulate merit and virtue by participating in volunteer activities, such as cleaning up public places and serving food to those in need. Any service done for the public with a pure heart, without asking for anything in return will do.
Today everything seems to be valued in terms of money, where people take it for granted to do or ask for anything based on its market rate. Temples should not be influenced by such trends. Temples should assist people to accumulate merit and virtue, thereby, receiving good rewards from the gods and Buddhas.
* Temple Treats Club (Otera Oyatsu Kurabu)
Oyatsu literally means afternoon snacks. The OOC was started by a group of Jyodo-sect monks in 2013 to share the extra food temples receive from supporters with families in need.