Ushitora Gongyo
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Ushitora Gongyo (丑寅勤行, Ox-Tiger Persevering Practice) is a Buddhist liturgy service conducted in Nichiren Shōshū Buddhism. The service is traditionally held at 2:30 AM at the Kyakuden building of Taisekiji Head Temple, located within the lower slopes of Mount Fuji, Japan.
It is the morning prayer service which is indirectly offered to the Dai Gohonzon image, approximately one mile away from a distance area in accordance to the sect and beliefs of wide propagation. The Buddhist sect claims that the reputed ceremony has been rigidly observed for over 700 years without fail, since the death anniversary of Nikkō Shōnin on 7 February 1333.[1][2]
Among Nichiren Shōshū believers, several pious customs and folk beliefs are often associated with the reputedly auspicious hours of the daylight prayer service:[3]
- The hours mark the transitional time range when Shakyamuni Buddha entered the state of Nirvana under the Bodhi tree.
- Pious beliefs which claim that between these auspicious hours are when Buddhas are said to gain Buddhahood.
- Nichiren was persecuted between these hours, proving his "true nature" as the "True Buddha" in the Three Ages of Buddhism, when the Buddhist gods, sometimes disguised as Shinto gods of Honji suijaku (Japanese: 本地垂迹) are reputedly came to his aid and rescue.
- Nichiren as the identity of True Buddha (Japanese: Hombutsu) and the passing of Shakyamuni Buddha transitioned within these auspicious hours said to have occurred in the Buddhist mountain of Vulture Peak, from 15 February (Shakyamuni's entrance into Nirvana) and 16 February (Nichiren's rebirth into the Saha world (Sanskrit: Manusyalokha / Japanese: Nin)
- A pious Buddhist tradition alleged to be from the early Sangha of Shakyamuni Buddha claims that he preached the Lotus Sutra and the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra during these hours in the holy city of Rajgir, India.
- A pious legend / custom which claims that the former steward of Mount Minobu, Hagiri Sanenaga, once prayed to Nichiren during these hours for protection, thereby carrying the pious tradition when Nikkō Shōnin moved to the land property of Nanjo Tokimitsu (Present-day Taisekiji).
The service is officiated by the High Priest of Nichiren Shōshū, or his proxy senior priest if he is unable to attend for varying reasons such as travel, preoccupation or illness. It is one of the first duties of the High Priest, who begins his official duties at midnight. The High Priest takes on a specialized seat called Mokushiza, held to be reserved for the position of third High Priest Nichimoku Shonin, who is piously believed to return someday from the state of Nirvana in a future rebirth to usher the conversion of the Emperor of Japan and the full propagation of Nichiren Shōshū to the world (Japanese: Kosen Rufu). The sect also maintains that it has never broken this ceremonial service of obligation since 10 November 1332, the day that Nikkō Shōnin passed his priestly successorship to the third High Priest, Nichimoku Shonin, and four months later was fully refined and institutionalized on 6 February 1333.[4]
After the service, the High Priest then makes his second duty to attend and supervise another Gongyo liturgy by younger priests in training in an ancient building next door called the Mutsubo, where another Gohonzon transcribed by Nikkō Shōnin is enshrined. Younger priests take a monthly rotation to attend this required service once per week, as part of their priestly training until their full graduation as trainees.
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