Urashiro Nobeoka, a Progressive City in Japan - English Classes: Tel: 0982-34-5666 - Howard Ahner

Clear Sake Gosho
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Zaikouji Youchein, Hyuga January 22, 2009
"Earthly desires are enlightenment; the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana."
August 2008 Videos
Takoyaki Stand in Kadogawa Town has been closed down.
Double Decker Gasoline Stand in Japan Still Exist in Nobeoka
You can gamble on the horses in Kadogawa at a Keirin place in Kadogawa Cho.
Nobeoka Salmon is Delicious!
How does one process one's rice in Japan?
A Typical Bus Stop in Totoro Town, Nobeoka, Japan
Nobeoka Strawberries
The Kadogawa Homewide used to be on this location. Now there is a Lawson Convenience Store
A Good Friend
Kobato in February, 2008
We went shopping at Point Peg in Nobeoka City, Miyazaki
We seldom go to this Joyfull Restaurant in Idekita, Nobeoka City, Miyazaki Ken
Here's a walk-over bridge in Nobeoka City, Japan
Here's the Joyfull Restaurant near the road to Takachiho in Nobeoka.
Let's study at Sazanpia, Nobeoka.
There's an Okonomiyaki restaurant over there that I like very much. It's in Nobeoka.
This used to be the "Anne's House" of Nobeoka. Do you know the one on Beach Blvd in Buena Park, CA?
Here's the only Surfer's Shop in Nobeoka.
This Nishi No Maru Pachinko Parlor in Nobeoka is still closed.
And, yes, they even have a Colonel Sander's in Nobeoka.
This is perhaps the bussiest Pachinko Parlor in Nobeoka City.
Gasoline is going down in price. It's now 93 yen a liter. A liter is about a quart, I believe.
Some of you old timers may remember the motorcycle hanging from that yard arm over there.
I am still living easy in the city of Nobeoka, Japan.
The old Chalon Restaurant has been turned into a "rotary sushi bar".
At this Pachinko Parlor, the steel balls now cost 1 yen each. They used to cost 3 yen each.
And, we do have a Mr. Donut here in Nobeoka. We are not barbarians, you know.
In Nobeoka, we even have a Baskin Robin's - 31 Flavors ice cream parlor.
Moss Burger is the closest thing to a good hamburger joint one can find in Nobeoka City, Miyazaki
Old Ahner Family Pictures
Mondays at 5:30 pm at the Ahner House in Tsurugaoka, Nobeoka for English Classes
Urashiro Excursion on February 20, 2008 (My Birthday!)
Old Nobeoka
Granite City, Illinois
Hitting Home Runs
The Embankments of Faith
A Father Takes Faith
A Sage Perceives the Three Existences of Life
A Ship to Cross the Sea of Suffering
A Warning against Begrudging One's Fief
An Outline of the Zokurui and Other Chapters
Aspiration for the Buddha Land
Banishment to Sado
Beneficial Medicine for All Ills
Bestowal of the Mandala of the Mystic Law
Bodhisattva Hachiman
Clear Sake Gosho
Urashiro Link
A & A Hotel has been replaced by Urban Hotel in Nobeoka

Clear Sake Gosho

I have received all your gifts: one container of clear sake, ten metal pouring pots, one hundred steamed rice cakes, one bucket containing perhaps two sho of syrup, a basket of koji oranges and ten skewers of dried persimmons. I have read your message that your joy at the beginning of spring has unfolded like the cherry blossoms and waxed full like the moon.

Your late son Goro comes inevitably to mind. The blossoms that once fell are about to bloom again, and the withered grasses have begun to sprout anew. Why does the late Goro not return as well? Ah, if he were to come back with the evanescent flowers and grasses, then even though we are not Hitomaro, we would wait by the blossoms; even though we are not tethered steeds, we would never leave the grass!

A certain sutra passage says that children are one’s enemies. Perhaps there is reason for this. The bird known as the owl devours its mother, and the beast called hakei destroys its father. A man called An Lu-shan was killed by his son, Shih Shih-ming, and the warrior Yoshitomo killed his father, Tameyoshi. Thus the sutra has grounds for saying that children are one’s enemies.

Another sutra passage says that children are a treasure. King Myoshogon was destined, after his life had ended, to fall into the hell called the great citadel of incessant suffering, but he was saved by his son, the crown prince Jozo. Not only was he able to escape the sufferings of that great hell, but he became a Buddha called Sal Tree King. A woman called Shodai-nyo, for the faults of greed and stinginess, was confined in the realm of hungry spirits, but she was saved by her son Maudgalyayana and was freed from that realm. Thus the sutra’s statement that children are a treasure is in no way false.

The late Goro was sixteen years old. Not only did he surpass others in his disposition and good looks, but he was fully endowed with a man’s strengths and was praised by all. Moreover, his obedience to his parent’s will was like water taking the shape of its container or a shadow following a body. You relied upon him as the pillar of your household; you thought of him as your staff upon the road. All the wealth in your family coffers existed for this child; so did the family retainers. You must have been firmly convinced that, when you died, you would be carried by him on his back to the graveyard, and that there would be nothing left for you to worry about. But lamentably, he has preceded you in death. "Why, why did this happen? It must be a dream, an illusion! I will wake up, I will wake up!" you must have thought. But without your having awakened, already one year has given way to the next. You do not know how long you will have to wait.  You must feel that, if only he had left word where you could go and meet him, then without wings, you would soar to the heavens, or without a boat, you would cross over to China. If you heard he was in the bowels of the earth, then how could you fail to dig into the ground?

And yet there is a way to meet him readily. With Shakyamuni Buddha as your guide, you can go to meet him in the pure land of Eagle Peak. The sutra states, "If there are those who hear the Law, then not a one will fail to attain Buddhahood." This means that even if one were to point at the earth and miss it, even if the sun and moon should fall to the ground, even if an age should come when the tides cease to ebb and flow, or even if flowers should not turn to fruit in summer, it could never happen that a woman who chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo would fail to be reunited with her beloved child. Continue in your devotion to faith and bring this about quickly!

With my deep respect,
Nichiren

The thirteenth day of the first month

Reply to Ueno-ama Gozen

  

I chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

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https://urashiro-nobeoka.tripod.com/id34.html

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...we made it to Shima No Ura, Nobeoka...

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...in fact, I did hit a grand slam while playing for the Giants in Little Leage, Santa Ana, CA...

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Come and study English with us! Tel: 0982-34-5666 in Nobeoka...

I chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo