Religion is life
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Sawaki Rôshi:
The most important question of religion has to be how we live our own lives.
Uchiyama Rôshi:
One of the mysteries of 20th century Japan is that although murder and crime and erotic scenes are allowed on television and kids run into posters showing nude girls on the street - and nobody is worried about that - at the same time it is forbidden by law to teach religion in schools.
Maybe the reason is that people think that religion means the established sects, or superstition, or fanaticism. It is certainly true that if you confront an innocent child with one-sided doctrines, superstition or fanaticism, it will lead to great problems. Therefore one might say that it is a matter of course that the state prohibits that.
But, on the other hand, when we realize that religion means to teach that which is most important in our lives, we have to be worried about the next generation that grows up in a society without any religious education, but is confronted with nudity and violence all day long. If things continue like this, we will face kids becoming ever more violent and destructive.
I hope that the time for religion being taught at schools as "the most important thing in life" will soon come.
Sawaki Rôshi:
Religion means to be not fooled by anything, to live one's life completely anew.
Religion must not be a word. Religion is life, religion must be living activity. Worshipping the sutras alone is not enough. Religion has to manifest freely in all activities of life, in all directions, every time, everywhere.
