Good morning, everyone. A Happy New Year! Welcome to the New Year’s Day Service here at the Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin.

On behalf of the ministers and members of the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, I would like to extend my heartfelt New Year’s greetings to all of you. I hope that this morning—the very first day of the year 2026—has brought peace and happiness to you, your families, and your friends. May this year bring joy, comfort, and gratitude to all of us, and to people everywhere around the world.

This morning, I feel especially happy and grateful that once again I am able to begin the New Year together with my family and with all of you. How fortunate we are to start the year with our hands together in gassho, standing before the Buddha of Immeasurable Light and Life, Amida Buddha.

A couple of years ago, our Gomonshu shared the following words in his New Year’s Day message, and I quote:

“We can rely on the Jodo Shinshu teaching clarified by Shinran Shonin, which guides us as a spiritual foundation that enables us to move forward even when being overwhelmed with difficulties. A gathering at the temple with Amida Buddha as its center provides a great opportunity to receive the Dharma as well as an occasion in which people can support and reassure one another as fellow practicers who follow the same teaching.”

As Gomonshu mentioned, Jodo Shinshu is a teaching that helps us move forward even when we are overwhelmed by life’s difficulties. It is not a teaching that changes our lives to make them more convenient or favorable for us. Life, as we know, is impermanent, and we encounter many “unfavorable” conditions throughout our lives. At times, we bite our lips in frustration. At times, we shed tears over separation or the loss of loved ones. We feel sadness as we face the reality of life—birth, aging, sickness, and death, as Shakyamuni Buddha taught.

We cannot control what we encounter in life, but we can prepare ourselves for it, and we can reflect on how we respond to it. The Buddha-Dharma guides us to see our circumstances not from a narrow, self-centered perspective, but from a wider and more compassionate one. Life’s obstacles remain obstacles, yet we do not end only with anger, frustration, or disappointment. Through the Dharma, we can discover meaning in life’s ups and downs, learn from them, and even find joy and gratitude in them.

In those moments, we can place our hands together in gassho, say Namo Amida Butsu, and take the next step forward.

Today, I would like to share a story about a minister named Ikkyu. Ikkyu was a Rinzai Zen monk who lived more than 500 years ago, around the same time as Rennyo Shonin.

On New Year’s Day, while people throughout Kyoto were celebrating—exchanging greetings, enjoying festive meals, drinking sake, and sharing fellowship—Ikkyu appeared in the streets holding a stick with a human skull mounted on top. As he walked through the city, he sang the following poem:

「元旦は冥土の旅の一里塚、めでたくもあり、めでたくもなし」
New Year’s Day is a milestone on the journey toward death;
it is a joyous day, and yet not entirely joyous.

The skull represented the reality of human existence. We will all become like this sooner or later. Ikkyu reminded people that New Year’s Day is indeed medetakumo ari—something to celebrate—but also medetakumo nashi—something we hesitate to celebrate—because it marks another step closer to the end of our lives. Through this image, Ikkyu urged people not to forget that life is impermanent and fleeting, and that each and every day deserves our full attention.

Many of us think of life as beginning at birth, continuing through our living years, and ending somewhere far down the road with death. We separate life and death, treating them as two opposing realities, thinking that life is good but death is not. But Buddhism offers a different perspective. Life and death are not separate—they are two sides of one reality.

From the moment I was born, I also began to die. Even now, as I live, I am also dying. When we see life in this way, death is no longer something distant that we can ignore today; it is right here, right now, beneath our very feet.

With this awareness, we realize how precious and how rare it is to be born as a human being and to live this very day. Perhaps Ikkyu wished to remind us that by awakening to impermanence, we naturally cultivate a deeper sense of joy and gratitude for this moment and for the gift of life we have received. Indeed, this very day is not something we can take for granted.

To live with an understanding of the oneness of life and death is to live with meaning and gratitude. We live today with freshness, as if it were the first day of our life, and we live with appreciation, as if it were the last.

At this point, I would like to share a part of a poem written by Mr. Shinmin Sakamura, entitled “Because This Life Comes Only Once.”

Because This Life Comes Only Once

Because this life comes only once,
let us pour boundless compassion
even into a single flower.
Let us listen with a mind free of self
to the voice of even one bird.

Because this life comes only once,
let us be ever mindful
not to take the life of even a single cricket—
how great the joy
that arises from such reverence for life.

Because this life comes only once,
let us send one more message of care,
and always respond with sincerity.

Because this life comes only once,
let us begin with those nearest to us,
doing all that we are able.

Though materially poor,
let us meet them with hearts rich in compassion.

Because this life comes only once,
let us pause before even a dewdrop
upon a dayflower,
and contemplate the wondrous truth
of causes and conditions that bring us together.

Among these verses, I am particularly drawn to the fifth one:

Because this life comes only once,
let us pause before even a dewdrop
upon a dayflower,
and contemplate the wondrous truth
of causes and conditions that bring us together.

I treasure this verse because it reminds me how fortunate I am to live here and now through countless causes and conditions. Even for a single dewdrop to exist, innumerable causes and conditions must come together. How many more must have come together for me and you to be here today? I cannot possibly name all of them. Yet when I reflect on this truth, I naturally place my hands together in gassho and bow my head in simple joy and gratitude.

So I would like to ask you: What would you write after the sentence, “Because this life comes only once…”? Please take some time to reflect on that.

As we begin this New Year, let us pause for reflection. Time passes so quickly. The Dharma—the teaching of the Nembutsu that we hear at this temple—helps us cultivate greater awareness, deeper joy, and sincere appreciation in our lives. I sincerely hope that you are experiencing, and will continue to experience, the same.

In the light of the all-embracing and all-affirming compassion of Amida Buddha, let us live each day with grateful hearts—no matter what challenges or unfavorable conditions we encounter.

In closing, I would like to express my sincere appreciation for your continued support, participation, and cooperation in the many services and programs offered at our Honpa Hongwanji temples.

As Gomonshu wrote: “A gathering at the temple with Amida Buddha as its center provides a great opportunity to receive the Dharma as well as an occasion in which people can support and reassure one another as fellow practicers who follow the same teaching.”

This is your home. This is a place where we can reassure one another that we are not alone. We are all illuminated and embraced by the Buddha’s compassion, and let us walk this path together.

Once again, a happy New Year, and thank you for your participation this morning.

Namo Amida Butsu.