Rochester Nichiren Shu Buddhist Sangha
Welcome, we are a small Buddhist community located in WNY dedicated to the study and practice of the Lotus Sutra and the teachings of Nichiren Shonin.
Schedules
Monthly Service Schedule
Service and study groups are held every first and third Saturday of the month from 9:15 am until 10:45 am. A donation of $5 is greatly appreciated to help us keep our presence here in Rochester. We meet together to study and practice the Buddha Dharma based on the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. Please feel free to come and join us and learn the essence of Buddhism.
Everyone is welcome.
2008 Calendar of Events
January
1/1 - New Years Celebrations
1/5 - Service 9:15 am / Coming of age festival
1/7 - Jinjitsu (5 herb day)
1/19 - Service 9:15am
February
2/2 - Service 9:15am
2/3 - Setsubun
2/15 - Sakyamuni Buddha's Nirvana
2/16 - Service 9:15am / Nichiren Shonin's Birthday
March
3/1 - Service 9:15am
3/3 - Girl's Day
3/15 - Service 9:15am
3/22 - Service 9:15am / Spring O-Higan
April
4/5 - Service 9:15am
4/8 - The Buddha's Birthday
4/19 - Service 9:15am
4/28 - Rikkyo Kaishu-E (establishment of Nichiren Shu Buddhism)
May
5/3 - Service 9:15am
5/5 - Boy's Day
5/17 - Service 9:15 / Hanami (Flower Viewing Festival)
5/31 - Service 9:15am
June
6/7 - Service 9:15am
6/21 - Service 9:15am
July
7/5 - Service 9:15am
7/7 - Tanabata (Star Festival)
7/13-7/16 - Tana-gyo (Visits to congregation's homes to honor ancestors)
7/15 - O-Bon Segaki Service
7/16 - Toro Nagashi (Lantern Festival)
7/19 - Service 9:15am
August
8/2 - Service 9:15am
8/16 - Service 9:15am
8/27 - Matsubagayatsu Persecution
8/30 - Service 9:15am
September
9/6 - Service 9:15am
9/12 - Tatsunokuchi Persecution / Fall O-Higan (Moon Viewing Festival)
9/20 - Service 9:15am
October
10/4 - Service 9:15am
10/10 - Sado Persecution
10/13 - Oeshiki (Nichiren Shonin's Passing)
10/18 - Service 9:15am
November
11/1 - Service 9:15am
11/11 - Komatsubara Persecution *
11/15 - Service 9:15am / Shichi-Go-san
11/29 - Service 9:15am
December
12/6 Service 9:15am
12/8 Jodo-E / Bodhi-day (The Buddah's Enlightenment)
12/20 Service 9:15am
12/26 O-Shoji (Yearly cleaning day)
* Every year from November to March of the following year, cotton strips are placed on the head of Nichiren Shonin. On November 11,1264, Nichiren Shonin, accompanied by several disciples on their way to the home of a partitioner, Yoshitaka Kudo, was attacked by a number mobsters working for Kagenobu Tojo, a district head. During this scuffle, Nichiren Shonin received a cut with a sword on his forehead. That attack is known as the Tojo Komatsubara Incident, one of four famous attacks on Nichiren Shonin. After the scuffle ended, an old woman just happened to pass by, seeing the cut on Nichiren's forehead offered him her cotton hood. This is the origin of the tradition of placing a cotton strip on the head of Nichiren Shonin's statues. It also serves to express of feeling of esteem by protecting it ostensibly from pain during the cold winter.
