Rev. Kris Ladusau delivers her Dharma Journey talk representing retiring ministers at the Horin-kaku Guest Hall on November 18.
This Dharma Journey talk was presented at the Horin-kaku Guest Hall on November 18, 2024, to represent retiring ministers during the Meeting of Ministers and Headquarters’ Leaders.
Mihotoke-sama, Kaiso-sama, onegai itashimasu, “The Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni, Founder Niwano, please guide me.”
Kaicho-sensei, onegai itashimasu, “President Niwano, please guide me.”
Mina-sama, onegai itashimasu, “Everyone, please guide me.”
Thank you for giving me the opportunity today to share things I have learned from my experience of being a Reverend in Rissho Kosei-kai. I would like to discuss the following points:
I have learned that I never accomplish anything independently. In the Lotus Sutra it says that if there is sincere dedication to the Dharma, and efforts are made to share it, then whoever or whatever is needed will appear for that Dharma Teacher. I have been greatly supported.
This realization helped me trust in the power of dedication to the Way.
I learned the importance of respecting everyone’s unique timeline on the path to enlightenment. One member, who was always slow to practice and grow in the teachings, later realized they were like the “poor son” in the Lotus Sutra parable, who took twenty years to fully understand.
This realization showed me the importance of patience and skillful means.
I learned that some of my best teachers were my students. If my sangha members developed bad habits, I needed to look at myself first, because they had been watching me as their example.
This realization gave me a new perspective on the many ways I could learn.
I learned what a truly great blessing it is to study and teach the Dharma in this lifetime. The study and practice of the teachings has guided and supported me throughout my life.
This realization created an unimaginable depth of gratitude in me.
Once, while meditating, I saw myself sitting between a statue of the Buddha and a sangha member who was expressing their suffering to me. I reached up and took the Buddha’s hand, and with my other hand, I reached out to hold the hand of the member. I was simply a connector, a conduit for the Buddha’s wisdom to reach the person who needed it.
This realization helped me take my ego out of giving Dharma guidance.
With each of these realizations, I renewed and deepened my commitment. A new sense of possibility emerged as we all progressed together.
Many times, I saw the power of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
When I think of an example of the power of the Buddha, I think about the fact that the Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni and Rissho Kosei-kai brought a Dharma center to Oklahoma in the middle of America—a predominantly Christian area and a very unexpected location for a Japanese Buddhist center.
When I think of the power of the Dharma, I think about a member in Oklahoma who had held bad feelings toward her deceased mother for over fifty years. Because of these feelings, the member had never visited her mother’s grave and no gravestone had ever been placed there. After this member began practicing the Dharma teachings, she wanted to find the grave and make an appropriate marker for her mother. (The member’s childhood had been very difficult and unhappy because her mother was an alcoholic and the child had to take care of the parent.) Sadly, the mother had died in a car accident when the member was young. Everyone in the family thought it was suicide because she had driven off the side of a bridge on her way to work.
When the sangha member went to the cemetery to find her mother’s grave, the employee of the cemetery remembered the situation and showed her a police report concerning the car accident. The report stated that the other driver had been in the wrong lane as they entered the bridge, and after reading this, our member realized that not only had her mother not committed suicide, she had actually saved the other driver’s life by choosing to go over the side of the bridge so they would not have a head-on collision. With this new information, she totally shifted her perspective about her mother. She also healed some of the sadness she had carried for over fifty years. This new understanding would not have happened without the Dharma teachings and ancestor appreciation practices gained through Rissho Kosei-kai.
Rev. Ladusau (second from left) with her sangha members at the Oklahoma Dharma Center.
When I think of the power of the Sangha, I think about a member who wanted to be the chanting leader for her brother’s memorial service. As the service began, she became emotional and started crying, unable to chant. Automatically, the sangha began chanting for her until she regained the ability to lead chanting for the remainder of the service.
All of these experiences are my treasures, and I am very, very grateful.
They were made possible through the generosity and kindness of Rissho Kosei-kai. A sincere thank you to Founder Niwano, Cofounder Naganuma, President Niwano, and President-Designate Kosho Niwano. All blessings to you.
Many years ago, when I was traveling in Japan, I had the opportunity to spend some time visiting very old and beautiful gardens. They all had a unique beauty, and I reflected on the considerable amount of thought, planning, and continual care that went into each of them. One of the gardens incorporated a large pond in its design. Across the water were stepping stones that helped visitors cross to the other side safely and see the garden from a new perspective.
Years later, I could see a correlation to teaching the Dharma. As I traversed the bodhisattva path, my teachers created stepping stones to guide me through my process. They gave me a nudge when I needed it, suggesting practices to do, books to read, and speeches to write, and they provided opportunities to experience sharing the teachings with others. Although there may have been times when I was a bit scared to go to the next step, I had full trust in my teachers, knowing that they too had been guided through the same process by those who came before them.
When I became a teacher, I noticed myself incorporating the style of Dharma guidance I had received from my mentors. After carefully observing each individual in my sangha and trying to grasp their abilities, energies, and depth of devotion, I became focused on trying to create the most efficient and effective way for each of them to continue growing through study and practice by pointing out the stepping stones.
I am standing here today because of many teachers. In Oklahoma, I had the wonderful opportunity of developing the Dharma center with Rev. Yasuko Hildebrand. She was a great mentor. Many people have used the word “synergy” to describe our work together. Our time together provided me with emotional maturity and growth. Sometimes she would trust in the American-style choices I made concerning management of the facility, and at other times she would gently remind me to consider the potential effects my ideas might have on others. She could always be trusted to provide a bigger perspective when needed. I feel deep gratitude.
Rev. Ladusau with Rev. Yasuko Hildebrand, the previous minister of the Oklahoma Dharma Center.
I learned that in Japan, if you ask someone how they are doing, they will answer, “Because of the efforts of others, I am doing well.” To me, this beautifully expresses a true understanding of our connection to others and to nature. On this day, I acknowledge and give thanks for the many gifts I have received in my life. I know that gratitude is most easily found through reflecting on the past, but if I am mindful, I can also experience it in moment-to-moment living, for gratitude naturally arises when I have the focus and awareness to see the gifts of life as they are happening. What a “joy-full” experience.
My heart and mind are at peace. I feel complete as I hand the leadership to Rev. Chris Peters, our new reverend in Oklahoma. I truly appreciate his wisdom and his dedication. May he deeply experience the Great Way.
Rev. Ladusau congratulates Rev. Chris Peters, the new minister of the Oklahoma Dharma Center, at the inauguration ceremony on December 7, 2024.
It has been my great honor to be a leader in this generation of Rissho Kosei-kai’s world sangha. Thank you so much for the tremendous support you have shown me through the years. I will always hold it dear to my heart.
Mihotoke-sama, Kaiso-sama, arigato gozaimasu, “The Eternal Buddha Shakyamuni, Founder Niwano, thank you very much.”
Kaicho-sensei, arigato gozaimasu, “President Niwano, thank you very much.”
Mina-sama, arigato gozaimasu, “Everyone, thank you very much.”
