Odaimoku—The Greatest Cure

Yukie Morishita
(Member of Myōshōji Temple in Kurashiki, Okayama Pref., Japan)

The following are two stories that I would like to share with you. Stories of how I recovered from diseases, thanks to the HBS faith.

The first is about a blessing that I received in 1988:

At the beginning of the year, I attended Kanshugyō practice (One-month intensive, winter practice to commemorate Nichiren Shonin’s hardship in Sado Island) for the first time in my life. Mr. Kanemitsu (who was the Chief of Myōshōji followers at that time) invited me to the Kanshugyō and gave me a ride to the temple every morning. On his way to the temple, he picked up other members so that they could attend the morning service while performing Kanshugyō. Thanks to Mr. Kanemitsu, I could attend the morning service without fail, for a month.

After the Kanshugyō was finished, I realized that one change became apparent. My Ménierè syndrome had completely been cured! I had suffered from the disease since I was young, and I often couldn’t even get up in the morning due to nausea and dizziness. Moreover, this particular symptom always showed on the morning of the days that I had particular businesses. I was told by a doctor that Ménierè syndrome was not a deadly disease, but a disease that wouldn’t be completely cured. My mother, too, had the same syndrome throughout her life, often requiring hospitalization and, intravenous drips. While I joined the Kanshugyō for a month, I did not visit the hospital for an entire month. I was so surprised because this had never happened before.

I wanted to relax when the Kanshugyō was over, but Mr. Kanemitsu wouldn’t allow me. He said that he was going to pick me up again on the following day. I wondered what we were going to go to the temple for, but at that time, I realized that HBS temples held their morning services literally every morning.

Thirty years have passed since the day I joined the regular morning service of Myoshōji for the first time, but I still attend. My Ménierè syndrome has never recurred since the first day of that Kanshugyō. Sometimes, I even forget that I had the disease.

The other story I’d like to share with you is about when I recently recovered from a rare disease. One time in 2005, I had a slight fever and a terrible cough for several days. I thought it was just a cold, so I went to see the family doctor. The doctor took an X-ray of my lungs and soon after (while staring at the image of my lungs) he suggested that I should have gone to another hospital for further investigation. It seemed that something unusual was going on. I went to the respiratory wing of Kurashiki Central Hospital and asked them, “Do I have tuberculosis or something?” The doctor answered, “If it’s tuberculosis, you’ll surely recover from it within three months. But this is not tuberculosis and will take longer.” The disease was called Atypical Mycobacterial Disease (also called Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infection), which was one of the newly found diseases at that time. It is difficult to cure completely and is caused when you absorb a certain type of bacteria. The doctor said, “Let’s see how it goes for a while. Because once you start taking the appropriate medicine, you will have to keep taking them for over two years.”

For the first two years, the doctors took X-rays but said, “The symptoms haven’t improved. So, we’ll prescribe more medicine, but this is only effective amongst one-third of patients. Another one-third show no response at all. The last one-third, their disease will progress. This medicine also has a side effect. Your visual field is going to be narrow. Please go to the eye doctor once every three months for a check-up.”

I continued to take the medicine and receive X-rays once every six months for seven or eight years. I pondered which group of those three that the doctor mentioned, I would be in. However, no side effects had shown up after taking additional medication, and I came to feel no symptoms of the disease at all, in the end. I stopped taking the medicine and continued to only receive X-rays for the next three years. Then finally at the beginning of March 2020, the doctor told me, “It seems there are no symptoms or recurrence at all. You do not need any further medical examinations.” I could finally say goodbye to my disease! I was so happy that I could receive such a wonderful blessing and did not have to suffer anymore.

Although I am older now, I am no longer on any medication and, am full of life and energy. I am now living my life to the fullest, and I am overwhelmed with gratitude. No matter what happens in my life, I now know that it is a blessing from the Buddha.

Translated from Japanse into English by
Ryosetsu Ikemoto

Edited by
Brandon Colbert