No. 241
At the Young Women’s Meeting a mother said, “Illuminated by others I am able to find the courage to make a decision.”
自分が照らされ、勇気を頂き、決心することが出来る。 （若婦人会に出席したある母親）
No. 242
The Head Priest said, “When we are awakened to how selfish our primal nature is, we also become aware of the nembutsu within. Our daily life is nothing but a grateful response for what has been done for us.”
自分の本性に気づいた今、お念佛に気づかせてもらいます。念佛の歩みは報恩感謝です。 （住職の言）
No. 243
At the Young Women’s Meeting a mother of two said, “We ought to entrust ourselves to the Buddha, but in my case I have simply found myself to be dependent on others. While failing to take responsibility upon myself, I have been blaming others for every problem I have experienced.”
「頼む」べきことを、「依存心」にしてしまい、ついつい人のせいにしていました。 （若婦人会に出席した二児の母）
No. 244
At the Young Women’s Meeting a mother of two said, “Seeking to escape from my own responsibilities I have simply been asking others on whom I am dependent to take the onus upon themselves. I have found loneliness is deeply embedded in this attitude of mine.”
「依存」する他人への「転嫁」、その根本は「さみしさ」。 （若婦人会に出席した二児の母親）
No. 245
The Head Priest said, ” ‘Equality’ is not something we, humans, can claim to have with one another. To me ‘respect’ stands on the other side of ‘equality’.”
「平等」とは、人間同士で使う言葉ではない。「平等」の反対に、「敬い」がありました。 （住職の言）
No. 246
At the Young Women’s Meeting a mother said, “I am now aware that to become a ‘parent’ I simply need to become a ‘child’ once more.”
「親になる」とは、ただ「子」になるだけだった。 （若婦人会に出席したある母親）
No. 247
The Head Priest said, “When we become aware that not only our minds but our bodies too are precious gifts, we are overtaken by a feeling of gratitude. The problems we are experiencing right now become instead a very source of peace.”
心と共に、賜っている身というものを頂くと、そこに感謝が生まれます。我々の足下の問題が平和のもとになります。 （住職の言）
No. 248 2003/11/26 A musician form the Imperial Palace declared, “You should not play music with your eyes closed. Closing one’s eyes is a form of escape from reality.”
目をつむって雅楽の演奏をしてはいけない。目をつむるのは現実逃避である。 （宮内庁楽師の言）
No. 249
A father said to his daughter, who herself has two children, “My daughter’s actions reflect my own. Children are mirrors of their parents.”
娘のしたことは、私のしたこと。子は親の鏡でした。 （二児の子を持つ娘に対する父親の言）
No. 250
The Head Priest said, “‘Light’ in Shin Buddhism is what forms the foundation of Pure Land Teaching. It is not a teaching that we can understand through scientific reasoning or the karmic law of cause and effect.”
浄土真宗の「光」とは、浄土の教の根幹にあるものです。道理や因果でのみ解ろうとしても得心できる教えではありません。 （住職の言）