Experience presentation Saving my mother, winning the election, and escaping poverty

 Mr. Sanju Gupta

Joined Saikyo Hironori at the beginning
and became the pioneer of missionary work in Nepal

　Hello everyone. My name is Sanju Gupta and I live in Sitamarhi, Bihar, India, near the border with Nepal.
Six years ago, in 2013, when Myokanko missionary work first reached India, I was dismissed by Director Mitsuharu Okura, and on April 28th, I went to the Nikko Hotel in Delhi. I received the precepts from the visiting chief priest Ogawa.
I want many people to be happy through this wonderful Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, so I asked them to come to Sitamari, where I live, and give the precepts.

Three months later, on July 19th, I rented the Asirwad Hotel in Sitamarhi and held a Buddhist lecture. After hearing the teachings of Buddhism and watching the video of the Sohonzan, all of the participants were deeply moved, and at that time 587 people decided to become a believer. (Applause) Journalists from major newspapers with a circulation of over 3.5 million were also in attendance. Since the news of the Buddhist lecture was published in this newspaper, many people called me and asked me about Nichiren Shoshu. I answered as much as I could, but since I had just joined Nichiren Shoshu and had little knowledge about Nichiren Shoshu, it was very difficult for me. However, it was at this time that I started shakubuku. I then called my friend Mr. Chhetri who lives in Nepal and told him about this Buddhism, and Mr. Chhetri also said that he would like to hear more about it and receive the precepts. We have decided to have the chief priest go to Nepal. This marked the beginning of the missionary work in Nepal, and within a short time, more than 70,000 people in Nepal had become members of Nichiren Shoshu. (Applause) On the other hand, in Sitamarhi, India, we have lagged behind in the legal procedures needed to proceed with missionary work, but we plan to move forward with missionary work to that extent.

To change the story, on November 11, 2013, six months after I received the precepts, my mother attended a Hindu religious ceremony, and at that time she collapsed due to high blood pressure. It's gone. I immediately took her mother to the hospital, but her mother was put in the ICU in a coma and she never woke up. And then she was told by the doctor, ``Your mother will never regain consciousness,'' and I was very surprised. My father died during my childhood, so I felt that if I lost my mother here, I would be really alone, and I cried out loud.

I prayed while thinking of the Gohonzon there, and every day after that, I chanted chants and prayed for my mother's quick recovery, but even after three days, my mother did not return from her coma. Just when I thought that my mother would never come back, Manager Ogura, who had received information about my mother from another member, called me and came over. He told me that he would first ask Chief Priest Ogawa to pray for my mother's recovery. He then said that he would do the work together to help his mother recover. At that time, I was at the hospital, so I went to the streetlight in front of the hospital and used Skype on my cell phone to spend about an hour doing gongyo and chanting together, praying for my mother's recovery. The next morning, perhaps because our prayers were understood by the Gohonzon, my mother regained consciousness from her coma. (Applause) And he was able to get out of the ICU.

I am deeply grateful to the Gohonzon, and at the same time am convinced of the greatness of its power. (Big applause) The doctor was very surprised that the mother had regained consciousness and said, ``This is a miracle.I have never seen a person regain consciousness after being in a coma for three days due to high blood pressure.'' I've never had that happen.'' (*I was so moved that I could not continue speaking, and the audience applauded again.) My mother was saved by the power of the Gohonzon. My mother is now a devotee of Nichiren Shoshu, believes solely in the Gohonzon, and chants her Daimoku. Although she is now 70 years old, she still goes for a walk every morning and is still able to do her job well.

And I had another experience that made me realize the great power of the Gohonzon. Two years ago, in April 2017, local government elections were held in Sitamarhi. A friend of mine encouraged me to run for district chair. I refused the election because I didn't have the money to run, but with the strong encouragement and financial support of my friends, I decided to run. However, I felt that this was not enough, so I desperately prayed to the Gohonzon that I would be able to win the election, and also asked the Myokanko Headquarters in Japan for support. Then, with the arrangement of the head teacher, he called on all Myokan-ko locations to pray for my victory in the election, and he also sent a request to Chief Priest Ogawa to pray for the fulfillment of my wishes. Every day, I spent over an hour chanting and praying in front of the Gohonzon before heading out to campaign.

There were times when I felt the blessings of the Gohonzon, such as when I was able to replace an error in my candidacy documents that normally cannot be corrected or withdrawn. A bigger problem arose. There was a candidate who was very wealthy, and he invited all the villagers to his house, prepared food for them, and even handed out money to the voters, asking them to vote. In Japan, if you do something like this, you'll get caught right away, but at our place, this is the norm. I don't have that kind of money, so seeing this made me feel hopeless.

I had no choice but to believe in the Gohonzon and pray.
Honestly, I know that many people go to rich families to eat food, get paid, and are told bad rumors about me, so I decided to participate in this election. Although I thought I might lose, I did not stop praying and chanting seriously. Then, the final day of the election finally arrived and the votes were counted, but something terrible happened. As a result of the vote counting, I won with a whopping 447 votes, the rich candidate received 319 votes, and I received 128 more votes. (Big applause)

I was surprised to see with my own eyes how immense power the Gohonzon possesses. I am convinced that this was only possible through prayer to the Gohonzon. In other words, even the people who were paid to eat in rich families voted for me, and this was the result. I cannot thank the Gohonzon enough.

Also, I used to live in very poor conditions. They received the Gohonzon in extremely poor conditions, with no table or chairs at home. I have always prayed to the Gohonzon to resolve my poverty. Then, to my surprise, my poor financial situation gradually changed. Now, many people come to me and ask me to help them with their jobs, and by helping them with their jobs, I am able to get the financial power they need. Ta. (applause)

Before, my house was a humble one made of clay, but now I have built a beautiful and strong house. (*Images of the ``former earthen house'' and ``current beautiful house'' were projected, and there was a roar of applause in the hall.) In this way, with the power of the Gohonzon, I was able to solve all the problems I had. It was. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Gohonzon. In order to repay this kindness, I pledge to work diligently to promote shakubuku widely throughout India so that hundreds of thousands, even millions, of people can receive the merits of the Gohonzon. (Big applause) Thank you very much. (Big applause)