Buta No Gotoki May 2026

Sesshin fell ill. His body, weakened by fasting, could no longer rise. The disciples scattered, each looking for their own survival. Only the beggar remained.

That night, a terrible storm swept the valley. Lightning struck the temple’s grain stores. Famine clawed at the village. The disciples, once proud, grew thin and desperate. But the beggar — who had taken shelter in an old pigsty — did not starve. He ate wild roots, knew which mushrooms were safe, and slept warm in the straw. buta no gotoki

The beggar knelt. “Master, a pig does not know it is called a pig. But a man who calls another buta no gotoki — he forgets that even pigs have the Buddha-nature. Mud is not a curse. It is where lotus roots grow.” Sesshin fell ill