Good afternoon and a very Happy New Year to everyone. It brings me immense joy to begin this new year gathered together with all of you. At the start of a year, we naturally make promises and look toward the future with hope. Yet, deep within our hearts, there often exists a quiet anxiety that we cannot fully articulate—the loneliness of feeling that one day we will vanish from this world and be forgotten by all.

Reflect for a moment on the funeral rituals here in Brazil. Having witnessed hundreds of burials, I have seen countless tears of deep sorrow shed at the graveside. Yet, the moment the service concludes, the world returns to its busy routine as if nothing had altered. Witnessing how rapidly society adapts to the absence of the departed can leave us with a hollow feeling: “Will the world really not feel even a minor scratch when I am gone?”

To fill this inner void, we strive to show our children how we honor our parents and ancestors. Deep down, this serves as a poignant resistance against ultimate loneliness; we nurture the hope that by carefully tending to their memories, our children will do the exact same for us in the future. However, human memory is fragile, and everything that possesses physical form is destined to fade across time.

This is precisely where the timeless wisdom of Jodo Shinshu guides us through the teaching of “Kukai-issho”—being born together in one place. This does not merely mean meeting our loved ones in the Pure Land after death. Its profoundest meaning reveals that under the all-embracing gaze of infinite compassion, we have never been separated from them. We are not isolated segments divided by generations; rather, we stand as a vital bridge connecting our ancestors of the past with the unborn lives of the future.

When we join our hands in Gassho, those who have passed before us cease to be mere objects of nostalgic recollection; they become the very spiritual strength that guides our footsteps today. Even if the secular world completely forgets our existence, there is an Infinite Memory that embraces every intricate detail of our lives. Within that ultimate embrace, we awaken to the truth that we have never been alone. May this new year be a journey where you feel the profound reassurance that every step you take is firmly supported by this great, eternal affection.