In summary:
My Brother, Who Disliked Religion, Suddenly Developed an Interest in Faith
I would like to share the blessings my brother, Hiroshi, received.
About seven or eight years ago, my brother developed lower back pain and cervical spondylosis, which caused him to go out less frequently. Apart from talking to our mother, who lived with him, he rarely conversed with anyone else. So, I started visiting our family home on weekends to talk with him.
In late March 2018, hoping to increase the opportunities to converse with my brother, I suggested, “Why don’t you come to the temple with me to pray for your cervical spondylosis and attend Okō (a small Buddhist service at a believer’s home) to listen to Buddhist teachings?” Surprisingly, my brother, who had always strongly refused, said, “Alright, Mariko, I’ll leave it to you,” and he began practicing faith at Seifuji with me.
In May, we received a pendant-style miniature Gohonzon from the temple. Initially, my brother refused to wear it, so I placed it in front of his usual seat at home. I told him, “Please chant the Odaimoku towards this Gohonzon daily.”
My Brother Returned Home Safely After Going Missing but Was Then Rushed to the Hospital
I made it a habit to stop by our family home after work to talk with my brother and mother. On May 16th, since I had the day off, I went to the family home in the afternoon and helped my mother tidy up. Around 4:30 PM, my brother said, “I’m going to the cell phone shop in Abeno,” and left the house. He wanted to check the costs because our mother had been talking about switching to a smartphone. The cell phone shop at Abeno Q’s Mall is about a 20-minute walk from home, so I thought it would take my brother, who has back pain, twice as long and tried to dissuade him, but he went anyway.
When he didn’t return by 7 PM, my mother and I thought, “The store must be crowded,” and I decided to go back to my place. Around 8:30 PM, I called my mother to check, but my brother still hadn’t returned. Worried, I went back to our family home. My mother said she had tried calling my brother’s cell phone multiple times but received no response. I also tried calling, but he didn’t answer. Remembering that my father had once been rushed to the hospital after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage, I became increasingly concerned. At 9:30 PM, I started searching the route from our home to Abeno and the area around Q’s Mall on my bicycle. Without realizing it, I found myself chanting the Odaimoku as I rode. After searching for about an hour and a half without finding him, I returned home. It was past midnight, so my mother and I went to Tennoji Police Station to file a missing person report before returning home.
The next morning, at 6 AM, my brother still hadn’t contacted us or returned home. I went back to my place to get ready for work and was cleaning the Gokaidan (HBS Buddhist altar) when my mother called around 7:30 AM to say my brother had been found and was resting on a sofa at Abeno Police Station. Relieved, I headed to work.
However, around 11 AM, I felt unusually compelled to check emails on my phone, which I rarely do. There was a message from my mother saying, “Your brother is unable to move in the bathtub and has been rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. Please come to the hospital immediately.” I handed over my work to my colleagues and hurried to Osaka Police Hospital.
Emergency Surgery for Subdural Hematoma, Safe Recovery Without Aftereffects
I met my mother in the surgical waiting room at 1 PM. She told me that when my brother returned home, he was sweating profusely and incontinent. She had him take a bath around 9 PM. When she checked on him, she found him nearly submerged in the bathtub. Though conscious, he couldn’t move his left arm or legs. She quickly drained the tub and called an ambulance.
He was taken to NTT West Japan Hospital, where tests revealed a subdural hematoma. However, since the hospital didn’t have a neurosurgeon, they couldn’t perform emergency surgery. He was immediately transferred to Osaka Police Hospital, where the surgery began around 11 AM. The surgery, which lasted three and a half hours, was successful. The doctor explained that the hematoma on the right side had compressed nearly half of his brain, but it was completely removed. The extent of aftereffects, such as speech impairment or paralysis, would only be known once he regained consciousness. He was admitted to the intensive care unit.
I immediately reported the details via email to Mr. Nakamori, a dedicated believer and parish leader. Starting the next day, prayers for my brother’s recovery were offered during the temple’s morning services. I also went to the temple every morning to pray, and fellow believers from my parish prayed at their own Gohonzon. Thanks to these blessings, my brother regained consciousness four days later, and the ventilator was removed. Within ten minutes of waking up, he asked the nurse, “Which hospital is this?” Both his hands and feet moved well, with no signs of paralysis.
My Brother Realizes the Miraculous Power of the Odaimoku After Starting His Faith
Later, when I checked with Abeno Police Station about what happened on May 16th, they told me that around the time I was searching for him by bicycle while chanting the Odaimoku, they received a report from a store in the Abeno underground shopping center about someone behaving oddly and repeatedly falling off a chair. They found and protected him. He chose to rest on a police station sofa and returned home by himself the next morning.
The day after he regained consciousness, he was moved to a general ward and started walking rehabilitation. He could eat normally and was discharged two weeks later. I was deeply moved by the great blessings my brother received. Before his discharge, I visited the temple for the morning service and asked the chief priest, who offered a prayer of gratitude for his safe discharge during the morning service.
On June 4th, the day of his discharge, my brother walked home with our mother, a 20-minute walk. Upon arriving home, he took the pendant Gohonzon and said, “I will always wear this from now on,” and put it around his neck.
Since then, he has had no health issues and goes shopping once a day for exercise. I will never forget these great blessings and will continue to practice my faith diligently with a heart full of gratitude.
