What to do when everything sucks?

Gosho: The difficulty of sustaining faith

'When you are experiencing the worst possible situation and feel that you can't possibly go on any longer, remember that this is the very time when you can change your destiny. I know it is far from easy to keep this in mind at a crucial moment. That is one reason why we have an organization, to encourage one another.
In any event, chant until you feel that your daimoku has reached the very roots of your suffering.
The reaction, "Why do I still have these problems even though I've been practicing so sincerely?" may be a natural one, but if you give in to it, you are being swayed by the fundamental darkness. If you instead resolve to practice all the more earnestly in order to overcome your problems, then you can not only open a path to their solution but further deepen your faith. This is in accord with the Buddhist principles that the sufferings of birth and death can be transformed into nirvana and that poison can be changed into medicine.'

Source: George M Williams, Vice President SGI

Winter turns into spring

Winter turns into spring; it does not become autumn. This is an unchanging principle of nature. In the same way, the Daishonin says, those who uphold the Mystic Law, the great teaching for gaining enlightenment, will never fail to become Buddhas or remain in the deluded state of an ordinary, unenlightened person. As the Buddha promises in the Lotus Sutra, those who hear and embrace the Mystic Law will all attain Buddhahood without a single exception. This is a universal principle of life.

From the Buddha's perspective, everyone has a right to happiness. Everyone has the potential to lead a life brimming with joy. we who uphold Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism, moreover, know how to tap the Mystic Law in our lives. That is why we not only have a right to happiness but also have an important mission to help others actualize true happiness in their lives as well.

"Winter always turns into spring" means that ordinary people who triumph over all challenges they encounter in the course of their Buddhist practice will definitely become Buddhas. The Daishonin's words are a mighty lion's roar, proclaiming that his disciples - whose lives are dedicated to enabling others to awaken to and manifest the Buddhahood that inherently exists within them - cannot fail to attain enlightenment.
- Daisaku Ikeda

Why we are All Worthy of Great Respect

Gosho: The Person and the Law

"Since the Law is supreme, the Person is worthy of respect; since the Person is worthy of respect, the Land is sacred"

This refers specifically to Nichiren Daishonin, but in a broad sense, it can also apply to us. As common mortals, we may have many shortcomings and problems which we have not yet resolved, but as long as we base ourselves on the Mystic Law, striving to manifest our innate enlightenment and help others to do the same, we are worthy of great respect, and the place where we exert ourselves for Kosen-rufu is the Buddha Land.

Even if your present situation may leave much to be desired, you can make it respectworthy by striving there with the determination to show proof of the Gohonzon's power and benefit. Or, conversely stated whatever your situation may be, you can grow and benefit from it tremendously so long as you resolve to make use of it in order to develop. Such determination is vital for our human revolution. Because we embrace the Gohonzon, which embodies the law of Nam-myoho-reng-kyo and the life of the original Buddha, we can sever the karmic roots of our problems and manifest our innate Buddha nature.

Moreover, according to the principle of the oneness of life and its environment, so long as we strive with this determination, our objective circumstances will also eventually change for the better, showing undeniable proof of the Gohonzon's blessings and the sincerity of the efforts we have been making all along.

Source: George M Williams, Vice President SGI

How to Muster Sincere Faith

Gosho: On prolonging life

"First you must muster sincere faith." 

Whatever your problem may be, use it as a catalyst to strengthen your daimoku. things will definitely change in your favor when you continue chanting until you spontaneously arouse a great determination and begin acting on it. As Nichiren Daishonin writes to Myojo in this letter, "First you must muster sincere faith." In other words, when faced with 'illness' of any kind, it is vital to summon up the confidence that you can solve any problem through your powers of faith and practice. If your illness overwhelms you and you fail to resolve to conquer it, it will continue to sap your already weakened life-force. on the other hand, no matter how much you may hurt at the moment or how badly shattered your life may be, through a sincere and resolute practice, your life will definitely become healthy. you will see proof of this physically, spiritually, and in your associations with other people.

Source: George M Williams, Vice President SGI

4 Simple Ways to Embrace the Gohonzon

Gosho: Persecution by Sword and Staff

"As you crave food when hungry, seek water when thirsty, long to see a lover, beg for medicine when ill or as a beautiful woman desires powder and rouge, so should you put your fiat hint he Lotus Sutra. If you do not, you will regret it later."

When you are hungry, no one has to tell you, “Eat, you’ll feel better.” The impulse is to go get food arises from within you of its own accord. And when you are thirst, you don’t tell yourself, “If I don’t think about it, maybe it’ll go away.” If possible, you stop whatever you’re doing, and drink some water. When you are deeply in love, then waking or sleeping, you will always have that person in your thoughts; he or she is the only man or woman in the world for you. And when you are ill or injured, getting well takes immediate priority over everything. People with obscure diseases often exhaust their financial resources seeking medicine or doctors to relieve their pain. Moreover, people blessed with good looks naturally want to make the most of them. A great beauty may willingly spend hours in front of a mirror, determining the precise shade of make-up that will set off her looks to best advantage.
With each of these examples, Nichiren Daishonin teaches us something about the ideal attitude in faith that we should strive for. It is indeed great if we can turn to the Gohonzon immediately, spontaneously, and wholeheartedly under any circumstances, without being told to by anyone.

I feel this passage also indicates that we can confidently pray to the Gohonzon for the fulfilment of any desire whatsoever.

• “As you crave food when hungry, seek water when thirsty” might be read as indicating the most basic needs of the human being that must be met if one is to survive. 
• “Long to see a lover” could be said to represent more complex desires, involving emotional and spiritual needs as well as physical ones. 
• “Beg for medicine when ill” might be said to stand for problems – things that need to be corrected or resolved. 
• And “as beautiful woman desires powder and rouge” could be said to represent desires to fulfil our potential and enhance the meaning of our existence. 

In this way the Daishonin teaches us that faith in the Gohonzon can benefit people in every aspect of live. No matter how big or how small or what it may concern, nothing is outside the scope of the Gohonzon’s beneficial power.

Source: George M Williams, Vice President SGI

Hold on Just a Little Longer

Gosho: Earthly Desires are Enlightenment

“Carry through with your faith in the Lotus Sutra. You cannot strike fire from flint if you stop halfway. Bring forth the great power of faith..”

I would like to pay special attention to the words, “Bring forth the great power of faith...”. This concept is very important. Faith is actually a power, a very real power. In fact, it is the most fundamental power of the universe. It can move anything. But to strengthen our faith to this extent takes effort. Whenever a crisis or challenge arises, we should gear ourselves to meet it by chanting abundant daimoku, praying from the very depths of our life. In this way, we are certain to win, demonstrating both to ourselves and to those around us how fruitful and effective efforts based upon faith really are.

Another essential point is “Carry through with your faith in the Lotus Sutra.” This passage teaches us the importance of maintaining our faith under any circumstances, until the last moment of life. Periods of intense suffering or hardship are often the times when people tend most to be swayed by doubt and abandon their faith. Yet once we are resolved to “carry through with our faith in the Lotus Sutra,” intense suffering or hardship can provide us with a perfect opportunity to change our destiny. All we have to do is use it to get closer to the Gohonzon. Then we can not only resolve the problem at hand but further elevate our state of life.

Source: George M Williams, Vice President SGI

Continue Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

Gosho: Happiness in this World

“Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life and continue chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, no matter what happens. Then you will experience boundless joy from the Law.” 

In this passage, “Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy” pertains to the realm of relative happiness. while “joy derived from the law” means the happiness which is absolute. Joys and sorrows are part of living. There will always be both good times and bad. We should not allow ourselves to be swept off course by either sufferings or pleasure, for example, by abandoning ourselves to doubt and despair in times of trouble or growing heedless and complacent when things are going well. Rather, just as Nichiren Daishonin teaches, let’s “continue chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, no matter what happens”. 

When good things happen, let’s chant daimoku in appreciation. When trouble comes, let’s chant daimoku to change poison into medicine. If you can use everything that happens to you, pains and pleasures both, to strengthen your bond with the Gohonzon, you can purify and elevate your life-condition, gradually establishing Buddhahood as your basic tendency. As you do so, you will begin to experience an indescribable happiness that is independent of circumstances – the “boundless joy from the Law.”

Source: George M Williams, Vice President SGI

Two Kinds of 'Happy' - Which One are You?

Gosho: Happiness in this World

"There is no greater happiness for human beings than chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo”

There are two kinds of happiness; relative and absolute. Relative happiness might include professional success, a rewarding family life, material possessions, good health, status in the community, and so forth. While all these are important in their own way, they depend on outward circumstances, and are therefore vulnerable to change. People who base themselves solely on relative happiness are governed by their environment and have no reliable foundation in life.

In contrast, absolute happiness – the goal of our Buddhist practice – lies on a completely different plane. It cannot be obtained by having wealth, power or people close by who care for you. Absolute happiness comes from awakening to your own Buddha nature, and from your commitment to a mission to help other people do the same.

Because this happiness derives from the eternal Mystic Law, it can become absolute. Even in the midst of the worst conditions of relative unhappiness, nothing can ever destroy it or take it from you. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with Faith in the Gohonzon is what allows us to develop this indestructible confidence and joy. Thus the Daishonin says ‘There is no greater happiness for human beings than chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” Please bear in mind that any happiness you may experience by comparing yourself to others and feeling better off, is transient.

Source: George M Williams, Vice President SGI

How to Remain Undefeated

Gosho: Happiness in this World

“Never let life’s hardships disturb you.”

If you have the naïve and unrealistic expectation that your Buddhist practice will magically eliminate all difficulties from your path, then even minor hardships will seem overwhelming. Rather than seeking to avoid difficulties, let’s develop the strength and confidence to overcome them, using each one creatively as an opportunity to grow.

When we first begin our Buddhist practice, we naturally do not have firm faith. When confronted with sickness, impending divorce, unemployment, or other major problems, it is hard for us to imagine that chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo could indeed enable us to resolve such difficulties. But, encouraged by something we may have read in the gosho or by our seniors in faith, or perhaps simply because we have nowhere else to turn, we decide we have nothing to lose by trying. We pray with a new determination to the Gohonzon, and, to our astonishment, a solution emerges. But that solution is only part of the benefit. The other, more profound part is that our faith in the Gohonzon has also increased. 

Over the years, as we challenge and conquer one difficulty after another through our daimoku, our confidence in the Gohonzon in our own Buddha nature and in our ability to triumph over life’s hardships becomes invincible. That confidence itself will be our ‘peace and security in this life,” for it enables us to meet life with perfect freedom and assurance. 

Source: George M Williams, Vice President SGI

How Are Prayers Answered?

Gosho: Reply to Kyo’o

“The mighty sword of the Lotus Sutra must be wielded by one courageous in faith,” the Daishonin wrote. Here I would like to consider what it means to be ‘courageous in faith.’ Being courageous in faith means:

1. If you have a problem that needs solving, or a dream that you want to see fulfilled, you will take it straight to the Gohonzon and pray to attain your goal. Some people are afraid to attack their problem head-on through daimoku, thinking that it will somehow disappear automatically. This is not courageous faith. Other people never see their hopes realized because they decide in advance, “Oh, that’s impossible,” and never chant daimoku in earnest for what they desire. You can never discover the real power of the Gohonzon in this way. If you have a dream, especially an impossible one, then have the courage to stake your life on it and chant to the Gohonzon for its fulfilment.

2. Not giving in to doubt. Ofcourse, strong faith takes time to develop, and having doubts along the way is nothing to be ashamed of. But a brave person will pursue his practice until his doubts are resolved. A coward will let doubts get between him and his happiness and be defeated by them. It is well worth whatever struggle we must make to resolve our doubts and deepen our conviction.

3. Persevering until our goal is completed. Big dreams take more time and effort to accomplish than small ones. If you give in to frustration and impatience and give up halfway, you cannot enjoy the full benefit of Buddhist practice. Along the way, you may become discouraged or experience setbacks from time to time, and feel you are not making progress. In the long run, however, as the Daishonin says, ‘This sutra fulfils one’s desires.” There can be no exception. It was precisely for the sake of accomplishing the impossible that the Gohonzon was inscribed.

Muster up the lions’ courage and practice to the Gohonzon as the Daishonin teaches. There there is truly nothing that cannot be achieved.

Source: George M Williams, Vice President SGI

I Am Practising. Then Why Don't I Feel Happy?

Gosho: On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime

“If you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured throughout eternity and attain supreme enlightenment in this lifetime, you must awaken to the mystic truth which has always been within your life. This truth is Myoho-renge-kyo. Chanting Myoho-renge-kyo will therefore enable you to grasp the mystic truth within you.

In this brief passage, the Daishonin poses the fundamental problem of human existence and also points the way to its solution.

To escape suffering and seek happiness is the natural desire of human beings. Nichiren Daishonin teaches that we can overcome our sufferings by awakening to the truth that has always been within our life. In this way, he teaches that all people already have the gem of the Buddha nature (Myoho-renge-kyo) within. By discovering it, we can enjoy the supreme enlightenment right here in this mundane world.

But it is not enough for us merely to understand intellectually that our own life is the entity of the Mystic Law. The Daishonin teaches us that we must come to have deep faith in our own Buddha nature. Thus he admonishes us, “even though you chant and believe in Myoho-renge-kyo, if you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but some inferior teaching.” In practical terms, to “think that the Law is outside oneself” means to seek both the causes and solutions to one’s problems in the environment. In this sense, to think that others are responsible for our happiness, or that we cannot find fulfilment until someone else changes, or to measure our own self-worth solely in terms of our bank balance, the type of job we hold, or any other transient, external circumstance, might all be considered examples of “seeking the Law outside oneself.”

Whenever we think in this way, we forget the unlimited power we possess within to change our destiny for the better. Our Buddhist practice which should by rights be a source of boundless joy, starts to feel like an “endless, painful austerity.”

The Daishonin firmly negated any idea that points to external solutions as fundamental. The way to establish indestructible happiness is to manifest joy within our moment to moment existence through our Buddhist practice. We cannot find true happiness if we seem merely to escape and unpleasant situation. Rather when we resolve to face reality courageously, and change it for the better by our chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we will be charting a correct course toward a happy life.

Source: George M Williams, Vice President SGI

The Body and The Shadow (Part 1)

This is from a piece called ‘The body and the shadow’ UKE Jan 1995 by Louise Ellis, which explains an often-quoted key passage from the Gosho ‘On attaining buddhahood in this lifetime.’ The passage is mentioned below, followed by the article excerpt:

“If the minds of the people are impure, their land is also impure, but if their minds are pure, so is their land.”

If we follow this way of thinking then the reason why the world is in such a state must be because our minds are impure. This does not mean they are full of dirty or evil thought, but that they see the world in a flawed or incomplete way. It follows from this that actions based on such ‘impure’ perceptions are often likely to produce as much harm as good, however pure the intention behind them may have been. So however hard we try to make positive actions to change things, if our minds remain impure then, essentially, we will have little effect; the old problems will keep on reappearing.

This analysis is based on the Buddhist principle of esho funi, which means that life and its environment are inseparable.

Gosho Passage Explained by Sensei

"Exert yourself in the two ways of practice and study. Without practice and study, there can be no Buddhism."

President Ikeda said: "Practice refers to introducing the Daishonin's Buddhism to others, while study means studying the Daishonin's teachings. Without propagation and study, Buddhism cannot exist. This is what it means to correctly practise the Daishonin's Buddhism."

Upholding faith is the great path to happiness. Deepening your practice and understanding of Buddhism deepens your faith. This is why President Ikeda said to the future leaders; "No matter how busy you become with organisational issues, and regardless of what cultural activities you're promoting, never forget that the foundation of Gakkai activities is always the two ways of practice and study."

Excerpt from April VC.