Linda Johnson’s speech by Mark A. Grasso (2001)
This is a brief summary of a speech by Linda Johnson. She is an SGI-USA leader in California and presented this speech to the SQl-USA Arts Division on 29-may-2001. In addition to taking responsibility for several thousand SQl-USA members in Southern California, Linda Johnson is also a practicing criminal lawyer. She supervises nine other lawyers and carries her own case load.
Supported by this insight, we return to the Gohonzon and our Buddhist faith, practice and study [‘shin, gyo, gaku’] to challenge our own inherent doubt and replace it with true, unshakeable confidence.
I believe this expresses a fundamental point of guidance in
the Daishonin’s
Buddhism for putting faith into practice to fulfill our
dreams.
This is a brief summary of a speech by Linda Johnson. She is an SGI-USA leader in California and presented this speech to the SQl-USA Arts Division on 29-may-2001. In addition to taking responsibility for several thousand SQl-USA members in Southern California, Linda Johnson is also a practicing criminal lawyer. She supervises nine other lawyers and carries her own case load.
In her talk, she shares her insights regarding the Buddhist
principle
of’esho funi’, ‘the inseparability of living beings
and their environment’, and how to put this principle into
practice
in order to fulfill one’s dreams.
To state her main point; we practice this Buddhism of
Nichiren Daishonin
in order to fulfill all of our dreams in life. In the process
of fulfilling
our dreams by practicing Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we will have the
opportunity
to encourage others by sharing our own experiences. We might
consider
our experiences to be ‘living’ Buddhist ‘parables’
that we use to share Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism with
others.
In this sense, pursuing our dreams by using
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is
‘jigyo’, or ‘practice for ourselves’ and using
our experiences to encourage others is ‘keta’, or ‘practice
for others’. Using our experiences to encourage others, gives
tremendous power to our own prayers and creates even greater
joy and
satisfaction in our life.
Whereas most of us see a clear separation between ourselves
and our
environment [social, natural, etc.], the principle of ‘esho
funi’
states that, in fact, there is no separation whatsoever. What
we do,
the actions that we take with our thoughts, words and deeds,
is always
reflected in our surroundings.
Often when we chant daimoku and make effort for some goal, it
seems
like we draw opposition from our surroundings. It is normal to
take
this negative reaction as a ‘sign’ or an indication that
we cannot achieve our goal.
However, as she points out, according to ‘esho funi’, our
surroundings are the reflection of our ‘true heart’, our
true conviction, not the cause of it. And, if our true heart
is, “I
cannot do it”, our surroundings are equally going to agree.
Using the principle of ‘esho funi’ means that we recognize
that our environment is only and always the reflection of our
own true
life-state. From that perspective, our environment is showing
us exactly
the parts of our life that cause us to give up, to give up on
ourselves.
Supported by this insight, we return to the Gohonzon and our Buddhist faith, practice and study [‘shin, gyo, gaku’] to challenge our own inherent doubt and replace it with true, unshakeable confidence.
Striving for a dream always means encountering our own
‘doubting’
selves. However, challenging our inherent weakness and
pursuing our
dream is exactly the action that develops true confidence.
Because we are Buddhas, we inherently possess every resource
necessary
to achieve our dreams. There is no one any better than we are.
Neither
is there anyone who is any less than we are. And by striving
for our
own dream using, as Nichiren Daishonin says, “the mighty sword
of the Lotus Sutra”, the Gohonzon, we gain the experience to
fullfill
our dreams and encourage others.
Thoughts concerning this speech by Mark A. Grasso: We
validate the
power of our prayer whenever we pull obstacles from our
environment
in precise opposition to our goal. Everyone can have a dream.
However,
reaching that dream necessarily means developing one’s
capacity
to embrace that dream with one’s whole heart, with one’s
whole confidence.
Developing the capacity to embrace one’s dream
wholeheartedly,
comes from the struggle against opposition. In other words, in
order
to have a dream, we must be equally prepared to face the
challenge of
fulfilling that dream.
This is where, I believe, most of us hesitate. To paraphrase
Nichiren
Daishonin: “It is only lack of courage that has prevented us
from
achieving Buddhahood until now.” What is required, is the
courage
to overcome our own ‘cowardly’ nature and make the
determination
to indeed, call forth the opposition that will train us in
order to
fulfill our goal.
At the level of a Buddha, Nichiren Daishonin declared that
unless he
could call forth the “Three Powerful Enemies” [as described
in the Lotus Sutra who persecute the ‘votary of the Lotus
Sutra’],
then he was not the true ‘votary of the Lotus Sutra’. First
and foremost, Nichiren Daishonin based himself upon the
standard of
actual proof.
One’s powerful prayer, based on ‘Myoho’, will always
call forth opposition as well as support and power in order to
fulfill
one’s dreams. However, our fundamental posture in prayer or
‘ichinen’
[‘determination’] is important. In “The Opening of
the Eyes (II)” Gosho, after raising the question about his
apparent
lack of protection by the ‘heavenly deities’ who promised
in the Lotus Sutra to protect the ‘votary of the Lotus Sutra’,
Nichiren Daishonin declared:
"This I will state: Let the gods forsake me. Let all
persecutions
assail me. Still I will give my life for the sake of the Law.
Here I will
make a great vow. Though I may be offered the rulership of Japan
if I
would only abandon the Lotus Sutra, accept the teachings of the
Meditation
Sutra, and look forward to rebirth in the Pure Land, though I
might be
told that my mother and father will have their heads cut off if I
do not
recite the Nembutsu -- whatever obstacles I might encounter, so
long as
persons of wisdom do not prove my teachings false, I will never
yield!
All other troubles are no more to me than dust before the wind. I
will
be the pillar of Japan. I will be the eyes of Japan. I will be
the great
ship of Japan. This is my vow, and I will never forsake it!”
[The
Opening of the Eyes (II), WND, p. 280, written in March 1272
from exile
on Sado Island]
No matter what our dream, the determination to achieve it is
in no
way different from this.He further stated to Shijo Kingo and
his wife
and to their infant daughter, Kyo’o: “The mighty sword of
the Lotus Sutra [Gohonzon] must be wielded by one courageous
in faith.
Then one will be as strong as a demon armed with an iron
staff.”
[Reply to Kyo’o, WND, p. 4121
