Faith and Attitude

Written by By SGI-UK Advisor Mitsuhiro Kaneda, UK Express March 2000 

Today I’d like to talk to you about how to make your prayers as effective as possible.
Firstly, it is very important to set clear goals. If you are sick, your goal will be to get better as quickly as possible; if you have problems with human relationships, you will want to get over these as soon as possible; and if you have financial difficulties, then of course you should be setting goals accordingly.

Once you have decided on the goal, the most important thing to do next is make a strong determination: ‘Whatever happens, I absolutely will attain that goal’. A firm determination like this is very important. The next stage, of course, is prayer. And after chanting daimoku, the next step necessary is to take action in order to realize your goal. Of course, after we’ve done all that, we know what the effect will be: actual proof. If we do not achieve the goal we have set then, in certain cases, we may need to review the determination, set a new goal, and once again strive to achieve it.

Why we need to pray
There are three reasons why we should pray. Firstly, so we can have the same wisdom as the Buddha. Secondly, so that we can have life-force, in other words the energy, the courage, to take action. Thirdly, so that we can benefit from the protection of the shoten zenjin, the Buddhist ‘gods’, the protective functions within the universe.

One point I’d like to make sure that you really understand, is that the shoten zenjin only start to take action and protect us when we ourselves undertake action. So, in order for us to achieve a goal, we need to act. We need to move. We need to make efforts. And it is important that our actions and our efforts are the best we can possibly undertake. To ensure that our actions and efforts are efficient, we need wisdom. Furthermore, if we are to attain the goal we have set ourselves, we need to make constant efforts – and we also need courage.

So we pray to the Gohonzon to have the wisdom to take the best, most efficient action possible; to have the life-force to make constant efforts; and to attract the protection of the shoten zenjin when we take an action. However, even if we chant ever so hard, it will be very difficult to boil that pot of spaghetti unless we take action. And to make sure that we not only boil the spaghetti, but that it is al dente, we need wisdom and we need experience.

Quality of prayer
The quality of our prayer is also extremely important. For example, someone who is sick may simply pray to overcome their illness. Or they may pray to regain their health in order to fight for kosen rufu. There is a very big difference between these two types of prayer.

To take another example, suppose there’s a couple who have been unable to have children, despite trying for a long time. While they may be chanting to have a child as soon as possible, what are their reasons for wanting a child? Are their reasons purely personal, because it would make them happy, because they want to have children? Or are they chanting to have a child do that they can bring this child up to become someone who will be a capable person for kosen rufu? There is a huge difference between these two in terms of quality of prayer.

The reason it is very important for us to focus on the quality of our prayer is that President Ikeda has said that true and sincere prayers for kosen rufu (not prayers aimed dimply at justifying our own point of view) will be answered without fail.

Taking action
Very often, however, members chant a lot of daimoku but do not take any action. Some people don’t take action because they are afraid of the results they might see. They are afraid that they won’t see the result they want, so they don’t take any action. For example, a salaried employee with a fixed income might want to become self-employed, or start his or her own business, but might not take any action for fear of accumulating a lot of debt.

Another common example is found amongst young people who want to get married. Because they’re not sure that the marriage will work out, and that they will live happily ever after, they are full of anxiety. So, before they get married, they think, “Well, maybe we should live together.” Some end up not getting married as a result of having lived together.

So, even when people chant a lot of daimoku, other factors such as personality and human character come into play and prevent people from taking action, even if they are praying.
Of course, taking action also includes Soka Gakkai activities. When you participate in Soka Gakkai activities, you are encouraging others. So you are actually working as a messenger of the Buddha. Inevitably, therefore, all those who participate in Gakkai activities will accumulate good fortune. And because these people accumulate good fortune, they will be able to achieve their goals and show actual proof.

I know that all of us have very different circumstances and situations – some of us may not have that much free time. Nevertheless, I really want to encourage all of you to participate in Gakkai activities because this will allow not only you, but your whole family, to be bathed in good fortune. So in order to achieve our goals, not only do we need to take concrete action, we also need good fortune. That is why Soka Gakkai activities are crucial.

Make up your mind
In Italy, we have a couple who have been living together for fourteen years. Once they came to me because they wanted to receive guidance. I said to them, “You’ve been trying out your relationship by living together for fourteen years now. The fact that it has continued this long, is this not a sign that it is working?

Even though their relationship had been successful and they still wanted to live together, they still weren’t sure whether they should get married. Of course I gave them all kinds of encouragement, but there is one particular point that I would like to share with you. I asked them, “In order to make a firm determination, how much time do you need?” To make a determination requires less than one second. So I asked, “How many seconds there have been in fourteen years?”

You may laugh at this story but please, reflect on your own life.
To sum up, to put Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism into practice, we need to decide, chant and take action.

FAITH AND PRACTICE DOUBT-FREE FAITH
DECIDE

Clarify the goal and make a determination

DECIDE CHANT CHANT
If you have a problem,
Chant one million daimoku

ACT ACT
Make maximum effort;
strive to resolve the problem

EXPERIENCE
Accumulating experiences deepens one’s faith
Theories without experiences are
no more than pure idealism

RESULT
Show actual proof DON’T DOUBT
Faith means having no doubts

BELIEVE

Action

tracyjtz.deviantart.com

by Daisaku Ikeda

To fly, a plane needs the extra push it gets by acceleration down a runway. To get good grades in school, you need the extra push of study before a test. 

 

Whatever you do, to achieve something better, to reach a higher level, you need a push. 

Buddhism teaches practice for oneself and practice for others. If either one is lacking, you cannot practice properly. 

 

The Gohonzon is the concrete manifestation of the very existence of Nichiren Daishonin, who taught kosen-rufu. Because of that, if you only practice gongyo and chant the daimoku and don’t take any other action for the sake of kosen rufu or improving your own life, the Gohonzon will not have its true, full effect. 

 

If, however, you take actions to achieve kosen-rufu, they will serve as that extra push for your own life and help you leap to higher and higher states of mind in your gongyo and chanting as well. And it is only natural that the energy you acquire through the gongyo practice for yourself will be channeled back into your activities for others, for kosen-rufu. 

 

The fact is that the practice of gongyo and your actions in service of kosen-rufu will become one, and together they will unlock the infinite power of the Mystic Law in your life. 

 

In Buddhism, practice is faith. That means action is faith, and without action there can be no true faith. The action I speak of is the way of practice for oneself and for others that is taught in Nichiren Daishonin’s writings. 

Action is the source of blessings and merits. In propagating the teachings, for example, whether the person you are presenting the teachings to arouses faith or not is his problem. The effects of our action of propagating will vary, depending on the person’s capacities and other conditions. 

 

There is no need at all to rejoice or lament over each effect. You can be proud that you have practiced the truest, most wonderful law of life in the universe to the best of your ability and go forward with your head held high. One who has acted for the sake of kosen-rufu is already a great victor in life. 

 

The words "the heads of those who cause affliction will be split in seven pieces" are written on the Gohonzon. 

This is a warning that it is wrong to seek to harm this law of your own being. 

 

Abandoning the teachings or slandering them are self-destructive actions that are bound to split you apart. 

We also find the words "those who make offerings will acquire blessings surpassing the Buddha’s ten names." 

This forceful statement tells us that the merits of one who make offerings to the Gohonzon and spreads the teaching will be far greater than the magnificent merits of the one who makes offerings to Shakyamuni Buddha. 

This is a promise that our personal microcosm will absorb the nourishment of all the blessings in the macrocosm, the whole universe, and be elevated to a state of existence of the highest happiness itself. 

Thus we know that the children of the Buddha who strive for kosen-rufu are each guaranteed to attain the ultimate degree of happiness. There is no one who will be more blessed.

Breaking Through Our Limitations

Culled from General Lecture by Linda Johnson,
SGI-USA 21.3.98

Nothing is impossible with Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. That is the spirit with which we have to learn to live everyday in order to live our lives to the fullest.
Too often we limit ourselves, we settle too frequently for less than what we want. We all started practicing because we wanted to achieve something beyond what we currently had. We have to reawaken to that fact and re-inspire and remind each other of the power of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

In the gosho "On Attaining Buddhahood", Nichiren Daishonin says: If you wish to free yourself, from the sufferings of birth and death you have endured through 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 Myohorenge-kyo (MW,Vol. 1, pg.3)

Nichiren Daishonin says the only difference between Buddha and common mortal is that a common mortal is still deluded. Too often we spend our days denying our potential. We only see our weakness and allow them to frustrate us. We are always looking for answer outside ourselves. But if we're looking outside ourselves, we're looking in the wrong place. We already have the answer. We already possess everything that we need. The solution to our problems is in the wisdom that is already inside of ourselves. We tap it every time we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the knowledge and the expectations that "I have the answer. I just need to chant to pull out."

It is very important that we start practicing aggressively. Whatever you need each moment of your life, you already have it with Nam-myoho-renge-kyo you can connect to it. You are no longer at the mercy of your environment unless you choose to be.

In the gosho, Reply to Kyo-O, Nichiren Daishonin says: Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is like the roar of a lion. What sickness can therefore be an obstacle? (MW, Vol.l, pg.119) In this gosho, Nichiren Daishonin is not just referring to physical illness. He is talking about any problem, any obstacle. It is no mistake that he chose to refer to the lion, which is known as the king of the jungle. A lion uses the same energy to attack any prey, no matter what its size. Nichiren Daishonin goes on in that same gosho to say: "A sword will be useless in the hands of a coward." (MW,Vol.pg.120)

LouiseyLemur

The Lion King

We limit our happiness every single day. We have conditioned ourselves to limits and we limit ourselves. As soon as things get difficult we decide and we convince ourselves that "reality" is telling us that we cannot have it and we retreat. We change our goals and give in to our limitations.

President Ikeda says: When your determination changes, everything else begins to move in the direction you desire. The moment you resolve to be victorious, every nerve and fiber in your being immediately orient themselves toward your success. On the other hand, if you think, "this is never going to work out," at that instant, every cell in your being will be deflated, giving up the fight. Everything then will move in the direction of failure. I want you to understand the subtle workings of the mind. How you orient your mind, the kind of attitude you have, greatly influence both yourself and your environment.

The Buddhist principle of a single life-moment possessing 3,000 realms completely elucidates the true aspect of life's inner workings. Through the power of strong inner resolve, we can transform ourselves, those around us and the land where we live. Each of us has this tool, this "secret weapon." There is no greater treasure. (World Tribune. July 11, 1997 pg.14)

Many times we've been chanting and give up when things don't move. But with what attitude have we been chanting? We must go for our dreams 100%! Never do anything half-hearted. If in your heart you don't believe it will happen, it will not happen. It matters what you do in front of and away from the Gohonzon. Your attitude always matters.

The solution is always daimoku and if you don’t believe that, then chant to believe it. Chant to have the courage to take action. Chant to pullout of your life what you need and when you need it. The moment you feel weak,fight back. President Ikeda says even if you get knocked down five times, get up six. Always have the spirit to get up. We can change anything in the moment. We can change this moment and tomorrow. We must be courageous; we must challenge those things that we do not believe we can achieve. If we never challenge the impossible, we can never, ever know the full power of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Marilyn Monroe

The only person who can achieve our dreams is ourselves. We have to rely on ourselves to achieve it, to do it. Nothing in life brings greater joy than achieving a goal through your own effort. If you are not a coward who quits, you can achieve anything. President Ikeda has been writing a lot to the youth lately, but I tell you he's talking to all of us. He says youth isn't just age. It is spiritual strength. Youth means not to be resistant to
change, to never settle for mediocrity and to continually seek growth.

Making constant effort over our lifetime is the key to our happiness. Always be on guard: look at yourself and ask: Am I limiting myself? It is human nature to want to take the path of least resistance. But the path of least resistance is the path of little change, little growth and a lifetime of unhappiness and frustration.

Chanting abundant daimoku is the key to everything. It puts our lives in rhythm so that we can accomplish everything we need to do. It is important to enjoy morning and evening gongyo and daimoku. It is a very mystical experience when you put your practice first, which in effect is putting your life first. You'd be amazed how much you will get done and enjoy doing it. Chanting lots of daimoku is the gift we give ourselves; it is the key to enjoy life.

Aren't we worth it?
We have to encourage each other to stop settling for less and really test this practice. It means a lot of hard work. When we challenge ourselves, a lot of inner resistance comes out. It's about what we do to ourselves to sabotage ourselves. In reality, there are those who demonstrate exception to every rule. Why can't you be the exception all the time? You have the power within you to do that. Faith is to believe in yourself. Stop denying
that you are a Buddha. All you have to do is manifest it from within. Chant to believe you can manifest it. With the right attitude, you can go forward wholeheartedly. Our reality changes from moment to moment. Do not give in to one perception and let it totally take control over your life.

We have the ability to be completely happy, totally victorious, regardless of what another person says or does: irrespective of what's going on in our environment. But if we don't take charge, we won't achieve it. Every time you find yourself putting limitations on yourself, use it as an opportunity to prove that what you can achieve with Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Our mission is to show the greatness of the law. Nothing is a problem unless we allow it to be. You must use your Buddha nature. Inspire each other to remember from today onward to go for big dreams and big goals. It's time to go for the impossible so that you can really express yourself. It will be the best possible gift you could ever give yourself.