Animated Children's Stories by Ikeda

Daisaku Ikeda is the author of a number of children’s stories, some of which have been illustrated by the celebrated children’s book illustrator Brian Wildsmith and translated into several languages. The stories convey the importance of courage, hope, friendship and peace through the vivid adventures of children in different parts of the world. Twelve of the stories have been adapted and animated for television and broadcast in 25 countries. 

A short introductory video about the author, Daisaku Ikeda. 

Rainbow Mountain

Three friends climb a treacherous mountain to find out what is glittering at its summit. Faced with unexpected challenges, they learn the power of creativity and imagination, which will help them in their quest. 

The Princess and the Moon

The unhappy Sachiko can’t stand the sight of food and is becoming more and more frail and ill. The Moon, who watches over all the world’s children, sends a magical rabbit to intervene. 

The Two Princes

The haughty young prince of Jambe learns from a humble village boy what a true prince is. 

Kanta and the Deer

A story about the friendship between a lonely boy and a magical deer he saves from hunters. 

The Cherry Tree

In devastated postwar Japan, hope and courage are found in unsuspected places. Amidst burnt out buildings and blackened fields, a young boy discovers an aged man tending an old, apparently dead cherry tree. A story about the power of hope. 

The Princess of the Desert Kingdom

A princess and her animal companions venture into the formidable desert in search of a water source to save their ailing kingdom. In the course of their difficult journey, they discover the key to reviving their land.

Source: http://www.daisakuikeda.org/

5 Buddhist Thoughts on Bringing Out Your Best Self

 

by Jihii Jolly

Almost half a year ago many of us made resolutions for the new year.  Perhaps we resolved to do more or less of something, depending on if we were in a glass half full or empty kind of mood. For most, resolutions are born of the desire improve the quality of our lives and kick the habits that prevent us from being healthy, productive, and enjoying great relationships.
But to sustain these resolutions is no small feat; we may not even remember what our resolutions were. Bringing out your best self can be terribly challenging when faced with the daily grind of work, or school, topped with the endless cycle of negative media about tragedy, corruption, and war.
Can Buddhism help? Nichiren Buddhism is centered on the lifelong practice of human revolution or bringing forth our inner reserves of courage, wisdom, and compassion to all of our daily actions and interactions.

Here are five Buddhist resolutions (for any time of year!) on bringing out your best self in a very fundamental way, as explained by philosopher Daisaku Ikeda.

1. Find the strength in your weaknesses.
We often lament our weaknesses. Every day we go over our laundry lists of things we’d like to change about ourselves: “I’m too quiet, slow, careless,” etc. What we don’t realize is that each of these shortcomings are actually also indicative of our strengths. “For example,” explains Ikeda, “a person’s shyness can be transformed into valuable qualities such as prudence and discretion, while someone’s impatience might be transformed into a knack for getting things done quickly and efficiently.” (Discussions on Youth pg. 97) What’s most important is that we don’t begrudge ourselves (or anyone around us) for seemingly undesirable characteristics, but instead, focus our energy and intention on making the best use of those characteristics.

2. Face the things that make you unhappy or uncomfortable.
Running away from the things that make us unhappy is actually what causes suffering. We have to “look unflinchingly at the people and things in our lives that are making us unhappy,” writes Ikeda (Discussions on Youth pg. 100). Anxiety, for example, often comes from uncertainty about our future. If we don’t look squarely at what is making us feel this way, our anxiety only grows. Looking at the source of our fears, which are often smaller and more manageable than we think, makes them easier to conquer.

3. Take the first step now, even if it’s a small one.
Buddhism is a philosophy of action. Getting into the habit of immediately taking the first step toward our goals or tasks, even if it’s uncomfortable, propels us toward the next one, and the next one after that. “Life is a struggle with ourselves,” writes Ikeda. “It is a tug-of-war between moving forward and regressing, between happiness and unhappiness.” (Discussions on Youth pg. 98) He encourages young people to try challenging some task--anything at all--and keep at it until they are certain they have done their best. This helps develop the habit of taking action, which is strengthened by the belief we gain in our capacity to actually get things done.

4. See people and situations for what they really are.
According to Buddhism, every person is endowed with the same limitless potential for enlightenment and happiness no matter who they are or what they’ve done. Their worth isn’t determined by social status, success or wealth. If we strive to view people in this manner, we free ourselves from the delusions of hate or jealousy, because we don’t evaluate the people around us as better as or worse than us based on superficial criteria. “[Buddhism] teaches us to look at a person through the eyes of the Law and the eyes of the Buddha,” writes Ikeda. “In other words, to focus on a person’s life, state of being and what is inside, just as it is, free of external embellishments... Truly respectable are those who based their lives on the truth--on the reality of things.” (Discussions on Youth pg. 30)

5. Courage is the key to developing compassion.
What we typically think of as an act of compassion- simply feeling bad for someone or writing a check to a favorite charity-appear not to require courage.  However, everyday forms of compassion such as checking in on a friend who hasn’t seemed like themselves lately or speaking out when you see someone being manipulated or used, require tremendous courage. As Ikeda shares, “Courage and compassion are two sides of the same coin. Compassion without courage is not genuine. You may have a compassionate thought or impulse, but if you don’t do or say anything, it’s not real compassion.” By mustering the courage to take action to relieve the sufferings of others, we manifest true compassion. In this way, Ikeda explains, “if we act with courage, we find that our compassion for others grows deeper.” (Discussions on Youth pg. 336)

Mistaking Arrogance for Confidence Part One

Nichiren Daishonin was often condemned by his contemporaries as “an extremely arrogant priest”.

Nichiren Daishonin was often condemned by his contemporaries as “an extremely arrogant priest” for his confidence as a votary of the Lotus Sutra to “fulfill the Buddha’s predictions and reveal the truth of his words” (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, pp. 400–01). Just as the Daishonin’s confidence was misconstrued as arrogance, we may be inclined to mistake our arrogance for confidence and others’ confidence for arrogance. One of the five delusive inclinations, arrogance is considered in the Buddhist tradition both as a hindrance to enlightenment and as a cause for suffering. For this reason, mistaking arrogance for confidence is likely to set off the downward spiral of delusion and suffering. The fine line between arrogance and confidence, therefore, must be redrawn more clearly to distinguish happiness from delusion.

Arrogance is to judge one’s self-worth by comparison with others

The first of the seven types of arrogance, which are enumerated in some Buddhist scriptures, points to the essential quality of arrogance—“to think that one is superior to those inferior to oneself and that one is equal to one’s equals” (The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 579). Why is this arrogance? Isn’t it just telling it like it is? What is implied here is that arrogance is essentially our inclination to judge our self-worth by comparing ourselves with others.

Certain comparisons between oneself and others may be objectively true—such as income, IQ or physical appearance. But if we constantly judge our self-worth through comparison with others in whatever standards chosen, we are becoming arrogant. Of course, this is not to deny some merits that comparison and competition bring to our lives—such as motivation for improvement and an opportunity for self-reflection.

Moreover, the correct assessment of our circumstances through comparison is essential to improving our lives. In fact, those living in isolation or unwilling to learn from others are arrogant. Comparison with others becomes a cause for our concern when it becomes a sole measure for judging our existence. Put simply, if we start thinking of our lives as happy or unhappy, meaningful or meaningless, solely based on comparison with others, we may as well consider ourselves as arrogant.

Arrogant people feel good about themselves only through affirming their superiority to others. Our sense of superiority is always relative to whom we are compared with and never constant because of our own changing circumstances. False confidence based on superiority, therefore, easily turns into a feeling of inferiority and self-disparagement, like a millionaire feeling poor among billionaires, a Ph.D. feeling foolish among Nobel laureates or a healthy person feeling overweight among supermodels. This is why false humility or self-disparagement is considered as arrogance in Buddhism. (See the nine types of arrogance in The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 457.) Put another way, arrogance and self-disparagement are two sides of the same coin; we cannot have one without the potential for the other.

Genuinely confident people, on the other hand, feel great about themselves without comparing themselves with others. Such people are aware of some intrinsic personal strength or merit worthy of praise and respect. Confident people can put into perspective their ups and downs of life in this society driven by comparison and competition. Their missed promotion or lost love does not spell out their failure as a human being. Their financial success or academic achievement does not make them superior to their peers. So long as they continue to be aware of their innate positive quality and strive to cultivate it, people will remain confident regardless of their external circumstances. And Buddhism teaches that the most reliable source of confidence is our innate Buddha nature.

Arrogance is egotism; confidence is altruism

What clearly distinguishes the arrogant from the confident is whether or not they desire and act for others’ happiness greater than their own. Arrogant people are keenly aware that their self-esteem depends upon their superiority to others. So they often take delight in pitying the less fortunate since they can reaffirm their superior status by doing so.

The “kindness” of the arrogant, however, extends only so far as it supports their self-importance; it continues as long as the less fortunate remain less fortunate. Precisely for this reason, the arrogant cannot will and act for the supreme happiness of others because they fear it would only diminish their own happiness. This explains why it is often easier to feel ambiguous pity for our underpaid coworkers than to share their joy over their sudden promotion. One’s loss must be another’s gain—this is the basic assumption of life held by the arrogant who cannot stop comparing their fortune with that of others.

Confidence, on the other hand, makes genuine altruism possible. Since confident people’s self-worth does not depend upon others, they are free to care for others and fight for their happiness with the hope that it exceeds even their own. In fact, the confident see their contribution to others’ happiness as proof of their expanding humanity and as a source of great joy.

Confidence is to appreciate oneself even in the worst possible state.
In the late winter of 1272, Nichiren Daishonin wrote with his numbing hand: “I, Nichiren, am the richest man in all of present-day Japan. I have dedicated my life to the Lotus Sutra, and my name will be handed down in ages to come” (WND, 268). A reformer who had challenged the corrupt religious authority of his day, the Daishonin was exiled, after the failed execution, to a remote northern island of Japan, expected to die naturally or to be murdered. Destitute, he was living in a hut in a field scattered with abandoned corpses, and everything pointed to his approaching death into oblivion.

These words, however, clearly express the Daishonin’s confidence that he gave his life to the spread of the essential teaching of Buddhism, that is, the universality of Buddhahood. His life meant something for him, although it seemed to have come to nothing. When he lost everything, he gained one thing that mattered most—indomitable confidence that all people, no matter how miserable they may appear, have the supreme potential of Buddhahood.

Through his own example, Nichiren Daishonin demonstrated that confidence need not depend on possession or circumstances. Genuine confidence is to love and praise ourselves even in the worst possible state, not for how we appear to others, but for what we are in the innermost of life.

(Originally published in the World Tribune, March 7, 2003)

Mistaking Arrogance for Confidence Part Two

Arrogance is insecurity; confidence is peace of mind

 

The difference between arrogance and confidence also shows in our emotional state. Arrogance makes us insecure whereas confidence gives us peace of mind. The more arrogant we become, the more keenly we feel the dependence of our happiness upon the misfortune and weakness of others. This ironic dependence makes the seeming confidence of the arrogant increasingly insecure. The more they bolster this false self-confidence on the outside, the less secure they become inside; so the ‘happiness’ of the arrogant is self-consuming.

Arrogance is needy; confidence is free

As mentioned earlier, confident people are deeply aware that they derive their confidence from strengthening their innate qualities and need not depend on others. So the more confident people are, the more peaceful they will be with both themselves and others. Even in disagreement or when pointing out the errors of others, confident people can remain calm and open-minded. Since they need not defend their self-worth by ‘winning’ in the argument, confident people can stay focused on the merits of different views and opinions without becoming hurtful toward others.

Nichiren Daishonin, for example, wrote from exile, “Whatever obstacles I might encounter, so long as persons of wisdom do not prove my teachings to be false, I will never yield!” (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 280). His vow to be steadfast in his belief comes with the condition—“so long as persons of wisdom do not prove my teachings to be false.” This was an expression of the unruffled openness of the confident, not of the blind obstinacy of the arrogant.

Think about how people behave at work. Unlike an arrogant manager who takes any suggestion as a personal criticism and everyone in the office as a potential threat, a confident manager takes even personal criticism as an opportunity for self-reflection and further improvement. The inner state of an arrogant person is constantly agitated, waiting for any opportunity to assert a sense of superiority. But the inner state of a confident person absorbs even an untoward event like a pebble tossed into a bathtub, as opposed to a wineglass.

As it is clear now, arrogance is not “too much” confidence. The essential difference between arrogance and confidence is not one of quantity or degree, but of quality and origin. Arrogance is needy and dependent on others, derived from comparison with the external. Confidence is free and independent of others, found and cultivated in the self.

‘Absolute superiority’ is a dangerous illusion

Mistaking arrogance for confidence distorts our view of humanity—the way we relate to others and ourselves. Such misconception spells out only tragic suffering for individuals and society. Long before his rise to power, Adolf Hitler wrote: “Self-confidence must be inculcated in the young national comrade from childhood on. His whole education and training must be so ordered as to give him the conviction that he is absolutely superior to others” (Mein Kampf, trans. Ralph Manheim, p. 411).

The epitome of arrogance, Hitler mistook the illusion of “absolute superiority” as supreme confidence. He debased education, turning it from a vehicle of equality and happiness into a cogwheel in the evil machinery of discrimination and destruction. Education must teach confidence, not arrogance. Likewise, Buddhist learning is to strengthen our faith in the inherent Buddha nature of others and ourselves, not to promote elitism among believers.

Nichiren Daishonin was well aware of the danger of judging one’s self-worth through comparison with others. The Daishonin, therefore, admonished his disciples: “When you look at those of superior capacity, do not disparage yourself. The Buddha’s true intention was that no one, even those of inferior capacity, be denied enlightenment. Conversely, when you compare yourself with persons of inferior capacity, do not be arrogant and overproud. Even persons of superior capacity may be excluded from enlightenment if they do not devote themselves wholeheartedly” (WND, 62).

Here the Daishonin explains that one’s potential for enlightenment is in no way diminished by one’s capacity to understand Buddhism since all people are equally endowed with supreme Buddhahood. What is most important for our happiness is to believe in this intrinsic potential shared by all people. Our tendency to compare our capacity with that of others will only lead us astray from genuine happiness.

Nichiren Daishonin, therefore, urges us to win over our arrogance in order to enjoy authentic happiness: “Now, if you wish to attain Buddhahood, you have only to lower the banner of your arrogance, cast aside the staff of your anger, and devote yourself exclusively to the one vehicle of the Lotus Sutra” (WND, 58–59). Here the Daishonin indicates the close relationship between arrogance and anger. T’ien-t’ai, a 6th-century Chinese Buddhist scholar, described those in the state of anger as “always desiring to be superior to others” (Gosho Zenshu, p. 430). Anger is akin to arrogance; it may be described as frustrated arrogance.

As the Daishonin suggests here, we can overcome our deep-seated arrogance and anger through our devotion to the “one vehicle of the Lotus Sutra”—that is, the teaching of the universality of Buddhahood and its essential practice as chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. As we deepen our confidence in our own Buddhahood and this selfsame potential of others, the need to compare ourselves with others will diminish, and we will be free to appreciate and enjoy lives of our own making.

(Originally published in the World Tribune, March 14, 2003)

One Daimoku can Permeate the Entire Universe

Even one daimoku can permeate the entire universe. 

How much greater then is daimoku's capacity to move anything when it is chanted with sincerity and determination! Daimoku chanted with the profound conviction that "my life is the entity of the Mystic Law" or with the resolve that: "I will dedicate my life to spreading the Mystic Law as an emissary of the Buddha" cannot fail to draw a response from the Gohonzon. 

Such daimoku cannot fail to permeate the universe. Invisible radio waves travel vast distances through space, reaching Mars and Venus. In the same way, our inner determination, which is unobservable to common mortals, activates the forces in the universe—the heavenly deities and the Buddhas throughout the ten directions—and appears as solid actual proof in accordance with the principle of 3,000 realms in a single moment of life. 

Faith means making 100 percent effort—in our daimoku and in our actions. When we practice in this way, the Buddhist gods will lend us their protection. We mustn't have a complacent, dependent attitude in faith, chanting haphazardly without definite goals, making only halfhearted efforts in the belief that we'll be protected automatically. Deep determination and unshakable character are vital. Those with these qualities are second to none in faith. 

When your determination changes, everything will begin to move in the direction you desire. The moment you resolve to he victorious, every nerve and fiber in your being will immediately orient itself toward your success. On the other hand, if you think, "This is never going to work out," then at that instant every cell in your being will be deflated and give up the fight. Then everything really will move in the direction of failure. Anyone who has ever made a resolution discovers that the strength of that determination fades in time. The moment you feel that is when you should make a fresh determination. Tell yourselves: "OK! I will start again from now!" If you fall down seven times, get up the eighth. Don't give up when you feel discouraged just pick yourselves up and renew your determination each time. 

Life is a struggle with ourselves. It is a tug-of-war between progress and regression, between happiness and unhappiness. Those short on willpower or self-motivation should chant daimoku with conviction to become people of strong will who can tackle any problem with seriousness and determination. 

Daisaku Ikeda

Differing Views on the Mentor/Disciple Relationship

"The purpose of Buddhism is not to produce dupes who blindly follow their leader. It is to produce people of wisdom who can judge right from wrong on their own in the clear mirror of Buddhism." (SGI President Ikeda, My Dear Friends in America, p. 103)

The importance of the mentor–disciple relationship is clearly stated in the teachings of Nichiren Daishonin. He writes: “If there is someone who knows which of the Buddhist teachings are true and which are false, then I must seek him out, make him my teacher, and treat him with appropriate respect.” (WND-1, 105) Both Nichiren Shoshu and the Soka Gakkai teach the way of mentor and disciple. But their teachings are quite different. They can’t both be right, can they?

Nichiren Daishonin writes: “Shakyamuni Buddha who attained enlightenment countless kalpas ago, the Lotus Sutra that leads all people to Buddhahood, and we ordinary human beings are in no way different or separate from one another. To chant Myoho-renge-kyo with this realization is to inherit the ultimate Law of life and death. This is a matter of the utmost importance for Nichiren’s disciples and lay supporters, and this is what it means to embrace the Lotus Sutra.” (“The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life,” WND-1, 216,)

There is no distinction or separation between the Buddha, the Law and ordinary people. They are equal. They are one. This is the essence of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism. As he says this is the essence of what it means to embrace the Lotus Sutra. It is the basis for the heritage of the lifeblood of the ultimate Law of life and death. 

He also states: “Never seek any other way to inherit the ultimate Law of life and death, and manifest it in your life. Only then will you realize that earthly desires are enlightenment, and that the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana. Even embracing the Lotus Sutra would be useless without the heritage of faith.” (WND-1, 218)

In stark contrast with what the Daishonin says are the teachings of Nichiren Shoshu:"Concerning the relation between the priesthood and the laity, according to the lineage of the Master and disciple, a difference does exist between a priest and a lay person. More specifically, while this difference is a matter of course to members of the faith in regards to the High Priest, who possesses the Bestowal of the Living Essence of the Law, as regards a member’s local temple head priest, the Master to whom the Living Essence of the Law had been passed on by hand, it is only when members of the faith persevere in the practice of their faith through the Master and disciple relationship that the Daishonin’s Living Essence of the Law begins to flow in their lives, with the priest and lay members together fusing with the Body of the Law of the Gohonzon, becoming the one Buddha of the True Buddha of the Mystic Law of the Lotus. In this way, through the True Body and True Appearance of attained faith, although the priest and lay believer become one equal body, because one reaches that stage through the actual aspect of the observance of faith, an absolute difference between priest and lay person exists in the lineage of the Master and disciple. (Dai-Nichiren Special Edition III, Nichiren Shoshu Bureau of Religious Affairs)

No matter how lofty and noble they try to make it sound, Nichiren Shoshu teaches, in fact, that the Buddha, the Law and we ordinary people are indeed different and separate from one another. They teach “an absolute difference between priest and lay person exists in the lineage of the Master and disciple.”There is no oneness or equality in their understanding of mentor and disciple. There is no oneness or equality in Nichiren Shoshu. If, as they say, there is an   absolute distinction between us several questions arise: Is it, according to Nichiren Shoshu, even possible for lay believers to attain Buddhahood in their present form? Would the enlightenment of lay believers be somehow different or diminished from the enlightenment of priests? If our enlightenment is not the equal of the priests, it is certainly much different from the enlightenment of the High Priest who is the Master who possesses the Bestowal of the Living Essence of the Law. What does that mean? In what way are we different?It seems clear that Nichiren Shoshu misrepresents what the Daishonin means when he says we “are in no way different or separate from one another”. 

Nichiren Daishonin writes: “The Buddha is like a person awake and living beings are like persons dreaming. Therefore when the latter wake from their empty dreams of birth and death and return to their waking state of original enlightenment, they are said to attain Buddhahood in their present form, to gain the great wisdom of equality, the Law that is without distinctions, and to understand that all are able to achieve the Buddha way, for there is only this one doctrine.” (WND-2, 841)

In his “Reply to the Lay Believers in the Province of Sado,” Nikko Shonin states: “The Daishonin teaches following the correct path of mentor and disciple to attain Buddhahood. If one makes even the slightest mistake in the way of mentor and disciple, then even though one upholds the Lotus Sutra one will fall into the hell of incessant suffering” (Nichiko Hori, Fuji Nikko Shonin Shoden, Detailed Biography of Nikko Shonin, p. 429).  

Nikko Shonin, which Nichiren Shoshu professes to follow, was clear about this point. I don’t know how one could reach any other conclusion than that Nichiren Shoshu has made more than “the slightest mistake.” They seem to be leading others along the certain path to the hell of incessant suffering.

In sharp contrast, we should look at what Josei Toda experienced in prison after pondering a passage from the Lotus Sutra that confused him; and had confused Buddhist scholars for more than 2000 years. What Toda realized is ‘the Buddha’ is ‘my life’! The Buddha, the Law and the ordinary person, Josei Toda, are in no way different or separate, but one and the same. He realized the ‘oneness of mentor and disciple’. 

This realization revitalized Buddhism in the modern world. Toda realized the oneness of Buddha and ordinary people. And as a result, members of the SGI can chant to the Gohonzon with this realization and inherit the ultimate Law of life and death for ourselves, as we are, in our present form—exactly as the Daishonin intended.

SGI President Ikeda writes: “When a movement imagines it can assume absolute, inviolable authority, it has stagnated. Then, though some of the original ideals may linger, the movement no longer has the vibrant power to realize them.

“Some people incorrectly interpret the mentor-disciple relationship as one of formalized superiority and submission. But, according to the Buddhist teachings, this should not be the case. The Buddhist philosophy that all are equally worthy of respect is no abstract doctrine. It must become the core of one’s own way of life.

“To truly achieve this in Buddhist practice, the disciple needs a mentor who is both a great teacher and a fellow pursuer of self-improvement. Herein lies the true mentor-disciple way. In the simplest terms, it is a relationship of equality between companions who share the will for self-improvement.” 

—Greg Martin, SGI-USA Vice General Director

 (March 26, 2010 World Tribune, p. 8)

Freeing the Caged Bird Within

 

by indraajeet

The Buddha nature refers to the potential for attaining Buddhahood, a state of awakening filled with compassion and wisdom.

Shin Yatomi SGI-USA Study Department Leader

Key Points

1) The Lotus Sutra stresses the universality of Buddhahood by recognizing its potential in those denied enlightenment in other Buddhist teachings. The tradition of the Buddha nature concept teaches that we must challenge our delusions to reveal our Buddha nature.
2) Nichiren Daishonin teaches that when we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, we are praising the Buddha nature of all living beings and, at the same time, bringing forth this supreme potential of life from within our own lives. The key to manifesting our Buddha nature lies in our confidence in its existence.

Food for Thoughts

• Do you sometimes feel like "I can never attain enlightenment" or "I'm already a Buddha, so I don't have to do anything"?
• What is wrong with these two attitudes?
• How does each attitude distort the teaching of the Buddha nature?

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The Buddha nature refers to the potential for attaining Buddhahood, a state of awakening filled with compassion and wisdom. Although the Buddha nature and Buddhahood are sometimes used interchangeably, strictly speaking, the Buddha nature is one's potential for becoming a Buddha, and Buddhahood is the manifest state of that potential. Through the development of the Buddha nature concept, Buddhahood became the universal principle of authentic happiness rather than the isolated awakening of one gifted person.

Of all the early Mahayana scriptures, the Lotus Sutra stands out in terms of representing the view of salvation from within. The Lotus Sutra-part of which possibly dates from the first century bce-repeatedly emphasizes the universality of Buddhahood. For example, it states, "If there are those who hear the Law, / then not a one will fail to attain Buddhahood" (ls, 41). It also states, "The original vow of the Buddhas / was that the Buddha way, which they themselves practice, / should be shared universally among living beings / so that they too may attain this same way" (ls, 41).

The Lotus Sutra stresses the universality of Buddhahood by recognizing its potential in those denied enlightenment in other Buddhist teachings. For example, many Mahayana sutras asserted that monastics and solitary mendicants were incapable of attaining Buddhahood. Incapable as well, in some Buddhist traditions, were women and evil men. The Lotus Sutra, however, recognizes the potential for Buddhahood in all categories of people denied enlightenment elsewhere.

Another important feature of the Lotus Sutra is that all people are acknowledged as the children of the Buddha. The Buddha's disciples proclaim: "So we did not know that we were in truth the sons of the Buddha. But now at last we know it" (ls, 86). The sutra also explains, "And if in future existences / one can read and uphold this sutra, / he will be a true son of the Buddha" (ls, 181). All people, the sutra teaches, are related to Shakyamuni-that is, they share the Buddha's spiritual makeup and therefore will eventually develop into Buddhas, just as a child inevitably grows into an adult.

Nichiren writes: "Myoho-renge-kyo is the Buddha nature of all living beings.... The Buddha nature that all these beings possess is called by the name Myoho-rengekyo" (wnd, 131). Regarding how to manifest one's innate Buddha nature, Nichiren explains: "When we revere Myoho-renge-kyo inherent in our own life as the object of devotion, the Buddha nature within us is summoned forth and manifested by our chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. This is what is meant by 'Buddha.' To illustrate, when a caged bird sings, birds who are flying in the sky are thereby summoned and gather around, and when the birds flying in the sky gather around, the bird in the cage strives to get out. When with our mouths we chant the Mystic Law, our Buddha nature, being summoned, will invariably emerge" (wnd, 887).

In Nichiren's metaphor, our innate Buddha nature, whose name is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, is a bird trapped in the cage of ignorance. In other words, our deluded minds create this cage that imprisons our Buddha nature. But when we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon, which expresses Nichiren's enlightened life and the potential of all people, our dormant Buddha nature becomes activated.

The singing of the caged bird is our chanting, and the birds flying in the sky are the Buddha nature in our environment, particularly as it is expressed in the Gohonzon. Through our chanting, the Buddha nature within our lives and the Buddha nature inherent in the universe begin their dynamic interaction.
For Nichiren's metaphor to work, however, it is necessary for the caged bird to recognize the birds in the sky as being its own kind. In other words, when we pray to the Gohonzon, rather than thinking of it as an external power or deity, we must think of it as the mirror image of our own Buddha nature. If the caged bird thinks of itself as an elephant, it is unlikely to give the slightest thought to flying.

Nichiren Buddhism clarifies that the teaching of the Buddha nature is a teaching of faith and practice. All people have it, but not many can believe in it. Furthermore, some of those who believe in their Buddha nature may not practice to manifest it, erroneously thinking-I'm already a Buddha, so I don't have to do anything. One's faith in the Buddha nature must be expressed in one's actions to manifest it.

Those who see the universal Buddha nature of oneself and others and work to awaken it in all people are already Buddhas, for such actions belong to none other than a Buddha. As we cultivate our inherent Buddha nature through our conviction and actions to manifest it no matter our circumstances, we begin to see it and experience it. In our everyday lives, seeing may be believing. But in the world of Buddhism, believing in the Buddha nature is the first step toward seeing it.