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FEATURE
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4
Debbie Ripley
A happiness revolution
In the fourth of his articles, Robert Harrap introduces the practice of Nichiren Buddhism as
the way for people to overcome the sufferings in their lives and to attain absolute happiness
He was moved to seek an answer to
the questions of human suffering.
Why do we suffer? What causes
suffering? And what can we do to
overcome that suffering and live
happy lives?
awake. He finally became aware of the interconnectedness of
all life. He understood the rhythm of life, the process of cause
and effect and the vast reservoir of potential within his life. He
also saw these existing in other phenomena, in nature and in
other people.
He then met up with some of his former companions and
shared his realisations with them. They started to call him
▼
E
ven though they may differ in their interpretations of
Buddhist teachings, most Buddhist traditions agree on
the main biographical aspects of the Buddha’s life. It
is generally accepted that Siddhartha Gautama was a royal
prince of the Shakya clan who left his sheltered and privileged
home in the palace to set out on a spiritual journey, having
had four encounters each of which had a profound impact on
him. On four different occasions, outside the palace, he saw
someone who was ill, someone who was very old, a corpse
and a holy man. These encounters led him to distinguish
between the comfortable life he was living and the sufferings
which people had to deal with in their daily lives. He was
moved to seek an answer to the questions of human suffering.
Why do we suffer? What causes suffering? And what can we
do to overcome that suffering and live happy lives?
First experimenting with the other religious practices which
various holy men were following, then abandoning them as
inadequate to answer the questions he had set himself, he
finally entered a deep meditation through which he was able
to awaken to the true nature of life and realise why people
suffer. One of the definitions of a ‘Buddha’ is someone who is
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Feature
By basing its rule on the principles
of the Lotus Sutra (in other words,
a deep respect for life), the
country would become a safe and
prosperous land
▼
Shakyamuni (‘the sage of the Shakyas’1) and a community
of followers started to gather to hear him teach what he had
understood. It is at this point that different Buddhist traditions
give different emphasis to the teachings that have been
handed on through the centuries. In time different schools
emerged, some monastic, some lay, which interpreted the
Buddha’s many teachings in a variety of ways. The early
approach, often associated with monastic precepts (and the
‘Theravadin’ approach is an example of this), contrasts with
later developments, such as the ‘Mahayana’ (or ‘Greater
Vehicle’) which concentrated less on rules of behaviour and
emphasised the compassionate behaviour of the bodhisattva
to take away people’s suffering and to replace it with joy.
It is quite common, on picking up a general introduction to
Buddhism, to read about the role played by ‘the Four Noble
Truths’ in dealing with suffering. These are teachings that
are said to have been taught very early on in Buddhism and
have been adopted by many traditions. The four truths are: (1)
all existence is suffering; (2) suffering is caused by craving;
(3) the eradication of craving brings about the cessation of
suffering and enables one to attain nirvana; (4) there is a
path by which this eradication can be achieved, namely the
discipline of the Eightfold Path.2
However, writing this from the perspective of the Nichiren
Buddhist tradition, it is important to note that Nichiren
Daishonin relies on a different set of principles which were
developed from the Lotus Sutra, a Mahayana text which is
said to contain the essence of all the previous teachings of
Shakyamuni Buddha. In one of his earliest letters, written in
1255, the Daishonin explains his approach to the question
of suffering:
If you wish to free yourself from the sufferings of birth and
death you have endured since time without beginning and
to attain without fail unsurpassed enlightenment in this
lifetime, you must perceive the mystic truth that is originally
inherent in all living beings. This truth is Myoho-renge-kyo.
Chanting Myoho-renge-kyo will therefore enable you to grasp
the mystic truth innate in all life.3
On one level the expression Myoho-renge-kyo is the title of the
Lotus Sutra; on another, deeper, level, Nichiren Daishonin sees
this phrase as the essence of the Buddha’s teachings and the
way to stimulate and activate the Buddha nature inherent in
every person. He took the title of the sutra, added the action
word Nam. This means: ‘I devote myself to’ and indicates the
elements of action and attitude required to attain Buddhahood
in this lifetime. Nichiren Daishonin taught that chanting this
phrase (Nam-myoho-renge-kyo) was the way to draw out the
Buddha’s courage, compassion and wisdom from within one’s
own life. When we do that, when we reveal our Buddhahood,
we are able to transform our sufferings into enlightenment.
The reason that Nichiren Daishonin preferred the Lotus
Sutra to the other interpretations of Buddhism that were
being taught in Japan in the thirteenth century is because it
is a teaching of equality and respect that enables ordinary
people to reveal their potential here and now. Other forms
of Buddhism seemed to imply that if enlightenment was
possible at all, it was something to hope for after death, or
after complicated practices or austerities, or that it was not
for everyone. The Lotus Sutra makes it clear that everyone
has the potential to reveal their Buddhahood, even evil
people and women (who were denied it in other teachings). It
also refers to innumerable bodhisattvas who emerged from
beneath the earth, vowing to spread Buddhism in the future.
As we studied in last month’s article, it was the principle of
the ‘three thousand realms in a single moment of life’ which
the Chinese Buddhist thinker, T’ien-t’ai, had devised from the
Lotus Sutra which gave documentary and theoretical evidence
for this potential for everyone to become a Buddha. Nichiren
Daishonin showed through his own example the actual proof
of maintaining the Buddha’s life‑state in the midst of extremely
challenging circumstances.
What Nichiren Daishonin taught in thirteenth-century Japan
was an empowering and transformative teaching, yet the
authorities, both political and religious, were not pleased by
his actions. From the day he first taught the benefit of chanting
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo on 28 April 1253 he encountered
jealousy, obstacles and persecution. Nevertheless, Nichiren
was able to demonstrate that the Buddhahood he was
revealing was stronger, more powerful and more creative
than the negativity directed towards him. Despite challenges
including exile and attempted execution his own example is
the greatest testimonial for the validity of the power of Nammyoho-renge-kyo. His letters, particularly those written in exile,
demonstrate an extraordinarily elevated life‑condition, more
concerned for the well-being of his disciples than for his own
dire situation.
One of his most important writings (‘On Establishing the
Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land’) was written to
show the most powerful person in Japan that the problems
that the country faced could be resolved by a change in the
underlying philosophy of government. By basing its rule on the
principles of the Lotus Sutra (in other words, a deep respect
for life), the country would become a safe and prosperous
land. Nichiren Daishonin urged the rulers to adopt the Lotus
Sutra as the guiding philosophy of the country. He states: ‘You
must quickly reform the tenets that you hold in your heart
and embrace [the Lotus Sutra].’4 By the time he died in 1282,
Nichiren Daishonin had laid out the philosophical framework
for Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to make a difference to the world.
When two twentieth-century educators, Tsunesaburo
Makiguchi and Josei Toda became interested in Nichiren
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It will create a society where
everyone, regardless of their
faith background, will have the
opportunity to fulfil their potential
Magdalena Taenzler
Buddhism in the 1920s it was because of the principles of
empowerment and transformation that lie at the heart of its
philosophy. Makiguchi developed an education system based
on the ideas of value creation and founded the Soka Gakkai5
on 18 November 1930. Both men would be imprisoned by
the military authorities during the Second World War, with
Makiguchi dying on 18 November 1944, and Toda being
released, having had a realisation about his role to transform
society based on the principles of the Lotus Sutra.
Trying to find a modern way to express the process by which
a person ‘becomes enlightened’ or ‘attains Buddhahood’,
Josei Toda coined the phrase ‘human revolution’ to explain
how we transform from a deluded and unenlightened ‘common
mortal’ and are able to reveal our Buddhahood. This human
revolution expresses in contemporary terms the inner
transformation that takes place as we bring out our greater
qualities, together with the impact that our transformation has
on our environment at the same time.
Josei Toda died in April 1958 and the Soka Gakkai was
to be led by his close disciple, Daisaku Ikeda, who would in
time become the president of the worldwide Soka Gakkai
International which was established in 1975. The SGI
continues to develop based on the principles of Nichiren
Buddhism, rooted in the Lotus Sutra and always intending to
deal with the same question which started the whole Buddhist
movement: what are the causes of suffering and what can
we do to overcome them? And then, rather than just not
suffering, how can we live creatively fulfilling lives? Through
chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo we reveal our Buddhahood and
transform our sufferings into a source of happiness. It is by
finding ways to encourage individuals to reform their hearts,
reveal their potential and make a positive contribution to
their local communities that not only they, but the wider world
around them, will see the influence of this more enlightened
approach to life.
Nichiren Buddhism and the SGI movement are spreading
around the world because they are an accessible way of
not only understanding but also realising the potential we
all have as human beings. It may sound peculiar to modern
ears to suggest that we are a movement which seeks the
widespread attainment of Buddhahood, but what this really
means is a happiness revolution where people start to deeply
understand and develop their role in the world. It is a shift
in emphasis from the small ego to the greater self. It is a
way of living which will enhance not just the individual but
the whole of society and our environment. It is not about
austerity but about wisdom and compassion. It will create a
society where everyone, regardless of their faith background,
will have the opportunity to fulfil their potential. It will not be
an overnight transformation, because it is about one person
at a time developing their life‑condition, but the momentum
is increasing.
In 1961 there were eight people chanting in Europe; now,
in 2014 there is an eighth of a million (125,000). As people
start on their own journey and see what Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
can do for them, the most important place is the local district:
small groups of people meeting to chant, study and share
experiences of transformation, of becoming happy in their
daily lives. If Shakyamuni Buddha were alive today, he would,
I am sure, wholeheartedly approve of the SGI movement to
transform people’s sufferings, indeed to transform society,
based on the principles of the Lotus Sutra. ■
1 Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism (Soka Gakkai Japan, 2002) p. 581.
2 ‘The Eightfold Path’ consists of: (1) right views, (2) right thinking, (3) right
speech, (4) right action, (5) right way of life, (6) right endeavour, (7) right
mindfulness, and (8) right meditation.
3 Nichiren Daishonin, ‘On Attaining Buddhahood in this Lifetime’ (WND‑1, p. 3).
4 Nichiren Daishonin ‘On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the
Land’ (WND‑1, p. 25).
5 Originally the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, or Value-Creating Education Society. It was
re-named the Soka Gakkai (Society for the Creation of Value) after the Second
World War.