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FEATURE 23 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 24 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 4 25 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.