Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is a Buddhist network that actively promotes peace, culture and education through personal change and social contribution.

Friday, March 26, 2010

FANTASTIC GUIDANCE BY VICE-PRESIDENT TSUJI


 Gongyo is directly related to your life. There are three things
 directly related sustaining life. One is to eat and rest. It is
 important to consume nutrients and to get adequate sleep. These
 two are easy to understand and everyone does them. You don't
 quit eating or sleeping because you are unhappy with someone.

 But when it comes to doing Gongyo, there are those who quit
 doing their prayers easily. It is because they do not realize
 that Gongyo and Daimoku are directly related to sustaining
 their life. You can improve your destiny by chanting Daimoku.
 Your karma will further deteriorate with out chanting. If you
 do not chant your destiny will revert back to your former bad
 karma. It is like reverting back to your former state of having
 a weak intestinal system or back to poverty. These types of
 changes are not easily recognized. This is why people get lazy
 with their daily Gongyo and Daimoku. This is a frightening
 thing.
 There is a phrase in the Gosho, English Gosho page 81, "There
 is no true happiness other than upholding faith in the Lotus
 Sutra." But do you really do your Gongyo with this conviction?

 You must feel that it gives you the greatest pleasure to do
 Gongyo and Daimoku. There is phrase in the Gosho that
 emphasizes that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the greatest of all
 joys. To be wed is a joyous thing. But Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is a
 greater joy. To save millions of dollars may make you happy.
 But Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is even more enriching. To finally
 renovate your home after many years of waiting may bring you
 joy but chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is better than that.

 Finally getting a child after many attempts may be a joyous
 occasion but Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is more joyous than that. Look
 into your hearts to see if you are chanting with this type of
 gratitude. Are you receiving 100% of the benefits that the
 Gohonzon would like to grant you? I feel that m ost of you are
 just receiving 10 to 15% of what you could be receiving. With
 this type of life condition you will lose to obstacles and deep
 karma.

 Why do you receive benefits when you chant to the Gohonzon -
 and why do you continue to chant? If you chant only to overcome
 a specific illness will it only cure that illness? If you chant
 for the success of your business, will you only become
 successful in business? It is not such a limited practice.

 The Gohonzon is telling us it can elevate our life to the
 highest level, equal to the Gohonzon. There is a passage in the
 Gosho, "hoping to make all persons equal to me, without any
 distinction between us." You should chant with deep gratitude
 to the Gohonzon for granting you the same life condition as the
 Gohonzon.

 As you continue chanting you yourself will embody
 Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. There is another quotation from the Gosho
 page 216, " 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. If you doubt whether this Gosho
 is true or not you are already separated from your Gohonzon.
 Because you think there is a difference your connection is
 weak. Therefore your benefits are diminished.

 There is another quotation from page 832 of the Gosho, "Never
 seek this Gohonzon outside yourself. The Gohonzon exists only
 within the mortal flesh of us ordinary people who embrace the
 Lotus Sutra and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo." As stated in this
 Gosho Nam-myoho-renge-kyo exists within us. But for some reason
 it is very difficult to manifest Nam-myoho-renge-kyo or we can
 not seem to bring it out. That is why we are mere mortals. Then
 how can we manifest it in our lives?

 We can bring it forth by just vocalizing Nam-myoho-renge-k yo.
 You may see cherry blossom and feel how beautiful it is. You
 may see a full moon and enjoy the moonlight. You may see a
 cockroach and feel disgusted. By seeing these things you feel
 these types of life conditions. You may be moved by hearing
 beautiful music or be motivated by hearing President Ikeda's
 speech on tape. You achieve these through your ears.

 You're related to your Gohonzon through vocalization. That
 means by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo out loud you bring forth
 your Buddhist life force. There is a phrase in the Gosho that
 states that your voice brings out Buddhahood. As long as you
 chant Daimoku you bring out your Buddhahood. It will explode
 from you. If you are conned or robbed your life will burst
 with anger. If your life is filled with worries and suffering
 you may commit suicide. If you chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo you
 can change life filled with such suffering, anger or poverty
 and overcome your problems.

 There is a Gosho phrase on page 412, "What sickness can
 therefore be an obstacle?" For those of you suffering with
 poverty there is a phrase on page 1137 of the Gosho "...those
 who now believe in the Lotus Sutra will gather fortune from ten
 thousand miles away." We recite in our Gongyo, "Jiga toku
 burai" or "Since I attained B uddhahood". It is that crucial
 that we chant with conviction. To think that someone else will
 grant you Buddhahood is wrong. You must act yourself.

 I visited the Kawai residence in Fukui Prefecture of Japan to
 give guidance at a meeting being held there around February.
 Mr. Kawai who is now 51 years old had been blind from three
 years old after contracting measles. I told him, "You have
 eyeballs don't you? If you have eyes then you can open them.
 This Gohonzon is the Gohonzon of "The Opening of the Eyes".

 "The Opening of the Eyes" teaches us to see clearly. And yet
 you can not see - it must be because you did something against
 the Gohonzon and the Buddhist teachings in your past. You must
 have committed great slanders in the past. Ask the Gohonzon to
 please forgive your slanders. Express your gratitude to have
 had the fortune to meet the Gohonzon in this lifetime. Pledge
 to dedicate your life to Kosen rufu. Ask the Gohonzon to allow
 you to see th e Gohonzon, your family and others around you so
 you can contribute towards Kosen-rufu." I asked him to pray in
 such a way.

 In the beginning of March, I received a message that he
 regained his sight after almost fifty years. Through his
 experience the whole Fukui prefecture has revitalized itself.
 It is such a surprise that one person regaining his sight can
 have such a great impact on an entire region.

 But what I wonder about this incident is why he couldn't regain
 his sight sooner? He was a member who offers his own home for
 meetings, never missed his Gongyo and had strong faith. Yet why
 wasn't he able to see sooner. It was because his attitude when
 doing his Gongyo and Daimoku was incorrect. His faith had gone
 off track.

 You must pray earnestly, "Isshin yokenbutsu fujishaku shinmyo"
 or "single-mindedly desiring to see the Buddha". You must chant
 with gratitude and conviction that you will become one with the
 Gohonzon and Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. There is no such thing as a
 sick or poor Buddha. Therefore all worries will be resolved.
 That is why you can achieve human revolution. Only human beings
 are able to achieve these things.

 In May 22nd when I visited Okayama Culture Center a young
 mother came to me for guidance. She was concerned about her two>
 year old son who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. This
 disease causes shrinking of the muscles until it affects even
 the internal organs until it results in death. I told this
 mother that it was her karma to suffer over her child. On the
 Gohonzon it is written that things are supposed to prosper and
 grow, then what is it that such a thing as shrinking happening?
 It must be because of the horrendous slander she committed
 against the Gohonzon. Pray that the two of you will work
 together as mother and child for Kosen rufu so please cure the
 disease. The Lotus Sutra is like a like a plague that spans
 past, present and future. The Lotus Sutra can even help a
 person who has passed away to achieve enlightenment. Your child
 is still alive.

 It is natural to transmit the Lotus Sutra to your child. There
 is no sin that can not be eradicated by this Gohonzon. Your
 worry is not the result of your current slanders, it is a
 result of slanders in your past life. It is a slander from your
 past life that you can remedy in this life. Parent and child
 are one. Pray earnestly.

 This mother was sort of a complainer and insisted that her son
 was named by President Ikeda and that he was a fortune baby. I
 told her that President Ikeda will name a child at a parent's
 request but he can not change your destiny. It is up to you to
 change your own karma and destiny.

 I got a message from her afterwards that her son began to run
 without falling after three days. She was shocked at how great
 the Gohonzon's power was and how happy she was. Her son could
 now play on the slide and kneel by himself. He no longer had
 nose bleeds when he ran. As she continued practicing and her
 son got healthier, her husband began practicing earnestly too.
 For this mother who used to complain that she was suffering and
 had to practice because of her son, her attitude changed 180
 degrees to gratitude towards her son for helping her to
 practice. Her practice changed from one of complaint to a
 practice of gratitude. With this as a turning point all her
 prayers were then answered and her wishes fulfilled.

 Each time I hear such experiences I truly comprehend how great
 the power of the Gohonzon. To be able to receive guidance to
 change our life is the benefit of having the organization. In
 the end what our attitude is when we face our Gohonzon is the
 most important thing.

2 comments:

chandan kumar said...

very good article, very inspiring, it helped me to refresh my attitude towards faith, thank you

MarcGinsburg2010 said...

Thank you. I needed to hear this especially at this time.