SGI-USA Study Curriculum
Lectures on the Hoben and Juryo Chapters of the Lotus Sutra
by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda
The Buddha Gives People the Strength To
Live
Sho shi o go. On ta doku-yaku. Yaku hotsu monran. Enden
u ji.
Zeji go bu. Gen rai ki ke. Sho shi on doku. Waku shitsu
honshin. Waku fu shis^sha. Yo ken go bu. Kai dai kangi.
Haiki monjin. Zen nan non ki. Gato guchi. Go buku doku-yaku.
Gan ken kuryo. Kyo shi jumyo.
"After he has gone, the children drink some kind
of poison that makes them distraught with pain and they
fall writhing to the ground.
"At that time the father returns to his home and
finds that his children have drunk poison. Some are completely
out of their minds, while others are not. Seeing their father
from far off, all are overjoyed and kneel down and entreat
him, saying: 'How fine that you have returned safely. We
were stupid and by mistake drank some poison. We beg you
to cure us and let us live out our lives!'" (LS16,
228)
In this section, we continue studying the parable of the
skilled physician and his sick children.
After their father, the skilled physician, departs, the
children mistakenly drink, not medicine prepared by their
father, but poison produced by someone else. The poison
enters their systems and the children, writhing in pain,
fall to the ground. Their father then returns home. Those
children who only drank a small amount of the poison still
have their wits about them. But others who drank a lot already
have completely lost their minds.
Even so, amid their pain, the children rejoice in seeing
that their father has come back. His return must have put
their hearts at ease and given them a sense of profound
reassurance.
As I said last time, the physician represents the Buddha,
and his children, the people (Dec. 15 World Tribune). The
poison the children drink indicates mistaken teachings that
were not expounded by the Buddha.
The Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai of China explains, "Drinking
poison means believing in the mistaken teachings of an erroneous
teacher." Such a teacher, he says, "is like a
physician who claims that he will cure someone's disease
while in fact only makes it worse" and who thus robs
people of the strength to do good.
"Distraught with pain" and "fall writhing
to the ground" describe those who labor under sufferings
and agonize because of their belief in such erroneous teachings.
The Life of the 'Life Span' Chapter
Nichiren Daishonin says, "'Distraught' means to be
deprived of breath. They [the children] have become distraught
because they lack the life of the 'Life Span' chapter"
(Gosho Zenshu, p. 754).
The "life of the 'Life Span' chapter" is the
Buddha's great life force to challenge any difficulty and
his wisdom to overcome all sufferings by discerning their
fundamental nature.
"Distraught" describes the state of those who,
confused by mistaken teachings, lose sight of the "life
of the 'Life Span' chapter" and, as a result, lose
the hope to live and the courage to survive.
The Daishonin also says, "'They fall writhing to the
ground' indicates that they fall into the Avichi hell"1
(Gosho zenshu, p. 754). "Ground" means the world
of Hell or, more broadly, the sufferings of the three or
the four evil paths. "They fall writhing to the ground"
indicates tumbling down the slope of the evil paths of existence.
In this present age, people have ceased to live with powerful
conviction based on sound philosophy. People's life forces
are waning and their spirits are ill. All humankind is in
danger of "falling writhing to the ground." As
a result, deep in their hearts, people are searching for
a philosophy based on the human being, a system of thought
that thoroughly explains the potential and supreme worth
of each person.
The Buddha gives people the strength to live.
The Buddha is likened to a "great king of physicians."
T'ien-t'ai says that the Buddha is like a physician of unparalleled
skill who not only cures people's illnesses but enables
them to become even healthier and more vigorous than they
were before they got sick.
No matter what sufferings people may be experiencing, through
the beneficial medicine of the Mystic Law they can turn
things around and become happier than they have ever been,
realizing a truly vibrant state of life. Buddhism teaches
how we can "change poison into medicine" and transform
our destiny for the better.
The Mystic Law, which is the essence of Buddhism, embodies
the principles of "opening," "perfect endowment"
and "revitalization." The Mystic Law elucidates
the treasure house of wisdom and life force inherent in
our lives and it enables us to open up this treasure house
to lead a fresh and revitalized existence. The SGI has protected
and spread this ultimate teaching of the sanctity of life.
"Mind" in the above sutra passage refers to the
"mind of faith" in the Mystic Law. The Daishonin
says, "'Mind' refers to the seeds of enlightenment
sown [by the Buddha]" (Gosho Zenshu, p. 755). All people
are connected with the Mystic Law at the moment of kuon
ganjo. All people originally are entities of the Mystic
Law. To be awakened to this reality is to manifest one's
"original mind" or "mind of faith."
The Gohonzon of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo directly expresses
the life of the Buddha, which is pervaded with wisdom. To
believe in and uphold this Gohonzon is to plant the seed
of happiness, or perceive the Mystic Law, in one's life.
The Daishonin says, "The fact that now Nichiren and
his followers chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is an indication
that they have not departed from their original minds"
(Gosho Zenshu, p. 755). The Daishonin guarantees that all
who believe in the Gohonzon and exert themselves in practice
for themselves and others are, without exception, people
who "have not lost their senses" (LS16, 228).
Not losing our "original mind" or our senses
means to possess great confidence that, no matter what happens,
things will work out for the best-as long as we continue
advancing based on the Gohonzon and based on faith.
A grand flower of benefit is sure to bloom in the lives
of those who stand up with this great conviction.
Through Faith We Can Extend Our Life Span
The children who have drunk the poison entreat their father:
"Let us live out our lives!" Josei Toda, the second
Soka Gakkai president, explained these words as meaning:
"Please give us the strong vitality we need to succeed
in all areas of our lives and the benefit of resolving all
sufferings." He cited this passage as documentary proof
of the tenet that if you practice faith, things will improve.
Also, depending on a person's sense of mission, faith in
the Mystic Law can in fact lead to the extension of his
or her life span. It is said that when Shakyamuni was on
the verge of death, he extended his life by three months
to lead Subhadra and other itinerant practitioners to enlightenment.
Buddhism traditionally teaches that life span is a matter
of destiny. It is held to be immutable karma determined
by a person's merit and virtue. But the Daishonin says that
the Mystic Law has the power to change even a person's immutable
karma.
Nichiren Daishonin, to encourage someone suffering from
illness, related his own experience of having extended the
life of his mother through prayer: "When I, Nichiren,
prayed for my mother, not only was her illness cured, but
her life was prolonged by four years" (The Major Writings
of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 230).
The recipient of this letter was so heartened by the Daishonin's
merciful encouragement that she aroused strong faith and
extended her life by more than 20 years.
Toward the end of 1957, President Toda was extremely weak
due to his experience in prison and his difficult struggles
following the war. Yet he cheerfully told a doctor examining
him: "If it's a matter of life force, then I have absolute
confidence [in my ability to recover]. The power of Buddhism
-- as expressed by 'Let us live out our lives!' -- makes
it possible to extend even one's predetermined span of life."
Just as he said, he made an astonishing recovery. And after
accomplishing the ceremony on March 16, he died when the
cherry trees were in full bloom.
I myself was so weak and sickly as a youth that I was once
told I would not reach 30. But I met President Toda, and
devoting my entire life to the mission of kosen-rufu, I
have continued to charge ahead all these years. I have lived
far longer than my mentor. I cannot help feeling that my
mentor ground down his life and shared it with me. How fortunate
it is to have such a mentor!
The subsequent "Distinctions in Benefits" (17th)
chapter says that those who hear the Buddha expound his
eternal life span (i.e., who hear the "Life Span"
chapter) and who believe in and accept it, will use their
long lives to save others in the future (LS17, 239).
And the Daishonin says, "The votary of the Lotus Sutra
is the Buddha of eternal life" (MW-1, 128). Those who
determine to spread the correct teaching, those who awaken
to the mission to accomplish kosen-rufu, are Buddhas of
eternal life.
Through our personal connections, each of us can lead any
number of people to the Mystic Law whom no one else would
be able to reach. Everyone, therefore, has an irreplaceable
mission. Please lead a long life -- until you have fully
accomplished your unique mission.
Let us have the spirit to introduce even one person to
the Mystic Law, to help even one person become happy, and
toward that end, to live even one day longer. Such an earnest
attitude extends our lives. Such a sense of mission increases
our vitality.
Those who wholeheartedly dedicate themselves to kosen-rufu
shine from the depths of their beings. They are vigorous
and high-spirited. While other people may live a comparable
number of years, those who dedicate their lives to kosen-rufu
can create many tens, hundreds or even thousands of times
more value than them. The amount of value we create is the
true measure of our life span.
Those now deceased who dedicated their lives to kosen-rufu
have undoubtedly already begun new lives of mission. Each
of you has a noble mission. Every morning and evening, I
pray that each of you will live up to the spirit of "Let
us live out our lives!" -- always in high spirits,
always youthful and always filled with hope.
- Avichi hell: the hell of incessant suffering.
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