SGI-USA Study Curriculum

Lectures on the Hoben and Juryo Chapters of the Lotus Sutra
by SGI President Daisaku Ikeda

Using the Buddha's Wisdom to Correct Society's Distortions

Go sho shi chu. Fu shis^shin ja. Ken shi ro-yaku. Shiki ko gu ko. Soku-ben buku shi. Byo jin jo yu. Yo shis^shin ja. Ken go bu rai. Sui yak-kangi monjin gu-shaku ji byo. Nen yo go yaku. Ni fu ko buku. Sho-i sha ga. Dokke jinnyu. Ship^ponshin ko. O shi ko shiki ko yaku. Ni i fu mi.

"Those children who have not lost their senses can see that this is good medicine, outstanding in both color and fragrance, so they take it immediately and are completely cured of their sickness. Those who are out of their minds are equally delighted to see their father return and beg him to cure their sickness, but when they are given the medicine, they refuse to take it. Why? Because the poison has penetrated deeply and their minds no longer function as before. So although the medicine is of excellent color and fragrance, they do not perceive it as good." (LS16, 228)

Everyone wants to become happy and get along well with others. No one starts out wanting to be miserable or to live with others in a state of mutual hatred and contempt.

In reality, however, we find people living under just such conditions. Often people tumble down the slope of misfortune due to errors in judgment that result from preoccupation with trivialities. They may come into conflict or even start wars with one another over issues that, in the larger scheme of things, are truly insignificant.

Nichiren Daishonin says:

Fish want to survive; they deplore their pond's shallowness and dig holes to hide in, yet tricked by bait, they take the hook. Birds in a tree fear that they are too low and perch in the top branches, yet bewitched by bait, they too are caught in snares. (The Major Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 34).

Although in their hearts people desperately seek happiness, at crucial junctures they in fact move in the opposite direction. The sick children in the above passage represent people with distorted lives and foolish minds who are unable to judge things correctly.

The Buddha uses the light of wisdom to guide distorted lives in the correct direction, the direction of happiness. This is the lesson of the parable of the skilled physician and his sick children.

'True Mind' Means a Mind of Belief in the Mystic Law

Among the children who drank poison, some have not yet lost their minds. These children, perceiving the medicine prepared by their father to be excellent in color and fragrance, drink it without hesitation. And their sickness is immediately cured.

The Daishonin says, "'Mind' means the heart which believes in the Lotus Sutra" (MW-1, 135), and he speaks of "the Buddha nature which is the people's true mind" (MW-1, 136). "True mind" is nothing other than the Buddha nature. People, while laboring under various illusions, can believe in the Lotus Sutra precisely because in the depths of their lives they possess the Buddha nature.

The parable then goes on to explain the situation of the children who have lost their minds. These children, too, greatly rejoice upon seeing their father return and beseech him to cure them. But when the essential medicine is given to them, they cannot bring themselves to drink it. That's because the poison has penetrated deeply and they are no longer lucid.

In other words, the power of the Buddha nature cannot manifest on account of deep-seated illusions. Although they seek happiness-and although the fundamental cause for becoming happy is right before their eyes-they fail to realize it.

Unable to recognize the "medicine of excellent color and fragrance" for what it is, they suspect that it is bad. Not only do they fail to believe in the Mystic Law, they actively reject it. They are certainly distorted people who confuse good and evil, true and false.

In the "Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings," Nichiren Daishonin says:

"The poison has penetrated deeply" describes the state of those with strong emotional attachment to the slanderous doctrines of the provisional teachings. As a result, they cannot believe in and accept the great effective medicine of the Lotus Sutra. (Gosho Zenshu, p. 755)

"Strong emotional attachment to the slanderous doctrines of the provisional teachings" indicates the distorted judgment and attitude of those who criticize superior teachings out of attachment to inferior teachings.

Broadly speaking, this might be said to describe the attitude of those who forget the spirit of self-improvement and advancement and become attached to a shallow way of life and who, moreover, criticize those who live earnestly and with a lofty spirit.

Regarding the parable of the excellent physician, Josei Toda, the second Soka Gakkai president, said, "When we first read these passages, they seem to describe Shakyamuni's day. But when we examine them carefully, we find that they are prophetic words pointing to this time of the Latter Day of the Law."

This sutra passage certainly sheds light on the absurd conditions of Japanese society today.

Although people seek care, ultimately they refuse to drink the medicine. In the depths of their hearts everyone desires to live in earnest. But the power of good in the human spirit-that of earnestness, courage, benevolence and wisdom- has grown weak.

That's because society lacks a firm philosophy or system of thought. And as a result people's sense of values is unstable; they confuse good and evil, truth and falsehood, selflessness and selfishness, the lofty and the base.

Buddhism terms the illusion that pleasurable circumstances can continue indefinitely the "four mistaken views." This is the perspective on eternity, happiness, true self and purity of someone who lives only for the pursuit of pleasure. This is the shallow outlook of someone convinced that momentary pleasures, money and worldly fame will continue forever, that they are "fun" and that such a way of life is true to oneself and "wonderful."

For those caught up in such thinking, Shakyamuni first expounded the teaching of "impermanence, suffering, selflessness and non-substantiality" and severely criticized attachment to pleasure. And after he had raised the state of life of these people through expedient teachings, he expounded the Lotus Sutra in which he finally revealed the true aspect of the indestructible virtues of eternity, happiness, true self and purity.

To illustrate, let us consider happiness. The happiness of the four mistaken views, as expressed by the sentiment, "If I' m happy now, nothing else matters," can produce no vital force or true brilliance in one's life.

But the happiness that may be gained by carrying out activities for kosen-rufu comprises true comfort and joy that wells forth from the very depths of one's being. It is happiness of a completely different kind.

Constantly going out to offer people encouragement, thinking, "I wonder how that person is doing," or "Is that person in high spirits?" is certainly a laborious undertaking. But in the course of such continual dialogue, we see smiles return to the faces of friends formerly mired in suffering, and people overcome the turbulent waves of destiny and become revitalized.

The joy and sense of reward we feel at such times far surpasses what we might experience from watching a great drama. This is a way of life genuinely based on eternity, happiness, true self and purity.

With pride as SGI members, let us lead lives richly imbued with the virtues of eternity, happiness, true self and purity. Let us create in our environments a fresh brilliance of life and a correct sense of values. Let us dauntlessly spread the philosophy of the dignity of life and let us carry out the actions of bodhisattvas. The path to transforming a society of distorted values lies in carrying out such efforts.

Bu sa ze nen. Shi shi ka min. I doku sho chu. Shin kai ten-do. Sui ken ga ki. Gushak^kuryo. Nyo ze ko yaku. Ni fu ko buku. Ga kon to setsu hoben. Ryo buku shi yaku. Soku sa ze gon. Nyoto to chi. Ga kon sui ro. Shi ji i shi. Ze ko ro-yaku. Kon ru zai shi. Nyo ka shu buku. Mot^tsu fu sai.

"The father thinks to himself: My poor children! Because of the poison in them, their minds are completely befuddled. Although they are happy to see me and ask me to cure them, they refuse to take this excellent medicine. I must now resort to some expedient means to induce them to take the medicine. So he says to them: 'You should know that I am now old and worn out, and the time of my death has come. I leave this good medicine here for you now. You should take it and not worry that it will not cure you."' (LS16, 228)

Seeing the children who adamantly refuse to drink the medicine, the father thinks, "My poor children!" These are tremendously moving words. They convey the immense mercy of the Buddha, who seeks to lead everyone without exception, to happiness. Still, the father does not attempt to force them to drink the medicine.

The distortions lurking in the depths of people's hearts cannot be changed by compulsion. It is important that people take up the medicine and drink it of their own accord. This is because the correct vision to perceive one's own condition directly and free of distortion is already present in such action.

Out of his merciful concern for the children and his desire for them to manifest true self-motivation, the father, rather than compel them, uses his wisdom to get them to take the medicine on their own accord.

"How can I prompt them to decide to drink the medicine?" he wonders. "I'll use an expedient means to cause them to drink it."

The expedient means he chooses is to announce that he will soon die. The father tells them: "I have grown old and weak, and it appears that I will soon die. I will leave the medicine here for you to drink. You need not worry that your sufferings will not be cured, for they will be cured without fail." He then sets out and sends someone to announce that he has died.

The father has not actually died; he merely causes the children to think that he has. In this way, he seeks to purge them of their tendency to depend on him and in so doing correct their internal distortions.

An expedient means, as I have said many times, is an expression of the Buddha's compassion. If the Buddha were always present in the world, people would become dependent. Under such circumstances, the Buddha could not attain the objective of raising people to the same state of life as his own. So the Buddha arouses immense compassion and, as the ultimate expedient means, appears to enter extinction.

On one level, "I leave this good medicine here for you now" refers to Shakyamuni leaving the Lotus Sutra for those in the world after his death. What does this passage indicate from the standpoint of the Daishonin's Buddhism?

In the "Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings " Nichiren Daishonin says, ''1 leave this' indicates that it is for the Latter Day of the Law. 'Here' means the country of Japan in the continent of Jambudvipa" (Gosho Zenshu, p. 756). He characterizes Japan as a country filled with "people of incorrigible disbelief" (MW-1, 38). The Daishonin appeared in a land of people of incorrigible disbelief and he left behind the great law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for the people of the Latter Day.

Regarding the passage "You should take it and not worry that it will not cure you," the Daishonin says that "you" indicates all people of the Latter Day, and "take" means embracing Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and chanting daimoku. He says:

From the time we swallow it, we become eternally endowed with the three enlightened bodies. Thus we are cured of the sickness of [attachment to] the vision of the Buddha who first attained enlightenment in this life under the Bodhi tree. (Gosho Zenshu, p. 756)

"The sickness of [attachment to] the vision of the Buddha who first attained enlightenment in this life under the Bodhi tree" refers to the tendency to view Shakyamuni as the Buddha who attained enlightenment for the first time during his lifetime in India. As long as we suppose there is a separation between the Buddha and other people, we cannot recognize the tremendous life that exists within us.

The Mystic Law is the great teaching that enables each person to realize that he or she is originally a Buddha. When the immense life of the Buddha manifests within our being, all our sufferings disappear like morning dew in the rays of the sun.

When that happens, we are in the state of "not worrying that it will not cure us." We need not worry about anything. We will definitely become happy. This is what the Buddha declares.

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