SGIBooklet 4/23/04 8:06 AM Page 1 BUDDHISM A PHILOSOPHY FOR LIVING AN INTRODUCTION TO NICHIREN BUDDHISM AND THE SOKA GAKKAI INTERNATIONAL SGIBooklet 4/23/04 8:06 AM Page 2 SGIBooklet 4/23/04 8:06 AM Page 3 BUDDHISM A PHILOSOPHY FOR LIVING AN INTRODUCTION TO NICHIREN BUDDHISM AND THE SOKA GAKKAI INTERNATIONAL SGI CANADA SGIBooklet 4/23/04 8:06 AM Page 4 Published by SGI Canada 2050 Dufferin Street Toronto, Ontario M6E 3R6 Copyright © 2004 Soka Gakkai International Association of Canada All rights reserved Printed in Canada This booklet was produced under the supervision of/with the approval of Soka Gakkai Cover photo by Daisaku Ikeda Design: Bette Forester, Steven Venn SGIBooklet 4/23/04 8:06 AM Page 5 CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE 1 1. BUDDHISM: 3 THE ADVENTURE OF BEING ALIVE 2. THE LOTUS SUTRA AND 7 THE ESSENTIAL TEACHING 3. THE PRACTICE OF NICHIREN 11 BUDDHISM 4. NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO 15 AND THE GOHONZON 5. THE BUDDHIST VIEW OF LIFE 21 6. SOKA GAKKAI INTERNATIONAL 31 7. Q & A 37 CONCLUSION 45 SGIBooklet 4/23/04 8:06 AM Page 6 SGIBooklet 4/23/04 8:06 AM Page 1 PREFACE his booklet is intended to give a brief Many people in our society feel they are overview of Nichiren Buddhism, the not even worthy of happiness. How sad this T Soka Gakkai International and SGI is, and how untrue! Every person deserves Canada, and to present some of the main happiness. It is our original state and therefore concepts of Buddhism and how they can be our birthright. It is the compassionate will of applied to daily life and global society. the universe itself—toward joy, harmony and Although Buddhism is one of the world’s a celebration of life in all its diversity. great religions, it is often referred to as a Altruism is the hallmark of Buddhism. But “philosophy” or “life-philosophy.” In other in order to effectively help others we must be words, Buddhism is a philosophy for living— able to solve our own problems. Therefore, not a dogmatic set of beliefs or rules; it is the philosophy of Nichiren Daishonin teaches a journey of inquiry into life and ultimate us how to overcome our own sufferings, and self-discovery. Nichiren Buddhism also offers how to use our problems as stepping-stones an effective way to transform society toward for our development. As we heal the pain in peace, through the process of transforming our own lives and reveal our potential, our the individual first. This process is called capacity to help others also expands. This in “human revolution.” turn extends the scope and purpose of our The practice of Buddhism provides the existence. We can on this basis cultivate a vehicle for this journey, while the teachings spirit of genuine compassion, one that is provide the map. The destination is the rooted in sharing spiritual wealth and joy. development and fulfillment of our humanity, Buddhism is based on the principle that for this is what “Buddha” means. A Buddha is when we light the way for another, we light not a transcendental being who floats above our own way at the same time. the world and its problems. Instead, to be Once we begin to reveal the condition a Buddha means to be a fully developed of enlightenment we all possess, life itself human being who is totally engaged with the becomes the greatest of all joys, and world, sharing its problems and struggling difficulties appear as challenges that make together with others to overcome the living even more exciting. Even death negative forces that lead us into suffering. A becomes comprehensible and, when it Buddha is a human being in the deepest comes, it is experienced as a natural passage sense of the word; and the individuals from this life to the next, in an eternally regarded as Buddhas, such as Shakyamuni unfolding drama that continuously expands and Nichiren Daishonin, exemplified this in and deepens. When this approach to life the way they lived their lives. spreads to others, it has profound implications The Lotus Sutra, the most profound of for new directions for society and the world. Shakyamuni’s teachings, reveals that every The dream of peace begins with the individual, person is originally a Buddha, able to feel and expands from there. This is the spirit of eternally at one with the universe, and Nichiren Buddhism and the SGI. I hope this experiencing limitless joy and wisdom. The booklet will give you a sense of this spirit. reason we continue to suffer is that our true I would like to thank all the people who nature has been trapped in delusions and worked on this project, and to especially fears. When these delusions and fears are thank SGI President Daisaku Ikeda, whose conquered, our enlightened nature is free to tireless efforts and leadership have made emerge. The central teaching of Nichiren this wonderful philosophy known and Daishonin is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the understood throughout the world. essential core of the Lotus Sutra contained in its title. Practising Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is Tony Meers the way to directly access our enlightened General Director Buddha nature. SGI Canada 1 SGIBooklet 4/23/04 8:06 AM Page 2 The only mythology that is valid today is the mythology of the planet—and we [the Western world] don’t have such a mythology. The closest thing I know to a planetary mythology is Buddhism, which sees all beings as Buddha beings. The only problem is to come to the recognition of that…The task is only to know what is, and then to act in relation to the brotherhood of all these beings. – Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth SGIBooklet 4/23/04 8:06 AM Page 3 1. BUDDHISM: THE ADVENTURE OF BEING ALIVE If the doors of perception were cleansed, men would see everything as it is, infinite. ~William Blake rom the dawn of our existence, humans Realizing that every one of us must face have sought the meaning of life on this these sufferings, the young Prince Siddhartha Fplanet. We instinctively feel that life must (as Shakyamuni was known in his youth), have a purpose; and our observations of the living some 2,500 years ago, resolved to undeniable intelligence and exquisite order of search for the ultimate reality in the depths of the universe confirm this belief—even though his own existence. At the age of 19, he left that purpose seems to elude us. Religion, the princely life that separated him from the philosophy, art and science have all sought the harsh realities outside his gated existence. answers to the central question of existence He journeyed far and wide in his quest to from their various perspectives. understand the inescapable sufferings of The person known to the world as the human existence and the means by which Buddha, who is commonly called Gautama or they could be overcome. After pursuing Shakyamuni, discovered the answers to the various ascetic practices and bringing himself questions of life and death within his own to the verge of starvation, Shakyamuni still consciousness. He was motivated in his quest had not acquired the awakening he sought. by the one problem that has confounded He took some food to regain his strength, philosophers throughout history: the problem then sat down beneath a pipal tree and of human suffering. He recognized that entered into deep meditation, resolved to stay everything that exists must endure the four there until he had attained enlightenment. universal sufferings of birth, illness, aging Sources vary as to how long he sat in and death. meditation, but finally he attained the state of The Buddha was a human being, not enlightenment, or Buddhahood, experiencing a deity or a superhuman figure. He felt the absolute oneness with the universe and sufferings of his fellow humans like a dagger revealing in the depths of his being a fount of in his own heart—the pain of unfulfilled infinite wisdom and compassion. After a long longings, the relentless onslaughts of illness and arduous voyage of the spirit, he found and poverty, the grief of parting with loved pulsating within his own heart the eternal ones, and the fear that is the most primal creative force that gives rise to life itself. of all fears—the fear of life’s end. He knew, Having attained this state of life, too, the dread of feeling alone in a vast and Shakyamuni realized that he now had an apparently indifferent universe. obligation to teach others how they might 3 SGIBooklet 4/23/04 8:06 AM Page 4 also reach enlightenment. Thus began a forces of darkness and light, inherent in all lifelong journey devoted to relieving the things, are forces we have the power to sufferings of others by teaching them what master. Both suffering and joy are inescapable became known as the way of the Buddha. His aspects of life; but when we pursue life’s life became what the late religious scholar intrinsic wisdom and compassion, we gain the Joseph Campbell called “the adventure of the power to conquer suffering and generate the hero—the adventure of being alive.” profound joy of living without fear. The way For some 50 years, Shakyamuni taught of Buddhism is to overcome the forces of people the wisdom he had discovered. These darkness and open the floodgates of light. teachings were recorded by his disciples Buddhism, from beginning to end, is the and organized into a collection of sutras.