REVEREND YOSAI YAMADA, CHIEF PRIEST
DECEMBER 15, 1985
What is religion? This may be too large a subject to be treated in the limited time of this lecture. However, I would like to briefly talk about this for today's lecture.
Etymologically, "religion" is derived from a Latin word meaning reverence for gods or fear of God. This concept of religion is widespread and many people regard it as something concerned with individual spiritual experience. But this is but one aspect of religion, and not its entirety, although this might be a religious belief.
Where is God? Same may say that He exists in Heaven and same hold that He abides in the mind of his believer.
There is no evidence that denies God's existence, but there is no proof that can verify it. Belief in God has been left to personal judgement.
However, religion is not merely a personal belief. Religion has been described as concern with the unknowable -- -- the original source or truth of life -- -- beyond the reach of logic or the senses.
A majority of religious teachings prescribe same form of worship or practice through which believers strive to connect with that source, and also define an object of worship, tangible or intangible, towards which such efforts are directed.
Nichijun Shonin, the Sixty-fifth High Priest of Nichiren Shoshu, stated:
"Religion in general must have both an object of worship and a system of doctrine. Religion without doctrine is not religion but mere belief. Reference to doctrine without an object of worship is philosophy, different from religion."
He set forth two major factors of religion: The object of worship and a system of doctrine.
Actually, a living religion has all these factors. It is in this aspect that religion can be distinguished from faith or belief. For example, Christianity has God and the Bible. But how is it related to Christian life? Is it through a believer's church-going habit or through his attitude towards God?
Is it possible that a human-like God controls all human affairs at His will?
What is the relationship between religion and life, individual and society?
To put it differently, is religion a medium for attaining a happy life -- -- either on earth or in Heaven -- -- or is it the objective of man's lifelong pursuit? In either question, the answer can be given in the affirmative.
It seems contradictory, however, that religion is at once a medium for happiness and the objective of man's life. Does one believe in God to became happy or does he spend his entire lifetime to attain revelation? This question comes up when Christianity or any other religion fails to bridge the gap between the ideal and the reality.
More often than not religious ideals lie beyond the reach of human beings. In Christianity, God abides in Heaven and never personally appears in this world. In same schools of Buddhism, as Nembutsu, the Buddha is believed to exist in a pure land far away from this world. The only way we human beings can approach such transcendental beings is by death.
From another viewpoint, in most religions, the divinity and the flesh are considered to be two completely different and independent realities. Only the collapse of the flesh can lead man to the divinity. To cite an extreme example, medieval Christians held that the soul was God's creation and that the body was the devil's.
Buddhism -- specifically Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism -- annihilates the distinction between the ideal and the reality, or between the divinity and the flesh. We can see this in his writings, or Gosho. He writes:
"Neither the pure land nor hell exists outside ourselves: both lie within our own hearts. Awakened to this truth, one is called a Buddha; deluded about it, he is a common mortal. The Lotus Sutra awakens us to this reality and one who embraces the Lotus Sutra will find that hell is itself the enlightened world."
It further states that if the minds of the people are impure, their land is also impure, but if their minds are pure, so is their land. There are not two lands, pure or impure in themselves. The difference lies solely in the good or evil of our minds.
According to this doctrine, it is in the human being that the Buddha nature -- - or the divine nature in Christian terminology -- -- exists and reveals itself. Therefore, it is in this world that the Buddha lives.
The Juryo Chapter of the Lotus Sutra states:
"I let the people witness my nirvana as a means to save them, but in truth, I do not die, I am here always, teaching the Law."
In Buddhism, Buddhahood is not separated from humanity nor the Buddha land from the mundane world. In other words, man can become Buddha and transform his world into the Buddha's land.
The gap between the ideal and the reality is also the gap between divine and secular benefits. The divine benefit is, for one, to attain eternal life as all the higher religions hold, and the secular benefit means physical, material and spiritual improvements in daily life. Some religions place higher value on one more than the other, and some regard the two as having equal value. But how are these two kinds of benefit related to each other?
In Buddhism it is taught that secular benefits are manifestations of the divine benefit. The Buddhist term, "enlightenment" has an implication of transcendental spiritual experience. However, it means lasting happiness in terms of daily life. If we interpret happiness as freedom from any sufferings, it is but a mirage.
The Buddhist concept of happiness is something which we create and maintain with our conscious effort. That is why our happiness is lasting and not ephemeral. If man's destiny were to depend upon God's arbitrary will, man's effort in this world would not be significant.
Buddhism reveals that man is the creator as well as reformer of his own destiny. Buddhism never presupposes a human-like God, so man's destiny is decided by what he thinks, speaks and performs in relation with human and all other beings -- and above all, by his relationship to the Ultimate law of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo.This law permeates the entire universe including all human beings.
God may be interpreted as the personification of the cosmic Law, but it is not relevant to give such a definition. Buddhism is the religion which expounds the substance of the Law from all possible viewpoints. Therefore, all human beings who are related, either consciously or unconsciously, to the Law must have concern in Buddhism.
It was Nichiren Daishonin who, for the first time in this world, personified the Law of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo and embodied it in the form of the Dai-Gohonzon.
By worshipping the Gohonzon, every human being can attain the same life-condition as the True Buddha, Nichiren Daishonin. Essentially, the law exists in human life. And it naturally follows, that all human affairs are manifestations of human life. Likewise, all phenomena in the universe are manifestation of cosmic life. Consequently, Buddhism cannot exist apart from mundane affairs. There are many Gosho passages which refer to this principle:
"If you realize the depths of worldly affairs, you are already awakened to Buddhism."
And: "All human activities, both person and social, are compatible with the ultimate Buddhist principle."
And: "When the sky is clear, the ground is bright. One who realizes the Lotus sutra penetrates worldly affairs."
In clarifying the relationship between human affairs and the Law, Nichiren Daishonin compared the former to the shadow of the Latter. Therefore, it is important to coordinate all human activities with the Law. Without this basic harmony, human endeavors cannot produce the maximum effect. This doesn't mean, however, to underestimate human effort.
As the Daishonin gave guidance to a believer of his day:
"You must regard your work as the Lotus Sutra."
Needless to say, 'The Lotus Sutra' in this quotation indicates the Gohonzon.
The point of this guidance is that we must commit ourselves to our occupation in the same way that we commit ourselves to Buddhist practice. Life is so transitory that it is often compared to a dream. However, in this short life, man manifests the highest life-condition from within his own life through Buddhist practice. If one harmonizes his activities with the ultimate law by chanting Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo to the Gohonzon, he can carry out his life activities vigorously. On the contrary, if he is out of harmony with the Law, all his efforts will bear only a little fruit.
For example, no matter how much a cherry tree possesses good potential for flowering and bearing fruit, blossoming and fruition are impossible without water and sunlight. Buddhahood, if explained in this sequence, means the fusion of human and cosmic law. The key to fusion is having faith in the Gohonzon. In other words, every human being has his inherent Buddhahood and can activate it through faith.
If faith in the Gohonzon underlies all human activities, "JIHI", Buddhist compassion to save others, will influence them and peace will reign throughout the world. However, as a passage from the Gosho reads:
"The Law never spreads by itself. It is a person who propagates the Law. Therefore both the Law and person are equally valuable."
Religion lacking propagation is dead. A living religion not only pulsates in its individual followers, but influences society at large. Then, what is the impact of Buddhism upon society?
Fundamentally, Buddhism aims at attaining Buddhahood of the whole man. But its ultimate goal is how to relate this to social reformation. As clearly indicated in the above quoted teaching of the Daishonin -- "All human activities, both personal and social are compatible with the ultimate Buddhist principle" -- our fundamental posture is to be directed to attaining Buddhahood of the whole man. On this major premise, however, we are widely developing social movements by propagating the Daishonin's teachings.
One of the aims is spreading the Daishonin's Buddhism horizontally to as many people as possible through personal contact. The other is the process of sinking the roots of True Buddhism vertically -- deep into all human activities -- -- into every aspect of social and cultural life.
Through this process, Buddhism will become the spiritual support for society and culture, sustaining it with an eternal flow of "JIHI". For this type of propagation, our social and cultural activities are very important. To be effective, such activities need careful planning. But even this will be of no avail unless we exemplify our faith for others in the way we live it ourselves. Only then will people awaken to True Buddhism, and only then will peace be generated spontaneously from within the deepest realm of society.
Thank you very much.