The Fourteen Slanders

In reply to a letter from one of his followers about whether ordinary people can receive the same benefits as a priest by chanting daimoku, Nichiren Daishonin replies that they can, and that the only way you would reduce any benefit from chanting (as a priest or an ordinary person) would be if you acted against the intent of the Lotus Sutra.  He then lists the fourteen ways that people do this (through our attitude to ourselves and the Lotus Sutra - causes 1 to 10 - and through our attitude towards people who follow the Lotus Sutra - causes 11 to 14:

“There are fourteen evil causes: (1) arrogance, (2) negligence, (3) wrong views of the self, (4) shallow understanding, (5) attachment to earthly desires, (6) not understanding, (7) not believing, (8) scowling with knitted brows, (9) harboring doubts, (10) slandering [the Law], (11) despising, (12) hating, (13) envying, and (14) bearing grudges.” (The Fourteen Slanders, WND-1, p756)

In Chapter 28 of the Lotus Sutra (“Bodhisattva Universal Worthy”), it says that anyone who tries to expose the faults or evils of someone who accepts and upholds the Lotus Sutra, whether what they are saying is true or not, will suffer themselves!!!  So how can we deal with people that have these “faults or evils”? 

Satoru Izumi, a former vice-president of the Soka Gakkai, asked Mr. Makiguchi about this and he explained  “It all comes down to whether or not you have compassion.  If you point out another member’s errors out of a genuine desire to help him correct them, you are doing good.  On the other hand, if you do so only to criticize or disparage him, then even if what you say is true, you are doing wrong.” (Guidelines of Faith, p66)

“Take these teachings to heart, and always remember that believers in the Lotus Sutra should absolutely be the last to abuse one another."  (WND-1, p756)

For the Sake of Peace

In the Gosho, “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land”, Nichiren Daishonin advises us: “If you care anything about your personal security, you should first of all pray for order and tranquillity throughout the four quarters of the land, should you not?”  (WND-1, p24)

Life in thirteenth century Japan was a time of great social and political turmoil and after seeing the suffering of the nation, Nichiren Daishonin believed that it was due to the ruling government following an incorrect religion.  He dedicated himself to studying with the various schools of Buddhism and realized that the Lotus Sutra held the key to not just personal transformation and enlightenment, but also had the potential to transform society. 

From that moment on, he devoted his life to spreading the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra, encouraging his followers and trying to persuade influential figures in the government to change their faith and offering them solutions to Japan’s problems based on Shakyamuni’s most profound teaching.

Times have changed, as have political and economic structures, but the SGI has continued this spirit of trying to overcome the problems facing the world through Buddhist wisdom.

On 17^th February 1952, at a panel discussion of the youth division, Toda stated “I am not on the side of communism or “Americanism”.  I uphold the idea of ‘global nationalism’ (The Human Revolution: Vol. 5, p224).  He used the phrase chikyu minzokushugi (‘global nationalism’) in a context which might more naturally be called “global citizenship” today.  President Ikeda explains this ideal, stating “[W]e must create through kosen-rufu an era when, as Josei Toda put it, the conventional views of the state will be replaced by global nationalism – the realization of all mankind sharing in a common destiny.”  (The Human Revolution: Vol. 5, p227)

A few years later on 8^th September 1957, President Toda gave a speech at another youth event in which he made a declaration for the abolition of nuclear weapons.  This declaration became the foundation for the future direction of the Soka Gakkai, as a Nichiren Buddhist peace movement committed to respecting the dignity of human life through faith and humanistic principles.   

The SGI continues to raise awareness on a range of issues through petitions, exhibitions such as “From A Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace” (which can be seen here) and various publications and DVDs.  Between 1974 and 1985, Youth Division members collected together, and published, over 3,000 World War 2 experiences from victims of the war and the atomic bombs, and in 2005 the Women’s Peace Committee of the SGI made a DVD including the accounts of 31 female war survivors.

In addition, President Ikeda has maintained the momentum of this declaration through his annual peace proposals, dialogues with various world leaders, academics and philosophers, and other initiatives and sister organisations, such as the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research (see http://www.toda.org/).
 

Some of the early world issues that President Ikeda spoke out about were the immediate ceasefire in the Vietnam War (in 1966) and for improved diplomatic relations between Japan and China in 1968, but it wasn’t until 1983 that he started to write his annual Peace Proposals which are distributed to UN officials and NGOs (non-governmental organisations).  There have now been 31 of theses yearly proposals and in an article in The Seikyo Shimbun on 30 January 2007, Majid Tehranian, a former director of the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy Research, wrote:

“Each proposal which Daisaku Ikeda has sent to the world since 1983 has been impressive.  These proposals clearly express Mr. Ikeda’s passion for peace, reconciliation and co-operation in the world.  They arise from Buddhist humanism.  From that starting point, the vision for world peace calls for commitment from us as global citizens.  The proposals fall in the fields of disarmament, security and global governance.  Mr. Ikeda has conducted dialogue on a global scale.”

But have President Ikeda’s peace proposals made a difference, or do they just find their way into the nearest wastebasket?   The following table (taken from an article in The Art of Living in January 2008) lists just some of the initiatives recommended by President Ikeda and the subsequent responses.

YEAR	PROPOSAL	RESPONSE
1985	Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty	Adopted in 1996
1988	Global Citizens Charter	Earth Charter finalized in 2000
1993	Control on Arms Exports	Will start discussion in 2006
1994	NE Asia Peace Conference involving Six Countries	First Six-Party talks held in 2003
1995	International Criminal Court	Created in 2003
1997	Landmine Ban Treaty	Came into effect in 1999
1999	Ban the Use of Child Soldiers	Protocol came into effect in 2002
2000	World Solidarity Foundation to fight poverty	Agreement to establish in 2002
2002	Treaty to Deal with Nuclear Terrorism	Adopted in 2005
2004	UN Peace Building Committee	First meeting in 2006

 

In 1987 President Ikeda also made a proposal for a “UN Decade of Education for Global Citizenship” especially stressing the need for education in the fields of environment, development, peace and human rights.  Since then the UN has instituted the UN Decade for Human Rights Education (1995 to 2004), the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001 to 2010) and the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005 to 2014).

At the heart of all of these proposals is the need to establish dialogue between people and nations to encourage peaceful cooperation.  President Ikeda is now in his eighties but he continues to work at establishing “tranquillity throughout the four quarters of the [world]” and contributing to the happiness of humanity through his thoughts, words and deeds.

"Bridges towards an indestructible peace for humankind can only be built by fostering people and by forging strong ties between them, their hearts and minds. And that process is, by its very nature, a gradual, grassroots effort. We cannot expect quick results. We must be committed to it for the long term."   (Daisaku Ikeda)

Check out this year’s proposal (and previous ones) at http://www.sgi.org/sgi-president/proposals.html

GR - ATTITUDE

One of the greatest attitudes we can have as Nichiren Buddhists is gratitude:  gratitude to Nichiren Daishonin, gratitude to the Gohonzon, gratitude to our practice and "Gratitude no matter what!".

Enjoy What There Is To Enjoy

Many people give praise to the Gohonzon if they are involved in a serious accident and only sustain slight injuries, but if they return home from an uneventful day at work safe and sound will complain “Nothing good happened today”.  Similarly, a quick recovery from an illness is seen as a benefit, whereas a long period of good health is barely noticed. 

It seems that some of us only thank the Gohonzon if we are involved in an accident, become sick or overcome another difficulty, when surely the greater benefit, and the thing we should be most grateful for, is to not encounter any of these misfortunes at all.

Suffer What There Is To Suffer

In the postscript to the Gosho “On Polished Wheat”, Nichiren encourages Nanjo Tokimitsu to have a positive attitude to his troubles: “Whatever happens… you must not despair. … If things should not go as you wish … then determine to be more contented than ever.”  (WND-2, p576) 

Can we really be grateful if the worst happens?  I think we can.  Rather than blaming ourselves or others if things don’t turn out as we’d like or if we face obstacles, we should embrace the situation and focus on “What can I do to make the most of this opportunity?” or “How can I turn this poison into medicine?”  We don’t necessarily need to have the answer at that moment.  We just need to chant "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" as “earnestly as though to produce fire from damp wood” (WND-1, p444) and take action based on our Buddha wisdom.

Winning in our lives, through our faith in Nichiren Buddhism, is not the absence of problems, but being happy and hopeful despite them.  If we can engrave an attitude of “Gratitude no matter what” in our hearts, and chant with a determination to find the benefit in any situation, we can achieve the same high life state, and enjoy the same absolute happiness, that Nichiren Daishonin did.

A Beneficial Practice

The following explanation of the benefits of Nichiren Buddhism comes from chapter 15 - "Why Do We Chant Every Day?" - of President Ikeda's book "Discussions of Youth": Sometimes our immediate prayers are realized, and sometimes they aren't. … Buddhism accords with reason. Our faith is reflected in our daily life, in our actual circumstances. Our prayers cannot be answered if we fail to make efforts appropriate to our situation.


In Nichiren Buddhism, it is said that no prayer goes unanswered. But this is very different from having every wish instantly gratified, as if by magic. If you chant to win in the lottery tomorrow, or to score 100 percent on a test tomorrow without having studied, the odds are very small that it will happen.  Nonetheless, viewed from a deeper, longer-term perspective, all your prayers serve to propel you in the direction of happiness.

Furthermore, it takes a great deal of time and effort to overcome sufferings of a karmic nature, whose roots lie deep in causes made in the past. There is a big difference, for example, in the time it takes for a scratch to heal and that required to recover from a serious internal disease. Some illnesses can be treated with medication, while others require surgery. The same applies to changing our karma through faith and practice. In addition, each person's level of faith and individual karma differ. By chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, however, we can bring forth from within a powerful sense of hope and move our lives in a positive, beneficial direction. …

It’s unrealistic to think that we can achieve everything overnight. If we were to have every prayer answered instantly, it would lead to our ruin. We'd grow lazy and complacent. …

Suppose that rather than working, you spend all your money playing and are now destitute. Do you think someone giving you a large sum of money would contribute to your happiness in the long run?  … It would be like making superficial repairs to a crumbling building, without addressing the root problem.  Only by first rebuilding the foundation can we build something solid upon it. Faith enables us to transform not only our day-to-day problems, but our lives at their very foundation. Through our Buddhist practice, we can develop a strong inner core and a solid and inexhaustible reservoir of good fortune.

There are two kinds of benefit that derive from faith in the Gohonzon: conspicuous and inconspicuous. Conspicuous benefit is the obvious, visible benefit of being protected or being quickly able to surmount a problem when it arises - be it an illness or a conflict in personal relationships. Inconspicuous benefit, on the other hand, is less tangible. It is good fortune accumulated slowly but steadily, like the growth of a tree or the rising of the tide, which results in the forging of a rich and expansive state of life. We might not discern any change from day to day, but as the years pass, it will be clear that we've become happy, that we've grown as individuals. This is inconspicuous benefit.

When you chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo , you will definitely gain the best result, regardless of whether that benefit is conspicuous or inconspicuous. … No matter what happens, the important thing is to continue chanting. If you do so, you'll definitely become happy. Even if things don’t work out the way you hoped or imagined, when you look back later, you'll understand on a much more profound level that it was the best possible result. This is tremendous inconspicuous benefit.

The true benefits of Nichiren Buddhism are of a lasting and inconspicuous nature that accrues in the depths of your life.  Conspicuous benefit, for instance, might allow you to eat your fill today, but leave you worrying about your next meal. As an example of Inconspicuous benefit, on the other hand, you may have only a meager meal today, but you are steadily developing a life where you will never have to worry about having enough to eat. The latter is a far more attractive prospect, I think. … The more we exert ourselves in faith, the greater the benefit we experience.

(taken from "Discussions on Youth", p225 – 228)