As Sensei so often says:

Sunday, November 16th, 2008
– TO MY FRIENDS –
It is important that our leaders,
as leaders of kosen-rufu,
always try to be cheerful and in high spirits and
continue to advance enthusiastically and energetically.
Brimming with a challenging spirit,
let’s do our utmost to support our fellow members’
development and happiness.

Isn’t that so true? Whenever I feel I can’t be bothered to chant, or when that certain something is STILL unresolved, that is when I remember things Rhona said or think of what Roger has achieved, then I know I just carry on chanting. Yes it’s definitely leaders’ ability to harness benefit and to remain happy and cheerful, not to let anything defeat them, demonstrating their strong faith, that keeps me going.

So if you’re sitting in grim misery, refusing to answer the phone or reply to members’ emails and wondering why it never works for you, back to faith practise and study. Doesn’t matter how long you’ve been practising, only today matters!

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Leadership in Buddhism of course isn’t a question of telling people what to do or what to think. The basic tenet and belief of SGI based on the Lotus Sutra is that every individual has Buddhahood inside them, and is worthy of respect as a Buddha. It is untenable therefore that any leader ever tells anyone what to do, since the person knows as well as the leader what is right for their life - nay even knows better, surely?

Yes deep down we know what is right for our life, but old habits die hard, and we may find ourselves doing the same old thing that never got us anywhere.

Buddhism is life itself. It is being in the heart of things, being ‘out there’, communicating, helping, caring about people. SGI members are largely over represented in the caring professions, and this happens because our practise motivates us to try to change things for the better. In fact, our vow as Buddhists is to ‘enable all people to be happy’, so this tends to be how we live our lives. It is being connected to other people, taking care of them when they need it, encouraging, being ready with that smile and that word of praise that will give others the strength they need to get through every challenge.

Even if they never find out we are Buddhists, people will say, I can rely on that person, when I needed them, they were there. So many times do we experience someone coming up to us out of the blue and thanking us for some little word of encouragement, when we were the ONLY person who did so. ‘When everyone had given up on me,’ they say, ‘You still believed I would get through it.’

Of course, it helps if a person has the practise of chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo themselves, and the time may come when we feel it is right to tell them about the practise and to encourage them to chant, but that is a decision each individual makes for themselves.

Basing everything on our practise of chanting, we take ACTION, and this action is helping and supporting others.

A Japanese friend suggested I chant that no child ever has an accident in my area. I did so, and the council put up a series of crossings which we had been campaigning for for over 20 years without success! So far so good here, and I am surrounded by lovely children, old friends who have moved nearer recently, helpful neighbours and so on. Kosen Rufu, peace through the practise, is precisely this: having a super life in a super environment.

The leader in SGI encourages and praises, thinks of you and sends you encouraaging messages at just the right moment. We can encourage people to study, to chant twice a day if they want to have the full benefit of this practise, tell them about Nichiren and repeat apt words from our President and Mentor Daisaku Ikeda. We can advise them to go to their Gohonzon and chant with a postivie attitude that victory is assured, and that they can find the best way to resolve their problems and ambitions. But we cannot tell them what to do.

If you, as a leader in SGI,  are suffering terribly, loafing around jobless and depressed, find yourself friendless and bored, or feel short of money or down on your luck, you need to get back to the Gohonzon with the correct attitude. As a leader, you MUST be happy and have benefit. You must shine with the glory of being a lion king or queen and a disciple of Sensei.

"A genuine leader of our movement is someone who takes the initiative, goes
out and meets people, tells them about our noble cause, and makes new
friends and allies."*

If that isn’t you, faith practise and study my friend. Become someone we can rely on.

*Daisaku Ikeda 
SGI Newsletter No. 7663, 23RD SOKA GAKKAI HEADQUARTERS LEADERS MEETING—PART
4 [OF 4]
Expanding Our Ties of Friendship, from the Nov. 3rd, 2008, issue of the
Seikyo Shimbun, translated Nov. 14th, 2008

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Daisaku Ikeda, President of Soka Gakkai International Lay Buddhist Organisation, gives an interesting interview for these Nepal lovers - enjoy here

http://www.tricycle.com/interview/faith-revolution?page=0%2C0

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I fought my way up the hill.

You lent me your staff.

Through the undergrowth,

You hacked at the thorns

And took my arm,

Pulling me on.

Near the summit you encouraged me,

Calling Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo

Sitting on a jutted rock,

Looking at clouds below

And the eagles spinning round.

You picked sandwiches and a thermos

From the bottom of your pack

And we drank tea together

While we discussed the way from here

Between the well-worn path

And the rocky route.

You said, ‘Let’s go the hard way.

‘It’ll be a challenge’.

Laughing, I replied,

‘Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo’.

In the valley, it turned out,

Was confusion and despair.

People turned to us for help.

We chopped wood, fetched food,

Held weeping babies and

Researched some options for the teenagers,

Collected medicine for old people

And held the hand of the dying.

That’s when they sent the police in

To stop us, calling us troublemakers.

We fought them bravely, side by side,

As evening fell, and won!

Finally you looked at your watch.

‘It’s time to go,’ you said.

You’d helped me a lot.

‘Don’t worry, Sensei,’ I replied,

‘I can take it from here.’

Every day is a fine day.

Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo

Poem by Jill Rees

07 October 2008

Bridgwater Bay Chapter, Somerset HQ

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Prayer

Mr. Kawai’s guidance in faith, conveyed by Mr. Noro, based on President Ikeda’s guidance.

We practice this faith not for mere exertion, that is, not for the sake of practice, but for change and progress and as quickly as possible.

Members may say, I’m doing many SGI activities, but so what? The real question is how much have I changed my life, my environment, and my livelihood? How much benefit have I received? There are many members who are doing lots of daimoku, but there is no change in their lives. Something is wrong. Buddhism is not the Law of Cause and Effect in Action. It is the Law of cause and effect in ichinen (determined prayer). For example, faith is not “feeling refreshed” after prayers and activities. Faith exists for us to change our lives. When we wish to travel somewhere, first we decide on the destination, then we plan on the action (route/ mode of transport) and then we travel and reach that destination. Faith is the same.

In faith, we must first have

1. clear targets
2. prayer
3. action

It is important to pray strongly and then take action and we will see the results without fail. It is important to determine to change. That is to pray “I want to change”, and then take necessary action. It is absolutely no use to ask the Gohonzon, “What should I do?” There will be no answer. YOU must decide what you want to accomplish, not the Gohonzon. Once we decide / determine on some goal, there may seem no solution. But that is precisely why we pray. If it were possible, we would not need the Gohonzon. If there is a way out, then there really is no need to chant. But we pray to change the impossible to possible. Do not engage in “what shall I do…” daimoku, that is, while chanting to think of strategies / look for options in your mind. There is absolutely no need to think of methodology, because there is no way out! We should simply pray like this “I want to accomplish this. I will accomplish this.”

If, while chanting, we think that our desires are unattainable / impossible, then that is the prayer that will be reflected onto the universe. And that is exactly the answer we will get back from the gohonzon… impossible/no solution.

We must pray with 100% confidence in the Gohonzon. I believe in the Gohonzon, my prayer will definitely be answered, just as the Gosho states “no prayer to the Gohonzon will go unanswered”. This is the Buddhist formula, which is 100% correct. It is our doubts that get in the way. While chanting, we always try to find ways out of our problem. Therefore, our ichinen is not directed towards the Gohonzon, but directed elsewhere. Thus it follows, that there is no real joy in daimoku and activities. We just keep doing what were told to do.

There was a young lady (student division) who wanted to go to USA from Japan to study. It was impossible, as she had no money etc. So she prayed, not chanted, but deeply prayed “I want to go to USA to study - I will go” One year later, she reported positive results. There had seemed no solution, but a “bridge” was formed through her sincere daimoku. This is the Mystic Law. It is beyond our understanding, which is why it is called Mystic. So there is no need to think, just trust and pray…

There was a WD who came for guidance. Her husband had terminal cancer and doctors said he would not live longer than 3 months. Her question was “can he be cured?” The answer was “I don’t know”. The leader went on to say that President Toda’s guidance was that when we determine that the only one thing we can trust is the gohonzon, then the body begins to recover from sickness.

This means to cure ones own illness by oneself, through faith. The human body is capable of producing 700 types of medicines. But when our life force is weak, then nothing is produced. When our life philosophy is polluted by slander, and impurities then our life cannot produce its healing power. Buddhism is great. Our life is great! It is supreme. It is Divine. It is the life of the Buddha. So through faith we can always manifest this supreme state of the Buddha, this power of the Gohonzon.

People call Buddhism great, but actually it teaches us that our own lives are great. With determination, great life force and wisdom can be manifested from our lives and bodies to overcome sickness which is one’s negative karma -the source of which is slander. So the real question is not whether the illness is curable, rather, the question is whether i can determine it is curable. The woman told her husband about this guidance and together both corrected their ichinen and prayed and he was cured.

A Woman’s Division leader in Japan could not walk due to pain in her legs caused by rheumatism. She was asked “do you think that your disease can be cured?”
She replied “No!”
“So then that is your desire. Your state of mind and that is why the answer from the Gohonzon is - - no cure!” replied the senior leader. The leader continued by saying that if the medical doctor has given up, if he says there is no cure for your condition, then that is the time to summon up your determination to change the impossible to possible. The very next day, the woman called the leader to report that when she determined, the pain disappeared from her legs and 2 weeks later she was completely cured. Her suffering had been caused by her thinking that it was impossible to be cured, that she would have to live with this life condition. But the moment she determined (ichinen) to overcome through faith in the gohonzon, the power of the mystic law was manifested through her life.

There are 3 kinds of directions:

1. Forward “Gear”. Forward Gear practice consists of: having a clear and specified target and determination to accomplish it through prayer and action, for example: I want a white cat. She must be of Persian species, 3 yrs old, with blue eyes, female. And I want her in 2 weeks. I will get it. In other words, doing a lot of activities and daimoku with no targets and clear goals is no use, as it will not produce any changes in your life.
2. Neutral “Gear” Neutral Gear Practice is chanting out of duty, with no joy. A habitual practice. E.g.: I am a leader, I have responsibilities, so I’m doing activities. But there is no effect. Its like the car analogy… the engine is full and ready to go… but nothing happens.
3. Reverse “Gear” Reverse Gear Practice is when the more activities and daimoku one is doing, one is still going backwards, rather than forward in one’s life. In other words, one may be making a lot of seemingly good causes, but one is also complaining. There is slander and grudges against others. Or one might be Complaining about ones’ own situation on not seeing immediate results. This is dangerous practice.

Just like in automatic transmission car, there is very little difference between Forward and Reverse Gears, from outward appearance it is difficult to tell where one’s ichinen is. But one’s life will ultimately clearly manifest it.

Slander

Even if you commit slander without realizing it, it is still slander. One should never criticize leaders. Right or wrong, one should not complain at all. Instead, one can chant for them to grow and one will benefit from that too. Similarly, never do “onshitsu” in your family. That is do not complain, criticize or carry a negative feeling towards husband /wife, children or parents. This is your karma. You chose your spouse / partner / children.
Chant for their growth.
Further, do not depend / rely on others. Do not complain that they don’t do this or that. Criticism will bring no benefit. But it will certainly bring negative effects.

In conclusion

We must eradicate the following types of prayer:

1. Out of habit or ritual (that is without any target or determination)
2. Out of delusion (that is while chanting, trying to find solutions to your problems)
3. Out of disbelief (that is thinking that this is impossible and will not happen / change)

Instead, pray with your entire heart, your entire being that I am going to build a bridge towards my happiness and those of others by myself, by using the Supreme wisdom of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. One needs to have the experience of benefits / breakthroughs, so as to encourage others. “I have so many benefits through this practice… what about you?” Especially, senior members must receive many benefits. Buddhism is reason. Otherwise what is the use of practicing this faith? If they don’t witness changes/ benefits then their faith has become habitual.

Experiences

There was a Men’s Division Chapter Chief in Japan, which had a small trading company, which was almost bankrupt. The sales had dropped by half. At that time he prayed deeply that the sales should climb to $3 million. And it became so. The next year, his target was $5 million and the year later $7million. So it is important to determine first, then chant.

An owner of a barber-shop reported drop of sales due to lack of customers. He was advised to determine and pray concretely and in specific detail e.g. exact number of customers for haircuts, for blow dry etc. - detailed prayer, with a deadline.

One member prayed to sell his car. He did, but with no profit at all. Because he did not pray for it.

One woman had severe economic / financial problems. She prayed 3 hours daily in the morning - I want this amount of benefit today. I need it. And she received it.

We need to experience benefits through faith and prayer to show power of Gohonzon and encourage others. President Toda and President Ikeda said there are 10 reasons why no change or benefits occur in senior leaders’ lives, even though they have been practicing for a long time.

1. Unclear determination
2. No concrete targets in faith
3. Doing regular Gongyo but no concrete prayer
4. Passive gongyo and activities from a sense of obligation
5. A complaining and begrudging attitude about faith
6. Seeking spirit for senior leaders/ guidance has become weaker
7. Not working hard in office or home
8. Depressed because of various sufferings in life
9. Weak of sense of mission for Kosen Rufu
10. Sense of responsibility as leader is weaker

Even if one of the above is missing, then faith has become habitual and there is no benefit. We must have dreams, which lead to hope and finally become reality when we chant! Therefore, we must have big dreams!

Experience

The President of a Fisheries Co was very concerned about the drop in catch of fish as it was affecting his sales, so he went for guidance. The leader asked him
“You say that you can’t get lots of salmon fish. Does this mean that there is no salmon or are you unable to catch them?”
“I can’t get any, he replied.
“Why can’t you call them to your net? Did you pray like that?” The leader encouraged.
“No I didn’t”.
“There is no natural boundary in the ocean. So why don’t you pray like that?”
The leader encouraged. So he did. His catch went up from 20 fish to 300 in one day. His company went from deficit to surplus. This is no miracle. This is the Law. This is reason.

What is amazing is when you don’t get benefits even though you do chant.

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This guidance has been circulating for some time, and has been said to be based on Mr. Kawai’s guidance in faith, conveyed by Mr. Noro, based on President Ikeda’s guidance. In fact SGI doesn’t officially recognise this guidance. It may be that someone took notes at a meeting and sent this round. 

However this guidance is so helpful, and is in line with the Buddhism of the SGI members, that I am leaving it here for thie time being, in the hope that it may help others as it has done me.

This is with the proviso that it should not be construed as official SGI material, and that it is not sourced.

If anyone knows the source of this material, please get in touch. If anyone thinks I have made the wrong decision and that  it should be removed, also get in touch.  Thanks.

Prayer

We practice this faith not for mere exertion, that is, not for the sake of practice, but for change and progress and as quickly as possible. Members may say, I’m doing many SGI activities, but so what? The real question is how much have I changed my life, my environment, and my livelihood? How much benefit have I received? There are many members who are doing lots of daimoku, but there is no change in their lives. Something is wrong. Buddhism is not the Law of Cause and Effect in Action. It is the Law of cause and effect in ichinen (determined prayer). For example, faith is not "feeling refreshed" after prayers and activities. Faith exists for us to change our lives. When we wish to travel somewhere, first we decide on the destination, then we plan on the action (route/ mode of transport) and then we travel and reach that destination. Faith is the same. In faith, we must first have

1. clear targets
2. prayer
3. action

It is important to pray strongly and then take action and we will see the results without fail. It is important to determine to change. That is to pray "I want to change", and then take necessary action. It is absolutely no use to ask the Gohonzon, "What should I do?" There will be no answer. YOU must decide what you want to accomplish, not the Gohonzon. Once we decide / determine on some goal, there may seem no solution. But that is precisely why we pray. If it were possible, we would not need the Gohonzon. If there is a way out, then there really is no need to chant. But we pray to change the impossible to possible. Do not engage in "what shall I do…" daimoku, that is, while chanting to think of strategies / look for options in your mind. There is absolutely no need to think of methodology, because there is no way out! We should simply pray like this "I want to accomplish this. I will accomplish this." If, while chanting, we think that our desires are unattainable / impossible, then that is the prayer that will be reflected onto the universe. And that is exactly the answer we will get back from the gohonzon… impossible/no solution. We must pray with 100% confidence in the Gohonzon. I believe in the Gohonzon, my prayer will definitely be answered, just as the Gosho states "no prayer to the Gohonzon will go unanswered". This is the Buddhist formula, which is 100% correct. It is our doubts that get in the way. While chanting, we always try to find ways out of our problem. Therefore, our ichinen is not directed towards the Gohonzon, but directed elsewhere. Thus it follows, that there is no real joy in daimoku and activities. We just keep doing what were told to do. There was a young lady (student division) who wanted to go to USA from Japan to study. It was impossible, as she had no money etc. So she prayed, not chanted, but deeply prayed "I want to go to USA to study - I will go" One year later, she reported positive results. There had seemed no solution, but a "bridge" was formed through her sincere daimoku. This is the Mystic Law. It is beyond our understanding, which is why it is called Mystic. So there is no need to think, just trust and pray… There was a WD who came for guidance. Her husband had terminal cancer and doctors said he would not live longer than 3 months. Her question was "can he be cured?" The answer was "I don’t know". The leader went on to say that President Toda’s guidance was that when we determine that the only one thing we can trust is the gohonzon, then the body begins to recover from sickness. This means to cure ones own illness by oneself, through faith. The human body is capable of producing 700 types of medicines. But when our life force is weak, then nothing is produced. When our life philosophy is polluted by slander, and impurities then our life cannot produce its healing power. Buddhism is great. Our life is great! It is supreme. It is Divine. It is the life of the Buddha. So through faith we can always manifest this supreme state of the Buddha, this power of the Gohonzon. People call Buddhism great, but actually it teaches us that our own lives are great. With determination, great life force and wisdom can be manifested from our lives and bodies to overcome sickness which is one’s negative karma -the source of which is slander. So the real question is not whether the illness is curable, rather, the question is whether i can determine it is curable. The woman told her husband about this guidance and together both corrected their ichinen and prayed and he was cured. A Woman’s Division leader in Japan could not walk due to pain in her legs caused by rheumatism. She was asked "do you think that your disease can be cured?” She replied "No!" "So then that is your desire. Your state of mind and that is why the answer from the Gohonzon is - - no cure!" replied the senior leader. The leader continued by saying that if the medical doctor has given up, if he says there is no cure for your condition, then that is the time to summon up your determination to change the impossible to possible. The very next day, the woman called the leader to report that when she determined, the pain disappeared from her legs and 2 weeks later she was completely cured. Her suffering had been caused by her thinking that it was impossible to be cured, that she would have to live with this life condition. But the moment she determined (ichinen) to overcome through faith in the gohonzon, the power of the mystic law was manifested through her life. There are 3 kinds of directions:

1. Forward "Gear". Forward Gear practice consists of: having a clear and specified target and determination to accomplish it through prayer and action, for example: I want a white cat. She must be of Persian species, 3 yrs old, with blue eyes, female. And I want her in 2 weeks. I will get it. In other words, doing a lot of activities and daimoku with no targets and clear goals is no use, as it will not produce any changes in your life.
2. Neutral "Gear" Neutral Gear Practice is chanting out of duty, with no joy. A habitual practice. E.g.: I am a leader, I have responsibilities, so I’m doing activities. But there is no effect. Its like the car analogy… the engine is full and ready to go… but nothing happens.
3. Reverse "Gear" Reverse Gear Practice is when the more activities and daimoku one is doing, one is still going backwards, rather than forward in one’s life. In other words, one may be making a lot of seemingly good causes, but one is also complaining. There is slander and grudges against others. Or one might be Complaining about ones’ own situation on not seeing immediate results. This is dangerous practice.

Just like in automatic transmission car, there is very little difference between Forward and Reverse Gears, from outward appearance it is difficult to tell where one’s ichinen is. But one’s life will ultimately clearly manifest it.

Slander

Even if you commit slander without realizing it, it is still slander. One should never criticize leaders. Right or wrong, one should not complain at all. Instead, one can chant for them to grow and one will benefit from that too. Similarly, never do "onshitsu" in your family. That is do not complain, criticize or carry a negative feeling towards husband /wife, children or parents. This is your karma. You chose your spouse / partner / children. Chant for their growth. Further, do not depend / rely on others. Do not complain that they don’t do this or that. Criticism will bring no benefit. But it will certainly bring negative effects.

In conclusion

We must eradicate the following types of prayer:

1. Out of habit or ritual (that is without any target or determination)
2. Out of delusion (that is while chanting, trying to find solutions to your problems)
3. Out of disbelief (that is thinking that this is impossible and will not happen / change)

Instead, pray with your entire heart, your entire being that I am going to build a bridge towards my happiness and those of others by myself, by using the Supreme wisdom of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. One needs to have the experience of benefits / breakthroughs, so as to encourage others. "I have so many benefits through this practice… what about you?" Especially, senior members must receive many benefits. Buddhism is reason. Otherwise what is the use of practicing this faith? If they don’t witness changes/ benefits then their faith has become habitual.

Experiences

There was a Men’s Division Chapter Chief in Japan, which had a small trading company, which was almost bankrupt. The sales had dropped by half. At that time he prayed deeply that the sales should climb to $3 million. And it became so. The next year, his target was $5 million and the year later $7million. So it is important to determine first, then chant. An owner of a barber-shop reported drop of sales due to lack of customers. He was advised to determine and pray concretely and in specific detail e.g. exact number of customers for haircuts, for blow dry etc. - detailed prayer, with a deadline. One member prayed to sell his car. He did, but with no profit at all. Because he did not pray for it. One woman had severe economic / financial problems. She prayed 3 hours daily in the morning - I want this amount of benefit today. I need it. And she received it. We need to experience benefits through faith and prayer to show power of Gohonzon and encourage others. President Toda and President Ikeda said there are 10 reasons why no change or benefits occur in senior leaders’ lives, even though they have been practicing for a long time.

1. Unclear determination
2. No concrete targets in faith
3. Doing regular Gongyo but no concrete prayer
4. Passive gongyo and activities from a sense of obligation
5. A complaining and begrudging attitude about faith
6. Seeking spirit for senior leaders/ guidance has become weaker
7. Not working hard in office or home
8. Depressed because of various sufferings in life
9. Weak of sense of mission for Kosen Rufu
10. Sense of responsibility as leader is weaker

Even if one of the above is missing, then faith has become habitual and there is no benefit. We must have dreams, which lead to hope and finally become reality when we chant! Therefore, we must have big dreams!

Experience

The President of a Fisheries Co was very concerned about the drop in catch of fish as it was affecting his sales, so he went for guidance. The leader asked him "You say that you can’t get lots of salmon fish. Does this mean that there is no salmon or are you unable to catch them?" "I can’t get any, he replied. "Why can’t you call them to your net? Did you pray like that?” The leader encouraged. “No I didn’t". "There is no natural boundary in the ocean. So why don’t you pray like that?" The leader encouraged. So he did. His catch went up from 20 fish to 300 in one day. His company went from deficit to surplus. This is no miracle. This is the Law. This is reason. What is amazing is when you don’t get benefits even though you do chant.

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The idea behind buddhist practise is to take control of our own life and beome strong enough to find our path in life and become happy through the practise of chanting. That’s why Howard was generous in spirit to sing us his song at a study lecture he gave, in a beautiful ending to the evening. You can listen to his new record here but the quality is not so good, so you’ll have to go out and buy it!

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There are two basic kinds of Buddhism, Hinayana and Mahayana. After the Buddha Shakyamuni’s passing, some of his teaching merged with Hindu and spread south through India and into Sri Lanka. In the 19^th century, this was the Buddhism which came to the UK through Alan Bennett, who entered a monastery in Sri Lanka in 1899 and provided some of the first reliable information to the West about this mainly oriental religion. Hinayana Buddhism is based on avoidance of the Four Sufferings of Birth, Sickness, Old Age and Death, which are common to all human beings. This is how Buddhism got the reputation in the UK for being a passive, retreating religion.

Mahayana Buddhism is now more popular, and includes Tibetan Buddhism and the Japanese sects. Mahayana spread through China and along the Silk Route, influencing what became Islam and, some say, radical Jews  through the Zoroastrian sects of Afghanistan.  Mahayana Buddhism is based on the development of the individual through their interaction within society, and is considered more practicable for the present day.

According to Nichiren Daishonin, the 13^th century Japanese Priest, ‘those who believe in the Hinayana teachings and declare them to be the true doctrine, failing to understand the Mahayana teachings, are slandering the Law…and will, when his life comes to an end, enter the Avichi Hell.’ (p194, Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume II, 2006 Soka Gakkai). This is because the Hinayana teachings deny people the opportunity to interact with others, and in so doing, show their ‘behaviour as a human being‘ (Lotus Sutra, Bodhisattva Never Disparaging Chapter), which is at the heart of the Buddhist idea of enlightenment.

Of all Mahayana teachings, the teaching of Nichiren Daishonin is a modernisation and a clarification of the teaching as it spread through China into Japan, passing through the interpretations of Tien Tai and Dengyo, both considered to be exceptional Buddhist scholars and practitioners.  What the above chapter of the Lotus Sutra, considered to contain the essence of Buddhism, shows is that everyone possesses the capacity for enlightenment, or Buddhahood.

The Lotus Sutra is the lecture Buddha gave late in life, claiming that it should be considered his ultimate teaching. It includes people previously thought to be unable to attain enlightenment, such as women, intellectuals, animals and children, in particular in the story of the Dragon King’s Daughter. Mocked by Shakyamuni’s followers for being a child of only 8 years, a little girl and a dragon, she boldly declared, ‘Not only will I attain Buddhahood, but I will do it right now in front of you’ and she did, ending once and for all the exclusion of these groups. In particular, this is important for women, as currently the SGI (Soka Gakkai International) is the only Buddhist group which accords equality to its women members.

Holding to the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings, such as the Garland or Nirvana Sutra, therefore, is a refusal to acknowledge and understand that the Buddha nature is within all human beings and this, says Nichiren, is also ‘slander of the Law’. What he means by this is that without seeing the truth that everyone is of equal importance, it is impossible to respect other human beings and therefore one is unable to attain enlightenment. If we are serious about Buddhism therefore, we must take the Lotus Sutra as the principal teaching.

Buddhism relies on the concept and the practise of handing down the correct teaching from Master to Disciple. Without this direct lineage, the confusing ideas springing from the intellect, known as the states of life of Learning and Realisation and once considered one of the states barring people from attaining enlightenment, tend to twist the teachings and cannot be trusted on their own. A Master, someone who himself has learned the true and correct teaching from another as great as himself, has a pure understanding of what is really meant by ‘attaining enlightenment’ and ‘revealing one’s Buddha nature from within’. He or she is able to reveal their Buddha nature, and explain clearly how to practise Buddhism in such a way that the Disciple too can attain that lofty state of mind. It is not supernatural, and it is not an mystery, but it is myrstic and it is important. One of the things a Buddhist needs to do is to find their own Master to learn about Buddhism from.

After Nichiren died, the correct Mahayana teaching came through the Nichiren Shoshu Priesthood by way of his direct disciple Nikko Shonin, and the teaching has managed to fight off various attackers, such as the militaristic Emperor of the 1930s Japanese dictatorship, to now be in possession of  the current teacher of the Lotus School, Daisaku Ikeda. Neither an intellectual or an academic scholar, nor a priest, Daisaku Ikeda has lived his life in exact accordance with the Lotus Sutra, the Mystic Law and the teachings of Nichiren, and is considered now to be the best teacher alive to understand Buddhism. Living as he does in the modern world, he is a perfect teacher for us as we attempt to do the same.

There are many Buddhist sects, and even in Nichiren’s day, it was hard to realise which one would be the true one. Now this is easier, in that we have available the complete Writings of Nichiren, and we can study this ourselves because of Soka Gakkai’s kind publishing of the texts. There is absolutely no need to take this as gospel from me, this would be actively discouraged by Daisaku Ikeda. Instead, it is a good idea to try out the practise to see if it works for you, and to study alongside others in a Gakkai group. Interested individuals can get in touch with the official centres of Soka Gakkai International in each individual country to be introduced to local members who will help, teach and support. Try

Sgi-uk.org or

Sgi.usa.org for starters.

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Take a look at this timely lecture on the important Buddhist text The 26 Admonitions of Nikko, given by the second priest following the death of Nichiren and his betrayal by his senior followers.

An understanding of these Admonitions shows us the importance of the Master-Disciple relationship, which is at the heart of Buddhism. The fact that Richard Causton gave these lectures at that terrible time, when the hope of enlightenment was itself under threat, is proof that the Soka Gakkai is the only organisation upholding the True Teaching at this time. This becomes increasingly obvious to me as I continue to practise.

For more information on Soka Gakkai International see this link.

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Congratulations to the women of Abuja for their strong faith in for hosting the AGM, also to the women of Nigeria for the first AGM in SGI Nigeria. Well done. Well done.

Nigeria has more fundamental darkness than other sub Saharan African states because it has the great strength and amazing richness of individuals there to lead Africa, the continent of the 21st Century, as a leading light for the whole world. I am sure that where Africa leads, we will all follow. So the onus is on everyone in Africa, from Africa and connected with Africa to become great leaders of Kosen Rufu for the sake of all mankind and all life on Earth. Now is the time.

Once again, congratulations.

Also all my love to my friends who I miss so much, but chant with every day.

Jill

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