This essay is part of a continuing series of translations from
a volume of inspirational writings by the late founder of
Rissho Kosei-kai. Dharma World will continue to publish
these essays because of their lasting value as
guidance for the practice of one's daily faith.

The sufferings of individuals, as well as the ills of society and nations, are all rooted in desire and derive from greed, as the Lotus Sutra so rightly declares. At the present time in particular, we must all think seriously about this fact, as if to engrave it deeply on our consciousness.

The United Nations was established, along with a large number of other organizations, to help ensure world peace through international meetings and activities. People are expressing a fundamental wish to resolve their troubles, in which a number of countries are involved, in a way that seeks to achieve solutions through dialogue. This is testimony that human beings have made at least some strides in terms of moral progress. Nevertheless, since such dialogue remains rooted in national greed, much of it can be said to have the form but not the spirit of real progress, and the world actually displays little improvement. It would seem clear, therefore, that if we do not remove the cause of this illness of greed, the human suffering caused by conflict will never be exhausted. Some urgent measures are needed, but as long as the root cause continues to exist, any relief can only be temporary.

Buddhism strictly cautions us against becoming attached to things, and its objective, put simply, is to remove the cause of suffering and lead people to happiness and contentment. This expression, "remove the cause of suffering," is of particular interest. If we just prune the part of a weed that appears above ground but leave the roots where they are, the weed will grow again. We have to remove the roots in order to get rid of the weed permanently. In the same way, it is not enough to temporarily subdue the greed that is at the root of human suffering; we have to resolve to remove it completely.

The Buddha never denied the existence of desire itself. Desire is a basic instinct that arises before any objectification of good or evil. It works on people's minds and can thrust forward under its own impulse. He taught that only when desire is excessive does it become a source of pain and suffering and unhappiness. Such excess is described by terms such as greed and lust. Therefore Buddhism teaches that we should control and moderate our desires so that they do not become reckless and degenerate into greed or lust. There is no suggestion in this that we must deny instinctive desire. Buddhism is not a faith that teaches us to ignore what makes us human, but it does positively encourage us to preserve our original nature, our buddha-nature, as human beings. After all, it is because human beings have desires that they invent machines to make life easier and more pleasant and have made such remarkable progress in science. This is why we cannot simply generalize and say that all desire is in and of itself bad.

Desire itself cannot be a bad thing, since it is the dynamic force behind most of humanity's progress. It is only when it degenerates into greed and selfish attachment that it develops negative energy, which both causes individual suffering and hinders genuine social progress.

For example, consider the moisture in the air. When it settles on blades of grass or on leaves, it forms dew or frost. If the moisture had nowhere to settle, neither dew nor frost could form. Similarly, human suffering would not develop if desire did not too often settle onto greed. So if there were no greed, it could not take the form of suffering. The roots of suffering fill our world and, like moisture in the atmosphere, are all-pervasive. But as long as we do not provide the roots with a place to settle and develop, they will not grow into suffering.

It is important that we control our appetites so that we can move our desires in a positive direction, turning from quantity to quality. All working people--those who produce goods, those who distribute and sell them, and those who are in service industries--should strive to change the direction of their wishes, trying not so much to do more as to work better. Even more basically, the desire to lead a good life is fine in itself, but we should think not only in terms of material wealth and physical comfort but more deeply in terms of spiritual wealth and happiness.

Perhaps this might lead to a decrease in the national wealth, but it would represent genuine wealth in the truest sense for people. In addition, this type of wealth would not create suspicion or lack of trust among other countries. As the old Chinese proverb says, just as a blossoming peach or plum tree naturally attracts people without being aware of its own beauty, a virtuous person will naturally draw the admiration of others.

The Buddha taught, "Those who make channels for water control the waters; makers of arrows make the arrows straight; carpenters control their timber; and the wise control their own minds" (The Dhammapada, 80).* Water tends to flow from a higher place to a lower; that is its nature. No matter how natural this might be, however, if left uncontrolled, water might sometimes become scarce, causing hardship when it is needed, or at other times it might overflow, resulting in flooding that causes much suffering. Thus under the established rules of water control, powerful rivers have to be held back by dams in certain places, with the water held in storage ponds; or their flow needs to be regularized, so the volume of water is neither too small nor too great. How true it is that those who make channels for water control the waters.

But how do we control our desires? I think there are two possible ways. The first is to suppress and the second is to correct. Suppressing is to apply the brakes of good sense before our original desires grow out of hand to become lust and greed. When we apply the brakes while driving, we first encounter resistance and the heat of friction. Similarly, the instant we apply the brakes on our own actions, we initially experience resistance from our growing desires, and we need perseverance to overcome it. Because weak people suffer distress when they experience this initial friction, they try to run away from it. In actuality, though, only momentary perseverance is needed: the joy that comes from overcoming the resistance is many times greater than any pain felt because of the friction. As we repeat this mental activity, we find that in due course we are no longer conscious of any resistance when we engage in self-regulation. People who reach this stage should be regarded as truly virtuous.

The second way, correction, is to regulate the flow of desires just as they exist, in keeping with common sense. In terms of water control, this is like channeling a river so that as much as possible it flows straight and deep, not like a meandering stream. This not only acts to protect against flooding but also gives rise to incalculable benefits in terms of the generation of hydroelectric power and agricultural irrigation. I am reminded here of the Mahayana teaching that "delusions are inseparable from enlightenment." It is a subtle principle of Buddhism that desire, when diverted to good causes, will have good results and thus provide a stimulus for the advancement of society.

When we allow our desires, or those of our group, to expand and proliferate into greed and lust, we will have unending difficulty in escaping from suffering. While this continues, neither the individual nor society, nor indeed the world as a whole, will be able to achieve true happiness.

*The Dhammapada, Juan Mascaro, trans. (London: Penguin Books, 1973), 46.

This article was originally published in the July-September 2008 issue of Dharma World.

back to this issue's table of contents