Dharma World Buddhist magazine

Living with a Generous Heart: Greeting the Centennial of the Founder's Birth

by Nichiko Niwano

It is important that through this year's programs and ceremonies we make the heart of the Buddha, the heart of the Founder, our own.

This year we reach a major turning point with the centennial of the birth of the Reverend Nikkyo Niwano, the founder of Rissho Kosei-kai. Let us make this year more than just a time of celebration, using it as an opportunity to reflect on and deepen our faith.

The Great Vow to Save All Sentient Beings

Last year, in anticipation of the centennial, I had the opportunity to meet with local leaders and other members of Rissho Kosei-kai a total of forty-two times to talk and learn together, in the name of "nationwide dissemination." In the course of these activities, there were certain things I invariably said.

One was "Seek not to follow in the footsteps of the masters; seek what the masters sought." This sentence, from the pamphlet Awakening in Faith, was used by the director of Rissho Kosei-kai's Faith Dissemination Department in a question to me. He expressed his own understanding of the Buddha's teaching as follows: "What the Buddha really wanted to convey to us was the importance of properly accepting what is here and now rather than pursuing mere forms. That, it seems to me, is the mainstay of 'awakening in faith.'" This says it all. Even if we seek to "follow in the footsteps of the masters," no one can live the same life as the Buddha. The same can be said of the life of the Founder. Each one of us has to live our own individual life, in keeping with our own causes and conditions. Therefore, the most important thing is to ask ourselves constantly what the masters sought to convey and strive to strengthen the aspiration for enlightenment.

What the Buddha wished to convey to us above all, I believe, was the truth of heaven and earth, embodied in the Great Vow to save all sentient beings generated by grasping that truth. This world is permeated by that truth. In brief, it is the law of impermanence, the truth that all things are constantly changing. We who are linked by having come into contact with the teachings of the Buddha can face life with great peace of mind by awakening to the truth. In other words, no matter what suffering we may encounter, we can accept all things in the light of the truth and live with thanksgiving and purpose.

In this way members of Rissho Kosei-kai have been saved by living out the Buddha's teachings in their daily lives. Those saved feel impelled to pass on the joy of salvation to others. The Rissho Kosei-kai of today is built on the stock of those who, not content with personal salvation, wish for the happiness of others and sincerely transmit the teachings. Those who have gone before us have taught us by their example that salvation and dissemination of the teachings are truly one and the same.

A Life Permeated by the One Vehicle Spirit

In this centennial year, I hope that in addition to giving thanks for having encountered the Buddha and his teachings through the Founder, we will renew the vow to disseminate the teachings to as many others as possible. The Buddha told us to strive to improve ourselves in the wish to save all sentient beings. In modern terms, this means striving to improve ourselves with the aspiration to save the world.

The Buddha's teachings, the aim of which is the salvation of all people, are said to be the most broad-minded, peaceable teachings to be found in any religion. There can be no more peaceable mission for us than to make those teachings known to the world.

In reality, of course, the low-key practice of transmitting the teachings to those closest to us is important. But striving earnestly where we live and work leads to dissemination of the teachings to the world. Surely what would make the Founder happiest is for each and every one of us always to possess the aspiration to save the world, the spirit to make the teachings known to the world. Through "nationwide dissemination," we have learned from one another how to strive to improve ourselves. Building on this, in my meetings with leaders last year I announced the policy direction for 2006.

Here is the gist of what I said: Finally, we greet the pivotal year of the centennial of the Founder's birth. Let us pledge to strive this year to emulate the Founder, who, ever since the establishment of Rissho Kosei-kai, dedicated his life to world peace and the salvation of humanity, taking as his personal vow the One Vehicle spirit: Since we are all passengers in the same vehicle, let us recognize and cooperate with one another with a generous heart. Realizing that we all live together on Spaceship Earth, let us regard the problems of the world as our own problems, engraving firmly on our hearts the Founder's vow, "I have been born into this world so that all living beings may be saved and attain happiness"--the Lotus Sutra's teaching of the "birth by aspiration." And through "regulation of the family," putting one's own home in order, this year let us firmly address the problems of young people.

As indicated by his posthumous title, Great Teacher of the One Vehicle, the Founder preached the Law and guided us with an expansive heart, seeing all people as the children of the Buddha. His establishment of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP) and other organizations, not to mention his day-to-day dissemination activities, was made possible because all that he thought and did was grounded in his personal vow to live according to the One Vehicle spirit. In emulation of the Founder, who possessed the aspiration to save all sentient beings, not just himself, I hope each one of us will be able to strive for self-improvement with an expansive heart.

Turning our gaze toward the world, we see that conflict and terrorism, poverty and hunger, persist. Domestically, too, we face diverse problems. The Buddha taught that all beings in the world are part of one great life infused with the truth of impermanence. When we realize this truth, self and others are as one, and we share the suffering and sorrow of others. Every individual, every people, every nation is an integral part of Spaceship Earth. The poet Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933) wrote, "There can be no individual happiness until the world as a whole is happy." In the same way, the world's problems are our own problems.

Are people satisfied if they themselves are happy, ignoring the suffering and sorrow of others? Certainly not. The "birth by aspiration" taught in the Lotus Sutra means that lodged in the innermost recess of everyone's heart is the wish that all sentient beings may be saved and attain happiness. This is the vow of the Buddha and the Founder. We are taught that the heartfelt vow of all people is one and the same: to save all sentient beings. I hope we will engrave this on our hearts, clarifying the mission for which we have been born into this world.

Sharing the Heart of the Buddha and the Founder

This is the third year that I have announced "regulation of the family" as the guiding principle for the year. The family is the fundamental place of character formation, and putting the home in order is always a major issue for us. To achieve "regulation of the family" I have frequently talked about the importance of "the three practices" and "a life centered on the Buddhist altar" as daily aspirations. The three practices are saying good morning to one another, responding clearly and crisply when called, and lining up one's shoes neatly after taking them off when entering the house. A life centered on the Buddhist altar means making the Buddha's teachings one's focus and measuring things against the yardstick of the Buddha. Through carrying out these practices at home and creating a family that has warmth, I hope that this year, too, we will firmly address the problems of youth.

Young people are said to symbolize the fresh springtime of life and the sacred springtime of the homeland. This image comes from one of the favorite books of my own youth. Spring evokes hope and expectation. It expresses beautifully the value, the preciousness, of youth. Youth is so valuable that it is said that when we look at young people, we see the future of the nation. Not only at home but also in Rissho Kosei-kai local branches and chapters, we must do all that we can to develop young people.

This centennial year will feature a variety of programs and ceremonies, including ceremonies to celebrate completion of the renovation of the Great Sacred Hall, and commemorative pilgrimages. And in late August the Eighth World Assembly of the WCRP will meet in Kyoto for the first time since the inaugural assembly in 1970.

What is important is that through these programs and ceremonies we make the heart of the Buddha, the heart of the Founder, our own. On the occasion of this centennial, I hope that each and every one of us will strive for self-improvement with the generosity of the Founder, so that we can further deepen our faith and make progress, possessing the aspiration and the spirit to save all sentient beings.

Nichiko Niwano is president of Rissho Kosei-kai and the Niwano Peace Foundation, a president of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP), and chairman of Shinshuren (Federation of New Religious Organizations of Japan).

This article was originally published in the April-June 2006 issue of Dharma World.

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