In this section we offer resources for the SGEs discussion meetings; namely: a quote that sheds light on the relevance of the efforts that crystallise on these gatherings («Globally»), a presentation of the groups that sustain them («Locally»), a passage from the writings of Nichiren Daishonin commented by Daisaku Ikeda («Advancing with the Gosho»), a «Perspective» and some «Keywords».
GLOBALLY
“When we chant resounding daimoku, the sun rises in our hearts,
we are filled with vitality and compassion wells forth,
our lives are lit with joy and our wisdom shines brilliantly.
All the Buddhas and protective forces throughout the universe dynamically come into action.
‘Buddhism concerns itself with victory or defeat’.
By the same token, ‘life is also about win or lose’.
What is essential for one to achieve victory is daimoku. […]
The heart of the prayer of the Mystic Law is a ‘great vow’.
It is the spiritual power that withstands everything.
When our hearts are brimming with prayers,
there is no room for any kind of cowardice, resignation, or complaint.
Prayer is faith that we can ‘achieve our goal without fail’.
It is the conviction ‘never to be defeated’
and the supreme courage to break through our own doubt that something is impossible,
and persist with the unyielding determination ‘to fight and win no matter what’. […]
We are the ‘runners of sunlight’.
While vanquishing the darkness in troubled times and brightly illuminating our society,
let’s actively engage with people around us!
Let’s expand a circle of friendship and trust in our local area, workplace as well as our hometown.”[1]
LOCALLY
For their first meeting in 2021, members of this discussion group in Madrid decided to define, write down and uphold their goals for this “Year of Hope and Victory,” —an initiative that opens the way to having the “faith, that without fail, we will be able to achieve our goals,” like it is explained in this article.
(Mailbox: prensa@ediciones-civilizacionglobal.com)
ADVANCING WITH THE GOSHO
[W]herever we dwell and practice the single vehicle, that place will be the Capital of Eternally Tranquil Light.
(Reply to Sairen-bō, WND-1, p.313).
While overcoming all kinds of persecution and hardship, the Daishonin opened the way to hope and victory, showing us the means by which we can surmount any adversity, confident that “Winter always turns to spring.”[2]
The key is to keep practicing the Mystic Law, just as we are and in the place where we are right now. Our lives as practitioners who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are treasure towers. Our homes where the Gohonzon is enshrined and our communities where we work for kosen-rufu are “Capitals of Eternally Tranquil Light.”
My mentor, second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda, placed great importance on making a fresh determination for the new year—resolving that “This will be the year!”
Just like the vast universe itself, we possess within us the immense life force of the Mystic Law that has the power to positively transform everything. It would be a terrible shame if, though embracing faith in Nichiren Buddhism, we fail to realize that.
Mr. Toda […] urged members to align their lives with the wonderous rhythm of the universe and strive to demonstrate shining proof of their own human revolution in their daily lives during the course of that year.
Certainly, “when one attains the Buddha way, […] one’s body and mind at a single moment pervade the entire realm of phenomena [the universe].”[3]
PERSPECTIVE
The Buddhist teaching of the “three thousand realms in a single moment of life” —proposed by T’ien-t’ai (Chih-i), and on which Nichiren Daishonin based himself to inscribe the Gohonzon of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo— teaches that our heart or mind encompasses all phenomena in the universe. A place can be transformed positively or negatively depending on what is in people’s hearts and minds. This is so because the change taking place in a moment of our life as one individual produces a ripple effect throughout the hundred worlds and the thousand factors, and ultimately, the three thousand realms of existence. In this way, it impacts our relationships with others and with our environment. When we change, our environment changes. When our environment changes, the world changes. It is the human revolution of a single individual that is the starting point of this enormous, dynamic transformation.
KEY WORDS
Winter Turns to Spring · “This will be the year!” · Proof of human revolution
[1] ↑ IKEDA, Daisaku: “Prayer based on a vow opens the way to happiness,” Seikyo Shimbun, 27/12/2020 (tentative translation).
[2] ↑ See Winter Always Turns to Spring in WND-1, p.536.
[3] ↑ Words from Miao-lo, quoted in the The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind in WND-1, p.366.