Nichiren Daishonin was often condemned by his contemporaries as "an extremely arrogant priest" for his confidence as a votary of the Lotus Sutra to "fulfill the Buddha's predictions and reveal the truth of his words" (WND, 400-01). Just as Nichiren's confidence was misconstrued as arrogance, we may be inclined to mistake our arrogance for confidence and others' confidence for arrogance. One of the five delusive inclinations, arrogance is considered in the Buddhist tradition both as a hindrance to enlightenment and as a cause for suffering. For this reason, mistaking arrogance for confidence is likely to set off a downward spiral of delusion and suffering. The fine line between arrogance and confidence, therefore, must be redrawn more clearly to distinguish happiness from delusion.

Judging One's Self-worth by Comparison With Others

The first of the seven types of arrogance, which are enumerated in some Buddhist scriptures, points to the essential quality of arrogance-"to think that one is superior to those inferior to oneself and that one is equal to one's equals" (The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 579). Why is this arrogance? Isn't it just telling it like it is? What is implied here is that arrogance is essentially our inclination to judge our self-worth by comparing ourselves with others.

Certain comparisons between oneself and others may be objectively true-such as income, IQ or physical appearance. But to constantly judge one's self-worth through comparison with others in whatever standards chosen is to become arrogant. Of course, this is not to deny some merits that comparison and competition bring to our lives, such as motivation for improvement and an opportunity for selfreflection.

The correct assessment of our circumstances through comparison is essential to improving our lives. In fact, those living in isolation or unwilling to learn from others are arrogant. Comparison with others becomes a cause for concern when it becomes the sole measure for judging our existence. Put simply, if we start thinking of our lives as happy or unhappy, meaningful or meaningless, solely based on comparison with others, we may as well consider ourselves arrogant.

Arrogant people feel good about themselves only through affirming their superiority to others. Our sense of superiority is always relative to whomever we are compared with and never constant because of our changing circumstances. False confidence based on superiority, therefore, easily turns into a feeling of inferiority and self-disparagement, like a millionaire feeling poor among billionaires, a Ph.D. feeling foolish among Nobel laureates or a healthy person feeling overweight among supermodels. This is why false humility or self-disparagement is considered as arrogance in Buddhism. (See the nine types of arrogance in The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 457.) Put another way, arrogance and self-disparagement are two sides of the same coin; we cannot have one without the potential for the other.

Genuinely confident people, on the other hand, feel great about themselves without comparing themselves with others. Such people are aware of their intrinsic personal strength or merit worthy of praise and respect. Confident people can put into perspective their ups and downs of life. Their missed promotion or lost love does not spell out their failure as human beings. Their financial success or academic achievement does not necessarily make them superior to their peers. So long as they continue to be aware of their innate positive quality and strive to cultivate it, people will remain confident regardless of their external circumstances. And Buddhism teaches that the most reliable source of confidence is our innate Buddha nature.

Arrogance Is Egotism, Confidence Is Altruism

What clearly distinguishes the arrogant from the confident is whether they desire and act for others' happiness greater than their own. Arrogant people are keenly aware that their self-esteem depends upon their superiority to others, so they often take delight in pitying the less fortunate since it reaffirms their superior status.

The "kindness" of the arrogant, however, extends only so far as it supports their self-importance; it continues as long as the less fortunate remain less fortunate. Precisely for this reason, the arrogant cannot desire and act for the supreme happiness of others because they fear it would diminish their own happiness. This explains why it is often easier to feel ambiguous pity for our underpaid coworkers than to share their joy over their sudden promotion. One's loss must be another's gain-this is the basic assumption of life held by the arrogant who cannot stop comparing their fortune with that of others.

Confidence, on the other hand, makes genuine altruism possible. Since confident people's self-worth does not depend upon others, they are free to care for others and fight for their happiness with the hope that it exceeds their own. In fact, the confident see their contribution to others' happiness as proof of their expanding humanity and as a source of great joy.

Confidence Is To Appreciate Oneself

In the late winter of 1272, Nichiren Daishonin wrote with his numbing hand: "I, Nichiren, am the richest man in all of present-day Japan. I have dedicated my life to the Lotus Sutra, and my name will be handed down in ages to come" (WND, 268).

A reformer who challenged the corrupt religious authority of his day, Nichiren was exiled, after a failed execution, to a remote northern island of Japan, expected to die naturally or to be murdered. Destitute, he was living in a hut in a field scattered with abandoned corpses, and everything pointed to his approaching death.

These words, however, clearly express Nichiren's con- fidence that he gave his life to the spread of the essential teaching of Buddhism, that is, the universality of Buddhahood. His life meant something for him, although it seemed to have come to nothing. When he lost everything, he gained the one thing that mattered most-indomitable confidence that all people, no matter how miserable they may appear, have the supreme potential of Buddhahood.

Through his own example, Nichiren demonstrated that confidence need not depend on possessions or circumstances. Genuine confidence is to love and praise ourselves even in the worst possible state, not for how we appear to others but for what we are in the innermost of life.

The Arrogant Are Insecure and Needy

The difference between arrogance and confidence also shows in our emotional state. Arrogance makes us insecure, whereas confidence gives us peace of mind. The more arrogant we become, the more keenly we feel the dependence of our happiness upon the misfortune and weakness of others.

This ironic dependence makes the seeming confidence of the arrogant increasingly insecure. The more they bolster this false self-confidence on the outside, the less secure they become inside; so the "happiness" of the arrogant is selfconsuming.

As mentioned earlier, confident people are deeply aware that they derive their confidence from strengthening their innate qualities and need not depend on others. So the more confident people are, the more peaceful they will be with both themselves and others. Even in disagreement or when pointing out the errors of others, confident people can remain calm and open-minded. Since they need not defend their self-worth by "winning" the argument, confi- dent people can stay focused on the merits of different views and opinions without becoming hurtful toward others.

Nichiren, for example, wrote from exile, "Whatever obstacles I might encounter, so long as persons of wisdom do not prove my teachings to be false, I will never yield!" (wnd, 280). His vow to be steadfast in his belief comes with the condition-"so long as persons of wisdom do not prove my teachings to be false." This was an expression of the unruffled openness of the confident, not the blind obstinacy of the arrogant.

Think about how people behave at work. Unlike an arrogant manager who takes any suggestion as a personal criticism and everyone in the office as a potential threat, a confident manager takes even personal criticism as an opportunity for self-reflection and further improvement. The inner state of an arrogant person is constantly agitated, waiting for any opportunity to assert a sense of superiority. But the inner state of a confident person absorbs even an untoward event like a pebble tossed into a bathtub as opposed to a wineglass.

As it is clear now, arrogance is not too much confidence. The essential difference between arrogance and confidence is not one of quantity or degree but of quality and origin. Arrogance is needy and dependent on others, derived from comparison with the external. Confidence is free and independent of others, found and cultivated in the self.

Absolute Superiority Is a Dangerous Illusion

Mistaking arrogance for confidence distorts our view of humanity-the way we relate to others and ourselves. Such misconception spells out only tragic suffering for individuals and society. Long before his rise to power, Adolf Hitler wrote: "Self-confidence must be inculcated in the young national comrade from childhood on. His whole education and training must be so ordered as to give him the conviction that he is absolutely superior to others" (Mein Kamph, Ralph Manheim, trans., p. 411).

The epitome of arrogance, Hitler mistook the illusion of absolute superiority for supreme confidence. He debased education, turning it from a vehicle of equality and happiness into a cogwheel in the evil machinery of discrimination and destruction. Education must teach confidence, not arrogance. Likewise, Buddhist learning is to strengthen our faith in the inherent Buddha nature of others and ourselves, not to promote elitism among practitioners.

Nichiren was well aware of the danger of judging one's self-worth through comparison with others. He, therefore, admonished his disciples: "When you look at those of superior capacity, do not disparage yourself. The Buddha's true intention was that no one, even someone of inferior capacity, be denied enlightenment. Conversely, when you compare yourself with persons of inferior capacity, do not be arrogant and overproud. Even persons of superior capacity may be excluded from enlightenment if they do not devote themselves wholeheartedly" (wnd, 62).

Here Nichiren explains that one's potential for enlightenment is in no way diminished by one's capacity to understand Buddhism since all people are equally endowed with supreme Buddhahood. What is most important for our happiness is to develop conviction in this intrinsic potential shared by all people. Our tendency to compare our capacity with that of others will only lead us astray from genuine happiness.

	As seen in the example of Nichiren Daishonin, a confident person is often viewed as arrogant by those who are themselves arrogant. Why are the arrogant so disturbed by the confident?
	In what way could the arrogance of the powerful be related to the despair of the powerless? How does the practice of Nichiren Buddhism help you develop genuine confidence when facing difficulties or feeling powerless?
	How should we deal with people who display arrogant attitudes? Moreover, how can we use the practice of Nichiren Buddhism to self-reflect so that we ourselves may not mistake others' confidence for arrogance and our arrogance for confidence?

Nichiren, therefore, urges us to win over our arrogance in order to enjoy authentic happiness: "Now, if you wish to attain Buddhahood, you have only to lower the banner of your arrogance, cast aside the staff of your anger, and devote yourself exclusively to the one vehicle of the Lotus Sutra" (wnd, 58-59). Here, Nichiren indicates the close relationship between arrogance and anger. T'ien-t'ai, a sixth-century Chinese Buddhist scholar, described those in the state of anger as "always desiring to be superior to others" (gz, 430). Anger is akin to arrogance; it may be described as frustrated arrogance.

As Nichiren suggests here, we can overcome our deepseated arrogance and anger through our devotion to the "one vehicle of the Lotus Sutra"-that is, the teaching of the universality of Buddhahood and its essential practice as chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. As we deepen our con- fidence in our own Buddhahood and this selfsame potential of others, the need to compare ourselves with others will diminish, and we will be free to appreciate and enjoy lives of our own making. (from the March 7 and March 14, 2003,World Tribune)