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9. September 2005: Challenging
Delusion, Changing Karma |
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Shin Yatomi
SGI-USA
Study department leader
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The
story of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging in the Lotus
Sutra shows how those committed to the bodhisattva
path of altruism must challenge people’s fundamental
ignorance about their supreme potential.
The method and aim of Soka Spirit are the same as
those of Never Disparaging—reconfirming people’s
dignity through respecting their innate Buddhahood
and helping them challenge their fundamental darkness.
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Following are excerpts from an essay
by Shin Yatomi, SGI-USA Study Department Leader, appeared
on Living Buddhism (September 2005).
An unimaginably long time ago, the Lotus Sutra says, a
man bowed to everyone he met, saying: “I have profound
reverence for you, I would never dare treat you with disparagement
or arrogance. Why? Because you are all practicing the
bodhisattva way and are certain to attain Buddhahood”
(The Lotus Sutra, pp. 266–67).
Monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen reacted angrily toward
this man.
People gave him the name “Never Disparaging.”
Through his continual efforts to respect all people, Never
Disparaging eradicated his negative karma, purified his
mind and extended his life span. During his prolonged
life, he further spread Buddhism and eventually led all
who had despised him in the past to the Lotus Sutra.
The sutra also reveals that Never Disparaging was Shakyamuni
in a past existence.
In the story of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging, Nichiren
Daishonin sees an example of the Buddhist principle of
changing karma.
Nichiren explains that people can “wipe out”
their negative karma accumulated over many lifetimes by
spreading the correct teaching of Buddhism despite their
difficulties.
The idea of karma predates Buddhism. When early Buddhism
incorporated this ancient Indian concept, the intent was
to free people from the shackles of determinism—the
idea that one’s destiny is fixed, in this case,
by his or her past actions. Instead, early Buddhism stressed
that one’s present actions—not one’s
status, which was considered the result of past actions—determined
the moral content of his or her character.
In the course of Buddhist history, however, the early
emphasis on present actions gradually shifted to an emphasis
on how much negative karma one has accumulated and thus
how many lifetimes it will take to expiate the moral offenses
of the past.
The Nichiren Buddhist teaching of changing karma restores
the original Buddhist emphasis on the role of present
action changing negative karma.
Nichiren Buddhism explains that people’s fundamental
suffering is caused by their slander of the Law. This
slander is caused, in turn, by the inability to believe
in the universal existence of people’s innate Buddhahood.
This is called “fundamental darkness.”
SGI President Ikeda discusses the Nichiren Buddhist concept
of changing karma as follows:
“The substance of slandering the Law is disbelief;
it is not believing in the existence of the Buddha nature
in oneself and others. This disbelief is what fundamentally
obstructs the emergence of the world of Buddhahood.”
“Just as the light of the stars and the moon seems
to vanish when the sun rises, when we bring forth the
state of Buddhahood in our lives we cease to suffer negative
effects for each individual past offense committed.”
(The World of Nichiren Daishonin’s Writings, vol.
3, pp. 61–62).
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What does Soka Spirit mean
to you? |
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What is the concept of changing
Karma in Nichiren Buddhism? |
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With strong confidence in the innate Buddhahood of all
people, Bodhisattva Never Disparaging expressed his words
of praise to everyone he met.
The meaning of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is to challenge
the fundamental darkness and reveal the Buddha nature,
just as Never Disparaging did with his words of praise
for everyone’s Buddha nature.
The Soka Spirit movement is the SGI-USA’s collective
and individual efforts to challenge the distortion of
Nichiren Buddhism—as seen in the Nichiren Shoshu
priesthood—and encourage both self and others to
awaken to life’s true potential.
The method and aim of Soka Spirit are the same as those
of Never Disparaging—reconfirming people’s
dignity through respecting their innate Buddhahood and
helping them challenge their fundamental darkness.
Both Soka Spirit and the actions of Never Disparaging
aim to establish a humanistic religion by challenging
authoritarianism, to establish respect for each person
by challenging disrespect for ordinary believers perpetrated
by religious authority.
Proclaiming respect for humanity in the abstract is easy,
but to show sincere respect for the person confronting
you is difficult—especially if the person is hostile.
But this is exactly what Bodhisattva Never Disparaging
did.
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