Hi everyone,
Welcome to June's Happiness Academy!
Today
we are going to talk about
the secret of becoming HAPPY!
Yes,
it is a life long pursuit for many religions,
philosophers, thinkers,
and common people like us.
How to become HAPPY?
Especially when we look at today's world,
the slow post-pandemic economic recovery,
impending recession that is lurking at our doorsteps,
the never-ending Russo-Ukrainian war,
the intensifying of US China trade war,
the ever intelligent AI that is threatening
the careers of many in the future,
and these are on top of all the climate changes issues
and nuclear threats that we are facing
for the longest time;
The uncertainty of so many things
are plaguing the world today.
How are we going to become happy
in the midst of all these?
A truly living religion,
a religion concerned with people’s welfare,
must grapple head-on with these questions.
I received a letter from a young girl - Wendy,
who felt hopeless in her life.
“I just want to be happy.
But with all the problems
I'm facing
and the society that am living in,
it seems so impossible.
I feel so dejected
and lost confidence in life.”
Let me answer to Wendy
In the 1950’s,
Soka Gakkai 2nd President Josei Toda
had already said it clearly,
it is in the philosophy of Nichiren Buddhism
that lies the secret of happiness.
Hence in Soka Gakkai,
“Faith of Achieving Happiness”
is the second of the 5 eternal guidelines of the organization.
Let's put the word “Happiness” aside first
and let us zoom into the word “Achieving”.
His choice of the word “Achieving”
embodies a profound philosophy of life.
Happiness is not something given to us by others.
It is not something we wait
for to suddenly appear in our life.
It is a state of life
where we need to make deliberate efforts to “achieve” it.
It has everything to do with our own will and efforts.
In other words,
each of us has to achieve happiness for ourselves.
And faith in Nichiren Buddhism
guarantees that we can do so.
The purpose of our Buddhist practice
is to build a state of
eternally enduring happiness in our own lives
and to help others to do the same.
Next,
let us focus on the word “Happiness”,
which is the main theme for today.
President Toda summarised
the Buddhist view of happiness into 2 key aspects.
First,
there is a difference
between Relative Happiness
and Absolute Happiness.
Nichiren Buddhism doesn't reject
the relative happiness of comfortable life or good health.
Having a good job,
good health
and improving our standard of living are all very important
while making positive efforts to achieve these things,
Mr Toda said,
we should also challenge ourselves
through Buddhist practice
to attain a state of absolute happiness.
A state of happiness that nothing can destroy.
A state in which one can feel living is itself a joy
and our lives are imbued with a four virtues of eternity,
happiness, true self and purity.
The second aspect of happiness
in the Buddhist view
that we are born into this world to enjoy life!
In other words,
we are born to become HAPPY!
Isn't that great?
The Lotus Sutra teaches
that this world is a place
“where living being enjoy themselves at ease.”
But in this saha world
which is filled with sufferings,
we cannot enjoy ourselves
if our life force is weak.
That’s why we need to adopt a lifestyle
that is going to keep our life force
high at all times.
And this is the secret
to become happy tought in Nichiren Buddhism.
The Gosho passage
that we are going to study today teaches exactly this:
This is a letter written at Minobu
in a six month of the second year of Kanji 1276,
When Nichiren Daishonin was 55 years old,
and addressed to Shijō Kingo,
the central figure of the Daishonin’s disciples in Kamakura
in 1274,
Shijō Kingo, who was full of fighting spirit,
took the initiative to convert his Lord, Ema.
However,
Lord Ema was a sincere follower of the priest Ryōkan.
Ryōkan is the chief priest of Gokuraku-ji temple.
He didn’t like Daishonin very much
and he is very hostile towards the Daishonin.
Under his influence,
Lord Ema began to gradually alienate Shijō Kingo.
To make matters worse,
fellow samurais
who were jealous of Shijō Kingo,
groundlessly slandered him,
making him fall into the midst of predicaments.
In this Gosho passage,
The Daishonin quotes the sutra passage from the Life Span
(16th) chapter of the Lotus Sutra,
“where living beings enjoy themselves at ease,”
and states that there is no true happiness
other than chanting the daimoku of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
This is the supreme path,
he says,
to a life in which we can freely enjoy ourselves.
Just as joy never lasts forever,
neither does suffering.
In life, that is both suffering and joy.
Sometimes we win,
and other times we lose.
Both suffering and joy are a part of life;
this is the life’s reality
when we encounter difficulties,
there may be situations
where we harbour doubts in the Gohonzon
and find it difficult to chant daimoku.
However,
we tend to only think about methods
and countermeasures,
rather than basing ourselves on faith
to overcome our difficulties.
Conversely,
when everything is going well,
we will also lose our way,
feeling that we don't need faith
and stop chanting.
Because of our arrogance and negligence,
we alienate ourselves from the Gohonzon.
That is why,
whether experiencing suffering or joy,
we should keep chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo,
just as we are, says the Daishonin.
If we can do that,
we will attain a state of supreme happiness
through the wisdom and the power of the Mystic law.
We can lead a life in which nothing will defeat us.
Countless Soka Gakkai members have adopted this lifestyle
in both good and bad times,
No matter how painful
or challenging our situation,
if we keep chanting to the Gohonzon
with focused prayer,
we are certain to break through it.
Such prayer forges an indomitable spirit,
kindles limitless hope,
brings absolute peace of mind
and powers resolute progress.
It is a source of unsurpassed happiness
and one of the noblest act
we can perform as human beings.
A life dedicated to faith in the Mystic Law
is in itself the state of Buddhahood,
enabling us to enjoy life to our heart's content.
We are assured of
“peace and security in our present existence
and good circumstances in future existences.
On top of that,
we being a member of this big Soka Gakkai family,
there is no need to try to bear
all the problems alone and in silence.
The Daishonin teaches us one thing,
“Drink sake only at home with your wife”
in the same Gosho.
He was teaching Shijō Kingo
to confide in someone he could trust.
And we,
in addition to our family members,
we have fellow members,
friends in faith,
to share our troubles with.
The Daishonin is teaching us
the importance of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo
as we strive together with good friends around us,
warmly supporting and encouraging one another.
In other words,
Soka Gakkai is an indispensable organization for us to practice
Faith for Achieving Happiness.
Without it,
we will be fighting the battle all alone,
and at times
we may get burnt out too easily and too early
before we see the results of our prayers being answered.
With this strong life force,
and practising faith steadfastly in Soka Gakkai,
we can calmly and enjoyably ascend the hilly path of life.
The countless hardship and challenges
we experience
will be transformed into something that adds
to our joy in life,
It is like a pinch of salt on our margarita
that enhances the flavour of the drink itself.
Thank you
and I hope you will continue to share your thoughts
around this topic of happiness in your meeting today.