The 5-fold 10-fold comparison - Day 7

Day 7: Today is almost the final day of this festival and as you can see I've been devoting all 4 of the second set of 4 days to the shamash, the pinnacle candle, the source of light for all the other candles. This is because what I am trying to do, as has been documented already, is the hardest thing possible. In the last episode, I presented irrefutable proof of the superiority of Nichiren's Buddhism (known in the 5th and final comparison as the Buddhism of Sowing (Living Buddhism Nov-Dec 2010, p. 97), as compared with the Buddhism of the Harvest. Let's look at the concept for a minute. Shakyamuni's Buddhism is called the Buddhism of the Harvest because although he spoke of the True Cause of his enlightenment in the Life Span Chapter (“Ga hon gyo bosatsu do”, “Originally I practiced the bodhisattva way”) (Someone else, if it's alright, please provide the reference for this because I haven't been able to purchase the Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Chapters yet, but that's the book it's from), he didn't mention what that is. His being a Buddha since he did that practice eons ago is called True Effect. Because his being the Buddha is an effect all can see clearly whereas the cause he made, although stated, is not shared to enable one to understand it (his own disciples having made enough causes in their own previous lives that they could attain Buddhahood just through hearing this Life Span Chapter), it is considered the Buddhism of the Harvest. But since Nichiren cut to the chase and stated directly what the True Cause is, chanting and embracing Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, a simple practice anyone can do (the rest of what you need to know coming out of your own life from chanting this phrase), his Buddhism, which SGI members practice, is considered the Buddhism of True Cause. And one can easily observe SGI members outdoing everyone else in making causes for other people's happiness if one puts oneself in an environment where SGI members come together. And I started to talk about the effects. But the fact is that you can't just stand on the sidelines hoping the effects will become apparent. You have to get into the act yourself. You have to start making those causes to help other people yourself, even if it goes against your grain. You also have to start believing in yourself if such is not presently the case, to believe you have unlimited power for good, for the attainment of something powerful to contribute to humanity, that you are at least as important a player as anyone else, and that each person's contribution is of inestimable value. That's a lot to bite off, I know. Hence, why we chant. And faith in what will come has to be a part of it since you have to make the cause first, even though the effect is instantaneous, though many don't see it in their lives.

But why do I have to participate in this creation of world peace when I don't want to. Maybe I'm happy right now and don't need anything more than what I have in life. Or maybe I'm not really happy but I'm comfortable enough and as long as I keep going along with the program I've been following, I'm not going to get concerned with or involved in anything outside that. To be sure, each one of the preceding philosophies I mentioned, even paganism, has its value. How much more so, having shown clear proof of their benefit, are Judeo-Christianity, Christianity, self-empowered Christianity (i.e. Protestantism) and secular humanism absolutely wonderful systems that are enough for whoever wants them. And indeed, there are lots of people today practicing each one of them who seem to be doing very well. For, as I already showed, they are all great philosophies based on the best of human potential. Those of the earlier systems obviously won't be convinced by my argument for the greater efficaciousness of the latter systems. How much more, then, will no one be convinced of my endeavor to show the greater proof of Nichiren Buddhism? Indeed, as was the case in Nichiren's time, even the most convincing and logical sounding arguments are somehow not enough to move people to believe that what they've just heard is really going to benefit them. Every day, one hears accidents being reported on the radio and TV, as drivers, though they've heard over and over the benefit of driving safely and defensively, either become bold, become impatient, or panic thinking they might be late to work, accidents that could have been avoided had they followed what they had heard and that even made sense to them. The human animal is far from the logical reasoning being that we have always hoped we were. What will shake us into sense?

If nothing else, let's look at the ways in which the other 4 systems are coming up short. I mentioned vast inequality of wealth not being able to be taken care of. War rages on, destroying many, many lives and sapping economies. And although more people than ever before enjoy political freedom, how much freedom do they truly enjoy? How much of the decisions affecting their lives do they truly feel they have the power to make. And now, as a result of the brilliance of science, a pernicious thing never brought about by the earlier 3 systems, or even by paganism, is putting a date on our world's end, and not in a good way, as the polar caps are melting faster than ever, vast amounts of forests providing much needed oxygen are disappearing, many forms and species of life are disappearing in ways we have no idea what impact it will have on us, and natural disasters, such as hurricanes, as well as man-caused ones, such as the yearly group of wildfires in western United States, some in very affluent areas, brought about as a result of climate change, are getting greater in number as the years go on, and yet none of these 4 systems has shown itself effective in curtailing it. Even the 3rd system, Protestantism, may be considered a partial accomplice in that it helped spur on the industrial revolution that led to the present threat on this planet. And, with nuclear stockpiles of weapons becoming less secure as political events occur threatening the stability of many parts of the world, it is almost certain that as climate change, which already threatens many densely populated areas with being underwater in the near future, heats up around the globe and the economic consequences of such became really severe, that the chance of nuclear Armageddon occurring is surely a likely possibility. I'm sorry but it's time for a reality check.

It's not the chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo will somehow magically save the world. Oh no. A lot more work than that will be needed. But it's the Buddha wisdom, the God wisdom, if you prefer, that emanates from the life of the person that chants it, that will give rise to a solution. And if the consistently recurring examples of empowerment that arise in the lives of those who chant and the true and unsurpassed aura of peace that prevails in the environments where SGI members gather are any indication, I'd say, let's give this thing at least a try since it's clear we lack the willpower to put into practice Al Gore's very wise advice about what we should be doing at the present moment but aren't. And that's just one example. Another is ending war completely and for good. Where is that occurring? So which would you prefer? Nothing to lose by switching to this strange sounding philosophy? Or everything to lose by sticking with the one we're comfortable with simply because that's how we were born, that's the environment we group up in and that's what makes sense to us?

I've already pointed out that close to 99% of everything we believe, we believe by faith, not by proof. All of the discoveries of science were discovered by other people, not us. How do we know they are correct? By faith. They work for us and thus our faith in them is strengthened. Almost none of us, and I bet no one reading this, has conducted scientific experiments to test these beliefs for empirical proof, nor has worked out the axioms and theorems in his head to satisfy analytical or deductive proof. So we just have to decide if we're willing to leap across the chasm by way of faith or stay on this side and risk what may happen due to comfort or fear.

The original purpose of these essays was not to prove the supremacy of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo but to prove the connection between Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and the belief systems of the west, to show that what Nichiren talks about in his writings can make sense to people in the west if we know where to make the substitutions. It was more to show that Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is not only the hidden truth of the Buddha's 80,000 teachings but also the hidden truth of the Bible, as well as all the myriad great works of the secular humanists. To show the connection more than the difference. To show how the Gohonzon is the embodiment of the original scroll of the Jewish Law, as, when written in Hebrew, the sacred name of God (since vowel sounds are arbitrary) are contained with the the phrease “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo”. To show that Christ and Buddha mean the same thing, only in two different language, and that pre-Nichiren Buddhism has no real claim to being closer to the truth than Christianity, both equally being preparatory, the Book of Revelations talking about the same thing in the “end time” as the Buddha did when he predicted the Latter age being one of “quarrels and disputes” (again, if someone could provide me the page reference for this, great), but that out of that something more wonderful than anything before would occur. To show that the more science uncovers, especially as it probes the metaphysical world, the more the truths people are realizing when they chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo are being uncovered.