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Faithful Life
To know this, is to be inspired by the world of the Buddha which is invisible or to be inspired by the existence of the Buddha which is untouchable. This is a yardstick which confirms that our faith has reached a certain level. There may be someone who also has these experiences in their religious life. If you have a chance, you may be able to talk with those around you about experiences of the religious life. You may share the experience and may meet your best friends who can chant the O-daimoku together with you and make your chanting of the O-daimoku louder and louder. This special religious experience can be known only through your solid and strong faith, and it is also necessary to keep your faith as pure as you can. That is unconditional belief. The knowledge of doctrine is the way to make your religious life deeper; however, earnest belief is much more valuable for your religious life. It means that the knowledge of doctrine without faith will never enable you to acquire the valuable religious life. The Lotus Sutra and the temple bell are the same, because the interpretation of the Lotus Sutra may be different by the difference of each reader's ability and capacity to understand as the temple bell may sound differently according to the difference in size or striking power of the hammer. It is common knowledge that the Lotus Sutra is one of the most famous teachings of Buddhism. Most of the Buddhist sect's founders, many of the Buddhist priests, adults, youngsters, males, and females read the Lotus Sutra. And it is also common knowledge that the Lotus Sutra is the one which contains the highest truth of Buddhism. However, there were not many theoretical investigations like other Buddhist teachings for their reputation and distinction. At the stage of moralization of the Lotus Sutra, there were no chances to debate the theory, because these are the teachings for the ones who promised Sakyamuni Buddha by accepting His words just as it is in Chapter 2 of the “Expedients,” and this is exactly what His awakened ideas are. Ishin-Tokunyu is the word explaining that faith is the only way of getting to the Lotus Sutra's world. Ichinen-Shinge is the word explaining that those who just accept and believe this Sutra wholeheartedly have already understood the teachings. These words never tell us: “If you can understand, you have to believe it.” In response someone would say: “I do believe it only if I understand the doctrines, but I do not believe it if I do not.” This is the idea of those who never understood the teachings which is named the Wonderful Dharma (Myoho). It is through belief and practice (or experience) that one understands it. The study of astronomy is evolving day by day. However, we still do not know everything even in our solar system. In this new century, human technology may be sending a lot of space probes to the outer planets and learning more from them. It is the fruit of human wisdom, but never will we understand everything in space. Although we do not understand everything, we can follow the providence of infinite space and continue the endless life and death here. The highly developed transport facilities have made the world small, and we can arrive at almost anywhere in a day. The earth science elucidates almost all phenomena on earth from the top of a mountain to the bottom of the sea. However, we can not control a natural disaster. Although we do understand the logic, we have to follow the providence of mother nature and have to live as a member of living beings. People who need proof of the doctrine to believe it, are like those who want to live in a place where we are never exposed to the natural disaster on the earth. Is there someplace like that? The answer is no. Likewise, we have to make our mind pure enough to believe the teachings as it is, and when we do, we will have been naturally saved from the sufferings and sadness. At the moment when all humans have a pure enough mind to believe in the Lotus Sutra as it is, this world's hardships, sufferings and pains will be all gone, and this world will turn into Buddha's pure land in a moment. This is not a dream story, but it is the ultimate goal of the Lotus Sutra and its soul. So, do you believe it or do you still need a logical proof to believe it? You should keep your faith strong and pure to reach your answer. To keep your faith strong and pure, I suggest finding your best phrase in the Lotus Sutra, and trying to keep it in your heart as a compass in your daily life. Nichiren Shonin said in his “Letter to Myoho Ama Gozen”: “The Lotus sutra explains our physical body is the universal body of a Buddha, our mind is the ideal body of a Buddha, and our behavior is the historical body of a Buddha, so you have already received their benefits if you keep and believe a sentence or a single word of the Lotus Sutra.” The best way to enter the wonderful religious life is not to learn or grasp just knowledge from the textbooks but to find your best phrase of the Lotus Sutra, and just acquire and keep it in your daily life. |