The deepest prayer of Shakyamuni, the original historical Buddha in ancient India, as well as Nichiren Daishonin, the Japanese founder of the Nichiren Buddhist practice in the 13th century, was to relieve human suffering. In other words, to give humans hope.
SGI members chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo (pronounced repeatedly out loud as six syllables or beats: nahm-m’yoh-hoh-rehn-gay-k’yoh) and face their enlightened selves, which are mirrored in the scroll or mandala, called a Gohonzon, that we chant to in our own homes each day.
The emphasis on audible chanting as opposed to silent meditation reflects a core aspect of this Buddhism. In addition to exploring our private inner life, our religion emphasizes the active practice of bringing forth our highest inner potential in relation to and for the benefit of our fellow humans and human society. Nichiren said, "The voice does the Buddha's work."
For Nichiren Buddhists, chanting every day is the engine that powers this active hope. It is how, in the words of Nichiren, “We become the master of our mind rather than let our mind master us.”
This awareness or consciousness represents our true, eternal self. The revolutionary aspect of Nichiren Buddhism is that it seeks to directly bring forth the energy of this consciousness -- the enlightened nature of a Buddha -- purifying the other, more superficial layers of our senses, our subconscious and our karma.
The word Nam roughly means to dedicate oneself. Myoho signifies the mystic or universal law. Renge symbolizes the Lotus Flower, which grows in a muddy swamp and becomes a beautiful flower. It also represents the simultaneity of cause and effect. Finally, kyo is sound -- a voiced teaching or sutra.
Nichiren Buddhism teaches that the self and all phenomena are one; all things are interrelated. In other words, all of us exist because of our relationship with other beings and phenomena, and nothing in either the human or the nonhuman world exists in isolation. It is for this reason that treating others with respect and dignity is so important.
Another fundamental premise of Nichiren Buddhism is that the condition of Buddhahood or enlightenment exists within each human being. This is why we don’t focus on or worship an external statue of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni. That wasn’t his intention.
We all have the potential to be Buddhas, enlightened individuals who make a difference in the world regardless of our race, creed, sexual orientation or political persuasion. This is an ultimate source of hope for humanity.
Rather than exist in isolation by itself, this inner enlightenment manifests itself within our lives at the same time we are experiencing joy, anger, desire, tranquility, learning or the urge to help others. A man confined to a prison cell might find the inner strength and hope to take college courses and inspire his fellow inmates. On the other hand, a successful professional living in a beautiful mansion might be racked with emotional pain and anxiety.
This realization has had a tremendous impact on my attitude toward my life and the life of those around me. The act of polishing my Buddha nature everyday has enabled me to overcome a painful childhood and build a happy marriage, a loving family, emotional health and a rewarding career.
Hope is akin to trust. If we could see it, there’d be no need for trust or hope. But hope is not avoiding what is going on in the world. Instead, fostering hope involves looking directly at our reality and making the decision to improve it.
The kind of hope I am referring to is not grounded in wishful thinking. In fact, powerful hope—what’s been called ‘active hope’—may not be possible without going through despair. It is during the darkest days that we need to persevere—trusting that hope is ahead.
When confronted by cruel reality, we need to create hope. We can do this by digging deeper within, searching for even a small glimmer of light, for the possibility of a way to begin to break through the impasse before us. And our capacity for hope can actually be expanded and strengthened by these difficult circumstances. Hope begins from this challenge, this effort to strive toward an ideal, however distant it may seem.
I believe that the ultimate tragedy in life is not physical death. Rather, it is the spiritual death of losing hope, giving up on our own possibilities for growth.
The problems that face our world are daunting in their depth and complexity. Sometimes it may be hard to see where or how to begin. But let’s not be paralyzed by despair. Instead, let’s each take action toward the goals we have set and in which we believe. Rather than passively accepting things as they are, we must embark on the challenge of creating a new reality. It is in that effort that true, undying hope is to be found.
Václav Havel, in his essay, “Orientation of the Heart,” describes hope as “a state of mind, not a state of the world.” Further, Havel says hope allows one to live with “dignity and meaning” in situations where both are in short supply, for example in his experience of Soviet suppression under seemingly impossible circumstances.
Recently, a friend reminded me that age is not an excuse for giving up. Allowing ourselves to grow passive and drawback is a sign of personal defeat. There may or may not be a retirement age at work, but there is no retirement age in life.
Fortunately, there is another Buddhist principle that regardless of the past, we can make a new pledge each day to learn from our mistakes and contribute to a more harmonious and peaceful society. So, every morning I try to renew my own determination and to remember as Gandhi said, “Good travels at a snail’s pace.”
Hope is a promise that the worst thing is not the last thing. This promise, that there is always a way out of the muddy swamp of daily life, can give us the power to proceed. And is what we mean when we talk about hope as a resource deep within us that has the power to transform ourselves and the world around us.
Through a persistent daily spiritual practice, we can manifest our enlightened nature. The choice is ours. And that is why we should never lose hope!