[69x298]

Rev. Ryusho Matsuda

Iam always thinking: "How shall I
cause all living beings to enter into the
unsurpassed Way and quickly become
Buddhas?" - the Lotus Sutra Ch. 16
The Buddha was born as Prince
Gautama Siddartha to Queen Maya
of Kapilavatsu in the Flower Garden
of Lumbini in India. The legend
states that as soon as the baby Buddha
was born, he took seven steps, pointed
his right hand to the sky and his
left hand to the ground and said, "I
am the only one who can save all
beings between heaven and hell." At
that time, it is said that sweet tea or
rain fell from the heavens to celebrate
the arrival of this great person
who later became the founder
of Buddhism. After he attained
Buddhahood at the age of 35,
Shakyamuni Buddha traveled
all over northern India teaching
people how to find true
happiness until he passed away
at the age of 80.
In the 2,500 years that have
passed since then innumerable
people world wide have accepted
his teachings and experienced a
joyful life of faith. These people
have shared the wisdom and
compassion of the Buddha with
others. However, when we look around
the world, we see that many
people are still suffering.

Since the beginning of the 20th Century,
science has developed marvelously.
Through medical advances, human life
has been prolonged.
Our lives have also been revolutionized
within the past 30 years
by computers and the internet.
Compared to our parents generation,
our lives are far more secure
and luxurious. We seem to be living
in a consumer paradise that
would have been unimaginable in the
time of the Buddha. However, in reality,
many people still suffer from stress,
loneliness, anxiety, and a pervading
sense of meaninglessness. It seems
strange that people have more complaints
even as technological advances
make our lives easier. Why?
In this modern age, so
many people are alienated
from the society, the
world and nature.
Sometimes, they are also
alienated from their family
and even themselves.
They are frustrated, and
ask themselves: Who am
I? Why am I here? What
is my purpose in life?
Asking these questions
indicates a healthy
engagement with life.
But many people have
no time to ask these
questions due to the hectic
pace and many distractions
of life today.
Some people are too sick.
Some others are too
poor.
We can feel their pain
and we can understand
why they are suffering.
But it is sad to see so
many people suffering from material
greed, unreasonable anger, and ignorance
of the true nature of reality even
while in the midst of the material prosperity
of this consumer oriented society.
These three poisons, create more and
more frustration mentally and spiritually.
They alienate people from the world
and even from themselves. Some may
go so far as to exclaim, "I hate myself."
Hegle, the great German philosopher of
the 18th Century, said: he history of
man was at the same time the history of
man's alienation. Alienation means that
man does not experience himself as the

acting agent in his experience of the
world, instead other people and the
natural world remain alien to him. In
other words, when we are alienated
from the world, we lose our sense of
feeling and connection to the world
and we become like automatons. We
are unable to positively relate to anything.
In the absence of positive feelings,
the three poisons of greed, anger
and ignorance swiftly come in to fill
the emotional void. These three poisons
then create a further sense of separation
and suffering which then leads
to more frantic efforts to find happiness
through consumerism. This misguided
effort then causes more alienation
which further aggravates the
three poisons and in this way the
vicious circle of suffering and even
self-hatred is perpetuated.
If you go to a winery you can actually
see how this alienation might arise in
the face of the technological productivity
of our consumer society. In the
winery, you will see the marvelously
efficient movement of wine bottles on
conveyor belts. Only a few workers are
needed to ensure the smooth operation
of the winery. The process is a
lifeless mechanism which is independent
of the workers, whose presence is
almost superfluous. In such a setting,
a worker may think, "I am a mere living
appendage, and that is a cause for
concern. In other words, the worker
has just become nothing more than a
machine part. Naturally, the worker is
tired, bored, and disgusted because he
must keep pace with the machines for
many hours even though he is not a
machine. Neither does he directly
enjoy the fruit of his labor. He is not
experiencing himself as actively
engaged with the world but only as a
passive component in a large machine.
Naturally, he has no pride in his work,
no love for what he does, and probably
no love for himself or anyone or anything
else either in such a situation.
On the contrary, the workers feels
alive only during their leisure time,
whereas at work they feel lifeless.
There is a feeling of misery rather
than well-being, because they are
unable to freely develop their mental
and physical energies but are physically
exhausted and mentally full of
despair. The worker therefore only
comes alive when they are able to live
on their own terms after work during
their leisure time. Many people, for
instance, come alive when engaged in
"do it yourself" projects on the weekends,
such as writing computer software
or building a back porch. This
may involve planning, the use of
tools, and even hard work. But when
the project is completed there is a
sense of accomplishment. This is
because they were able to determine
their own goals, set their own pace,
directly engage the materials involved,
and in the end enjoy the fruits of
their own labor.
Nichiren Buddhism teaches that life
does not need to be this way. Our
alienation can be cured once when we
stop trying to seek happiness through
material gain or consumerism which
virtually enslaves us to a machinelike
system that was set up to provide for
and perpetuate a lifestyle of consumption.
But what kind of happiness is
there besides material prosperity?
What kind of life would heal the
alienation that so many feel?
Nichiren himself provides us with a
good example of someone who
lived a life of meaningfulness and joy
even though he had no access to the
comforts we enjoy. Nichiren Shonin's
life was full of constant persecutions
and hardships, but he never felt alienated
from the Buddha or the world
due to his strong will and compassion.
He had great faith in the Lotus Sutra
and the protection of the Buddha, and
the hope of attaining Buddhahood.
His life was the practice of his belief
and the embodiment of his faith.
Nichiren did not set his life to the
rhythm of a machine, rather he based
it upon the rhythm of the Odaimoku.
By doing so, he never felt alienated
from anything, he was cured of the
three poisons, and he was able to
engage the world in a way that was
positive and uplifting for both himself
and others.
This is why he earnestly taught us to
have the same faith and hope in the
sutra. He wished that all people could
come to experience life as he did no
matter what their circumstances were.
Having a "strong spirit to overcome
any hardship was his foundation
throughout life. His strong spirit was
grounded in his faith in the Eternal
Shakyamuni Buddha. By sharing that
spirit of faith in the Eternal
Shakyamuni Buddha, we too can
overcome our alienation, transcend
the spiritual impoverishment of this
consumer society, and discover the
ultimate truth wherein we will escape
the machine for the gardens of the
pure land.
5
No. 30 / 2000 • Summer
Nichiren
[511x250]