The following is from The World of Nichiren Daishonin’s Writings, volume 3, published in Japanese in March 2005. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 2, revised edition, chapter 16, installment 1, pp. 171–74.
“The darker the night, the nearer the dawn.” “Morning always follows night.” Ikeda Sensei always cherished these timeless axioms. Having faith that a new day will arrive, he said, is the spirit of Nichiren Buddhism.
All sorts of difficulties and obstacles invariably arise in the course of carrying out our human revolution. Sensei repeatedly assures us that by squarely facing and fearlessly challenging them, our inner Buddhahood, the wellspring of victory in life, will shine brightly.
Nichiren Buddhism stresses the importance of winning. Why? What is it that we must win over? What are the requirements for leading a victorious life?
In this selection, citing passages from the writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Sensei explains that the fundamental meaning of “winning” is found in the struggle to prevail in the struggle between the Buddha nature and devilish functions in our own lives.
The teaching that “Buddhism is about winning” appears throughout the writings of Nichiren Daishonin. It is expressed in many different ways but perhaps most clearly and succinctly in “The Hero of the World,” a letter addressed to Shijo Kingo, one of his leading lay disciples, where Nichiren writes, “Buddhism primarily concerns itself with victory or defeat” (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 835). Quoting this passage, Soka Gakkai founding President Tsunesaburo Makiguchi said that the confidence of demonstrating actual proof of victory is the very life of religion.[1]
Both Buddhism and life are struggles to be victorious. It is no exaggeration to say that Buddhism was taught to enable all people to win in the most fundamental struggle of life—the struggle between the Buddha nature and devilish functions.
Either we vanquish devilish functions and attain Buddhahood, or we are defeated by them and lead lives of delusion. Ultimately, the purpose of our Buddhist practice is to realize victory in this crucial struggle. This ultimate way of living articulated by Nichiren Buddhism views all aspects of life as a series of struggles that must be fought and won. This is the true reality of existence. For those who earnestly take on this challenge, everything that happens in life, even events in society, become part of their Buddhist practice. In other words, for them, the teaching that “Buddhism is about winning” applies to everything.
Nichiren writes, “A Buddha is looked up to as the Hero of the World” (WND-1, 835). A hero of the world is a person who is courageously engaged in the realities of life and society. A Buddha is one who intrepidly battles devilish functions and, manifesting the life force of the world of Buddhahood, leads a life of right action in human society.
What the Daishonin was trying to teach Shijo Kingo when he wrote that “Buddhism primarily concerns itself with victory or defeat” is that emulating the Buddha’s way of life as a hero of the world marks one as a genuine Buddhist practitioner.
If Buddhism is about winning, then how do we win? It is with our hearts, our minds.
The reason Nichiren emphasizes that “Buddhism is about winning” is to drive home the importance of having the inner strength and fortitude to stand up to every obstacle and difficulty that arises in life. If we are fainthearted and timid, we cannot win over the negative functions in our own lives or in society.
Nichiren writes, “A coward cannot have any of his prayers answered” (WND-1, 1001). This is Nichiren’s powerful encouragement to his disciples to not allow themselves to be defeated by life’s ups and downs or to be undone by base negative influences. His teaching that “nothing surpasses the strategy of the Lotus Sutra”[2] expresses the same idea.
Faith in the Lotus Sutra is not an intellectual or abstract theory. It must enable us to demonstrate practical wisdom for winning in society, in the real world.
With the heart of a lion king, Nichiren fought one momentous battle after another, emerging triumphant each time. Such unwavering determination also activates the protective forces of the universe.
In a proud declaration of victory, he says, “It is because the heavenly deities came to my aid that I survived even the Tatsunokuchi Persecution and emerged safely from other great persecutions”[3] (Gosho zenshu, new edition, p. 1176 [GZ, 843]).
Our lives, our daily existence and society are constantly changing. Every change is either for better or for worse; there is no in-between. That is why it is essential that our faith, our Buddhist practice, enables us to win.
November 14, 2025 World Tribune, pp. 2–3
References
- Translated from Japanese. See Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, “Kachi sozo” [Value Creation], in Makiguchi Tsunesaburo zenshu [The collected writings of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi], vol. 10 (Tokyo: Daisanbunmeisha, 1987), 47. ↩︎
- Nichiren Daishonin writes, “Employ the strategy of the Lotus Sutra before any other” (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 1001). ↩︎
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The other great persecutions here refer to the Matsubagayatsu Persecution (1260), the Izu Exile (1261), the Komatsubara Persecution (1264) and the Sado Exile (1271–74) that followed in the wake of the Tatsunokuchi Persecution. ↩︎
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