The following is an excerpt from The New Human Revolution, volume 14, “Wisdom and Courage” chapter. It can also be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 2, revised edition, chapter 11, installment 2, pp. 3–4.
Ikeda Sensei clarifies why inner transformation is important, how we can achieve it and the ultimate aim of doing so.
Nichiren Buddhism is a philosophy that teaches changing the world by transforming our inner state of being. Nichiren Daishonin writes: “If the minds of living beings are impure, their land is also impure, but if their minds are pure, so is their land. There are not two lands, pure or impure in themselves” (“On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 4). “Land” here refers to the society and natural environment in which we live. The Daishonin is saying that our environment is not inherently either pure or impure. What makes it one way or the other is whether the minds of the people residing there are pure or impure. In other words, the key to changing society lies in transforming, or “revolutionizing,” the minds of human beings.
Buddhism teaches that earthly desires—the three poisons of greed, anger and foolishness inherent in human life—are the fundamental cause of unhappiness and suffering. Buddhahood is the underlying power of the universe that can vanquish these poisons. It is the highest and noblest state of life. Buddhism teaches that all people possess this life state within them.
The life state of Buddhahood, in short, is the function of supreme compassion and wisdom and the source of all life activity. Bringing forth our Buddhahood gives us the power to transcend the self that is controlled or swayed by desire and suffering and establish our original, true self.
Bringing forth our innate Buddhahood and establishing it as our state of life is the path of “attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime”—in other words, realizing a state of absolute happiness—and the ultimate aim of human revolution.
What, then, is the means for achieving this? The Daishonin expressed the great life state of Buddhahood, which is one with the fundamental Law of the universe, in the form of the Gohonzon, the true object of devotion, for the sake of all humanity in the Latter Day of the Law. It is by believing in the Gohonzon and dedicating ourselves to the mission of helping all people achieve happiness that we bring forth the Buddhahood within our own lives.
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