Eternal Joy—Volume 29, Chapter 1

True dialogue is not putting on a facade and spouting empty, flowery rhetoric. Dialogue is interacting life to life, just as we are, as fellow human beings, with sincerity, conviction and patience. 

A Buddhist sage^[1] once said: “The voice carries out the work of the Buddha” (“The Sacred Teachings of the Buddha’s Lifetime,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 2, p. 57). The Lotus Sutra—extolled as “the king of sutras”—is a dialogue among Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples. Nichiren Daishonin wrote his treatise “On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land” as a dialogue between a host and a guest. 

Dialogue has the power to encourage and engender hope. It is a wellspring of courage and a fresh breeze of revitalization. It is a bridge connecting people’s hearts.

On the afternoon of October 10, 1978, Shin’ichi Yamamoto and his wife, Mineko, met with the eminent U.S. economist John Kenneth Galbraith, his wife, Catherine, and others accompanying them at the Seikyo Shimbun Building. Dr. Galbraith, professor emeritus at Harvard University, had written many renowned works, including The Age of Uncertainty.

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Installment 2

Young women’s division representatives applauded the tall, silver-haired economist as he stepped from the car at the building’s entrance.

Born in 1908 and now almost 70, he still had a fire in his eyes and exuded youthful vitality.

People with a passion for fresh challenges remain ever young.

Reaching out to shake his hand, Shin’ichi said: “You must be very tired from your long journey. Welcome. I am honored to meet you.”

Dr. Galbraith had left the United States on September 10 for a trip to Italy, France, Denmark, Belgium, India, Thailand and now finally Japan, meeting with dignitaries and lecturing along the way. He showed no signs of fatigue, however, and said with a bright smile: “I have been looking forward to meeting you too. This warm welcome has revived me.”

Holding a bouquet of flowers from Mineko, Catherine Galbraith said: “With these flowers from Mrs. Ikeda and the bouquet of beautiful smiles filling the courtyard, how could anyone fail to be energized!”

Everyone smiled even brighter. 

“Let’s have a wonderful dialogue for the sake of humanity’s future!” Shin’ichi said as he led the delegation into the building.

After graduating from a Canadian university, Dr. Galbraith earned his doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley, later becoming a professor at Harvard. He went on to serve as the U.S. ambassador to India, the president of the American Economic Association and as an economic advisor to U.S. presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. 

He wrote numerous books, including The Affluent Society, The New Industrial State and Economics and the Public Purpose. His Age of Uncertainty had just been published in Japanese that February and had become a bestseller, so his name was well known in Japan.

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Installment 3

Dr. Galbraith was over 6 1/2 feet tall. Shin’ichi barely came up to his shoulder as he escorted him through the building. When they arrived at the meeting room, they exchanged greetings again. 

Looking up at his guest, Shin’ichi stretched his hand toward his head and said with humor: “I’m sure you’ve already seen Mount Fuji, Japan’s tallest mountain. I welcome you Dr. Galbraith, a true master of economics, and will engage in our dialogue as if gazing up at Mount Fuji.”

The professor smiled. “I am not nearly as dangerous as my size suggests!” 

Everyone laughed. Shin’ichi then quipped: “Tall people have a good overview of their surroundings, but short people can see the ground more clearly. So perhaps by combining these two perspectives, they can find some overall ‘certainty.’” 

Several businesses had invited Dr. Galbraith to Japan, and the representatives of one publishing company, including its president, accompanied him. They smiled as they listened to the friendly banter. 

During the dialogue, Shin’ichi and Dr. Galbraith each brought up various topics and shared their thoughts on them.

Kicking things off, Shin’ichi said: “In modern times, people seem to focus solely on life and view death as something separate. But if we ponder the meaning of life, seek happiness and think about the state of our society and civilization, it is extremely important to look at death, explore it and come to a sound understanding of both life and death.

“Buddhism teaches that life is eternal. In other words, when we die, our lives merge with the universe and continue in a latent form to reemerge into an active state under the right causes and conditions. Our deeds, words and thoughts are carried on as our accumulated karma. 

“So, my question to you is, what do you think happens after death?”

If we don’t understand death, we cannot understand life.

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Installment 4

Dr. Galbraith responded in a slow, measured way.

“That is a very important, fundamental question, full of mystery and extremely difficult
to answer. I do not know what happens after we die. I do, however, believe in the continuity of existence. And at my age, I will not have to wait long to find out!”

Even on this solemn topic, he retained a sense of humor. Laughter facilitates communication.

The atmosphere can easily become heavy when discussing serious and important subjects. Sensing the economist wished to lighten the mood, Shin’ichi Yamamoto appreciated his consideration.

The two discussed many topics, including their favorite books and views on marriage. On books that had inspired them the most, both mentioned the works of Tolstoy. Dr. Galbraith was delighted.

Tolstoy had observed: “Communication with good people brings happiness.”^[2]

As they talked about life, when asked about his personal motto, the economist said: “I haven’t a simple motto, but I have a firm rule. It is, ‘Work now, and don’t expect to finish.’ I always say that to myself.”

Shin’ichi thought those were wonderful words to live by.

He imagined that by “work now,” Dr. Galbraith meant to work wholeheartedly each moment, with grand ideals yet a firm grasp of reality. And by “don’t expect to finish,” he perhaps meant not being satisfied with easy results but always striving for improvement.

When asked what words inspired him, Shin’ichi said: “The greater the resistance waves meet, the stronger they grow.”

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Installment 5

Shin’ichi then asked Dr. Galbraith about the saddest event in his life.

“It was losing my son. If I may say so, he was remarkable, deeply intelligent. He died of leukemia when he was very young.”

This reminded Shin’ichi of when he had asked Arnold Toynbee the same question. The historian said with a pained expression that it was when his son took his own life. Shin’ichi would never forget the way he sat there motionless, his eyes damp and his fingers interlaced in front of him as if in prayer.

Even the most eminent among us cannot escape sorrow. We struggle with and live on through storms of fate. No life is without challenges. The key to happiness is whether we let our suffering defeat us or use it to develop, improve and become stronger.

The economist also spoke of his grief at the assassination of John F. Kennedy, who had appointed him his ambassador to India.

The conversation then moved to U.S.-China relations, and from there to a discussion of the different leadership styles of China’s Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai and India’s Jawaharlal Nehru.

When Shin’ichi mentioned that he would be visiting India the following year, Dr. Galbraith encouraged him to go to Punjab, a region spanning northwest India and eastern Pakistan. It was famous as a cradle of ancient civilizations, he explained, being home to the ruins of Harappa, but it had also developed significantly.

Catherine Galbraith noted that the state of Kerala in southwest India was also undergoing impressive development. She had supported her husband during his tenure as ambassador and was extremely knowledgeable about the country.

Women, because of their practical daily life experience, often grasp the reality of a society most accurately.

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Installment 6

Dr. Galbraith published a chronicle of his time in India titled Ambassador’s Journal: A Personal Account of the Kennedy Years.

In the introduction, he describes Catherine’s efforts: “The household, entertainment, a wide range of protocol activities, concern for the problems of the American community [in India], association with wives and families of my Indian and diplomatic associates, cultivation of the arts and representation of the Ambassador at a succession of functions during my absence were all accomplished by my wife. She even found time to learn Hindi to the point of making a quite acceptable speech in the language.”^[3]

He had known little about this, however, until he read her personal recollections, published in the May 1963 Atlantic Monthly. He confessed to being rather astonished at the scope of her activities.^[4] The article, titled “‘Mother Doesn’t Do Much’: The Ambassador’s Wife in India,” appears in the appendix of Ambassador’s Journal.

Catherine described her activities in detail. She explained how she had supervised not only the staff but also looked after their families. Numbering around 50 altogether, they adored her as “the mother of us all.” She cared for them when they were sick, helped settle quarrels and strove always to be fair and impartial. She served the staff tea every day, presented the wives with new saris on Indian holidays and gave everyone gifts at Christmas.

She also managed the ambassador’s events, from greeting guests to organizing meetings, interviews, receptions and dinners. And she accompanied her husband on official visits and sometimes had to speak on his behalf on short notice.

While seeing to all these duties, she also raised their children.

Nichiren Daishonin likens the teamwork of a couple who shares the same conviction to the two wings of a bird or the two wheels of a cart, teaching that they can achieve anything.^[5]

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Installment 7

The publisher of the Japanese translations of The Age of Uncertainty and others of Dr. John Kenneth Galbraith’s writings said he would like to ask something connected to their discussion of India.

What did they think Japan should do to help reduce the economic gap between advanced industrial countries and developing countries? In other words, how should Japan address the North-South divide?

Dr. Galbraith responded without hesitation: “The first is that Japan, as a country now belonging to the community of rich countries, has a moral obligation to contribute some of its well-being in assistance and capital to poor countries.

“The second is to contribute through agriculture. With its rice farming know-how, Japan can offer instruction to developing nations partly because there is an ease of association between Asian cultures that would make its instruction readily acceptable. This is an extremely practical way for Japan to contribute.

“In poor countries, nothing is so important as food, such as rice and wheat, and water. We first need to consider what the people in those countries need most. What are your thoughts, Mr. [Shin’ichi] Yamamoto?”

“The things you have mentioned are very important. I am concerned, however, that simply providing one-sided economic aid of goods and technology may lead to a solely interest-based relationship; it may establish a hierarchy between ‘donor’ and ‘recipient’ countries. There is also the danger that it will undermine the pride and self-reliance of people in the recipient country.

“It is therefore essential to build mutual trust. This requires ongoing grassroots educational and cultural exchange. I believe and have consistently maintained that only by patiently continuing such efforts over 10, 20 or 50 years can we open the way to lasting trust.”

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Installment 8

Dr. Galbraith said that he agreed completely.

The conversation was in full swing.

Next, they moved on to discuss The Age of Uncertainty, which asserted that today’s world no longer had any solid guiding principles. Shin’ichi said he strongly concurred.

Many serious issues threatened the survival of humanity, such as war, nuclear weapons, pollution, dwindling resources and overpopulation. But people seemed unable to find a guiding principle or philosophy to tackle these challenges with.

Shin’ichi was determined to do whatever he could to avert these dangers. Above all, he vowed to ensure a third world war would never happen.

He firmly believed that the Buddhist ideal of respect for the dignity of life was just such a fundamental guiding principle and that if people the world over embraced it, they could eliminate these threats.

But no matter how convinced he was of the superiority of the Buddhist teachings and how unshakable his faith in them, for them to be broadly accessible to the public he knew it was essential that scholars come to validate and appreciate their greatness too. Without efforts to win public support, a religion will easily lapse into dogmatism and self-righteousness. That’s why Shin’ichi held dialogues with world thinkers. 

He asked Dr. Galbraith, “What guiding principles do you think we need as we search for certainty in this ‘age of uncertainty’?”

The economist noted that in the past, the ideas of Adam Smith and Karl Marx had been regarded as great certainties, but errors in those ideas became apparent over time, and they could no longer be relied upon as certainties. In fact, he said, all human endeavors need constant amendment to make life more secure, peaceful and intelligent. Perhaps accepting that way of thinking is ultimately a guiding principle, he added.

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Installment 9

Dr. Galbraith worried that people’s obsessions with ideology often caused them to look away from reality, avoid critical thinking and judge things by placing them in narrow theoretical frameworks.

Shin’ichi also opposed making decisions based on predefined external norms such as ideology or theory. Doing so could have the reverse effect of shackling the human spirit.

“I believe it is important to recognize that we human beings, the ones making the decisions, are defined by uncertainty, full of contradictions and inner conflict, our minds changing moment by moment,” he said. “Therefore, I consider it vital for us to elevate our humanity and grow as human beings so that we can always make sound decisions. To do that, we need a universal philosophy of life that enables us to realize such inner growth, and we of the Soka Gakkai have found that in the teachings of Buddhism.

“In short, we can describe the correct teaching of Buddhism as the fundamental Law, eternal and unchanging, that permeates all phenomena and the universe. We possess within us an inexhaustible font of wisdom, and Buddhism teaches how we can uncover and tap it. We call the process of unlocking our potential rooted in this law of life ‘human revolution.’

“I have discussed the problems facing humanity with Arnold Toynbee, the French thinker and activist André Malraux, and others. They agreed with me that a trend toward spiritual transformation, toward human revolution, in line with Buddhist principles, represents a dynamic philosophical movement that will usher in a brighter future for our world in the 21st century.”

Dr. Galbraith responded candidly: “My understanding of Buddhism is quite limited. That is why I find your remarks so thought-provoking.”

His words were humble. Those of great scholarship possess a sincere spirit for learning and a thirst for truth.