Material for Discussion Meetings

From the Nichiren Buddhist perspective, all things negative can become catalysts for positive transformations. This idea is reflected in Buddhist principles like “changing poison into medicine,” “the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana” and, the topic of today’s study, “earthly desires are enlightenment.”

Revolutionizing How to View Earthly Desires 

What are “earthly desires”? 

They are functions of life that cause psychological and physical suffering, often obstructing our pursuit of enlightenment. These include cravings, worries and illusions about life’s realities that tend to shackle and bind us to delusion and suffering. 

Teachings expounded before the Lotus Sutra offered partial or limited views of causality, leaving people to feel powerless and to seek an escape from their sufferings. Early Buddhist texts hold that one must eradicate all earthly desires to attain enlightenment. At the same time, later texts emphasize accumulating an endless number of good causes and seeking salvation from an otherworldly Buddha. 

In contrast, Nichiren Buddhism offers an empowering outlook: Rather than avoiding or eliminating them, we can use earthly desires to reveal our Buddhahood.

The word are in this revolutionary concept plays a vital role. It’s an English translation of the Japanese word soku, which can also be translated as “equals,” “is,” “identical” or “manifests.” This word suggests that earthly desires and enlightenment are inextricably connected. 

The concept of “earthly desires are enlightenment” teaches that we can transform any suffering into enlightenment by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and elevating our life condition. Ikeda Sensei explains: 

It is precisely because we have sufferings that we can earnestly chant to the Gohonzon. The determination to seriously confront our sufferings causes the fundamental power inherent in our lives to emerge that much more strongly.

At the moment we chant, our sufferings—our earthly desires—have already become causes for enlightenment. It could even be said that our earthly desires in fact contain enlightenment. In a sense, earthly desires themselves undergo a qualitative change from “earthly desires that cause suffering” into “earthly desires that can be transformed into enlightenment.” It is the power of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—the Mystic Law of the simultaneity of cause and effect—that makes this possible. (The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life: SGI President Ikeda’s Lecture Series, p. 135)

Attaining Enlightenment as Ordinary People

As human beings, we can’t avoid problems, worries and suffering. But, as Sensei says, within these very hardships lies the seed of our enlightenment. 

So, what does it look like to attain enlightenment? Second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda once said:

“Earthly desires are enlightenment” and “the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana” describe a life in which we savor a state of happiness and complete peace of mind, while living with our earthly desires just as they are. … Enlightenment is nothing particularly out of the ordinary. Because we have earthly desires, we can experience fulfillment, and because we have fulfillment, we experience happiness. To wake up each morning with a sense of physical well-being, to have a good appetite, to enjoy what we do each day and to not feel worried or anxious about life—to live in this way is enlightenment. It is nothing exceptional. We should not misconstrue “earthly desires are enlightenment” as meaning that we will turn into some truly extraordinary being. (The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life: SGI President Ikeda’s Lecture Series, pp. 135–37)

No matter how tough a problem may seem, it is impossible for our suffering to remain a suffering when we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and work for the happiness of ourselves and others. 

—Prepared by the SGI-USA Study Department

---

Writings for Discussion Meetings

Make the Impossible Possible With the Strategy of the Lotus Sutra

Passage

Spur yourself to muster the power of faith. Regard your survival as wondrous. Employ the strategy of the Lotus Sutra before any other. … Have profound faith. A coward cannot have any of his prayers answered. 

—“The Strategy of the Lotus Sutra,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 1001

Background

Why practice Buddhism? 

In discussing Nichiren Daishonin’s writing “The Strategy of the Lotus Sutra,” Ikeda Sensei said: “The purpose of faith is to make our hearts strong and steadfast, to develop inner strength and conviction. Everything depends on our minds and our hearts.”^[1]

Nichiren wrote “The Strategy of the Lotus Sutra” in 1279 in response to a report from his trusted disciple Shijo Kingo, a skilled samurai who had successfully fended off attackers trying to take his life. In this letter, Nichiren offers three reasons for Kingo’s “wondrous” survival: his good judgment, his courage and his faith in the Lotus Sutra. 

Simply hoping for things to go well is not enough, nor is planning alone. Nichiren emphasizes chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and engaging in our Buddhist practice to cultivate a powerful resolve to prevent all accidents and keep negativity from taking hold. 

In his novel The Human Revolution, Sensei explains that to “employ the strategy of the Lotus Sutra before any other” means combining earnest prayer, thoughtful planning and bold action with deep faith. 

The first factor, he said, is to chant with single-minded resolve and the second is to devise the best strategy and take decisive action. 

“Neither the first nor the second factor alone is enough,” he said. “Only when both are perfectly harmonized can the impossible become possible. Then, and only then, will victory be ours. I could not be more convinced of this. Then what brings about this harmony? Faith does. This is why I keep stressing that faith is the basis of everything.”^[2]

—Prepared by the SGI-USA Study Department

Ikeda Sensei’s Encouragement

Break Through All Obstacles With Courageous Faith

In its original sense, the term strategy refers to battle tactics, the science of warfare or martial arts. Considered more broadly, it can be taken to mean a method for achieving better results in all areas, for leading a victorious life of value creation.

The “strategy of the Lotus Sutra” refers to faith in the Gohonzon. It is faith that battles ignorance and delusion, breaks through negative karma, and wins without fail through confident prayer and the boundless wisdom and courage that flow forth as a result.

No matter what the situation, when we base ourselves on the Mystic Law, the ultimate Law of the universe, we will never be deadlocked. The unparalleled power of the Mystic Law enables us to overcome all obstacles or enemies that hinder us on the path to attaining Buddhahood. … 

The foundation of all our efforts, endeavors and challenges—whether in the realm of staying healthy, leading a fulfilling life or showing actual proof of winning trust in the community and in society—is the strategy of the Lotus Sutra, or, in other words, strong faith.

At the end of his letter to Shijo Kingo, the Daishonin writes: “Have profound faith. A coward cannot have any of his prayers answered” (WND-1, 1001).

“Cowardice shuts the eyes”^[3]—this was the insight of the 19th-century American Renaissance philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. Cowardice prevents us from seeing the truth, from seeing things as they are. It can cause even a minor hardship to seem like a huge, immovable obstacle and make even the door to a solution appear instead like a thick wall. Courage is, therefore, crucial. …

For us, courage means challenging the real-life issues confronting us right where we are with the belief that we ourselves are entities of the Mystic Law. This is the way to employ the strategy of the Lotus Sutra and construct an indestructible history of victory and glory. (The Hope-filled Teachings of Nichiren Daishonin, pp. 143–44)

From the July 2025 Living Buddhism