Material for Discussion Meetings (November)

This Is the Time to Spread Nam-myoho-renge-kyo

Passage

“After the pure Law is obscured and lost, the great pure Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart and core of the Lotus Sutra, will surely spread and be widely declared throughout the land of Jambudvipa [this world in which we dwell].” —“The Selection of the Time,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 541

Background

“The Selection of the Time” is one of Nichiren Daishonin’s five major writings. He wrote it in 1275 while living at Mount Minobu and sent it to a believer named Yui. 

In April of 1274, Nichiren had warned the government for a third time that Japan would face danger if people did not follow the correct Buddhist teaching. Soon after, Mongol forces attacked Japan—the first foreign invasion the island nation ever experienced. Even though the attack failed, many people feared the Mongols would return, bringing more urgency to Nichiren’s message.

In terms of “the time,” Nichiren says that this troubled age of the Latter Day of the Law is when the “pure Law” of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teaching will lose its power and become hidden. In other words, it will be a time when equality and respect for all people—the fundamental principles of Buddhism—will be lost.

Yet, he says, this is also when “the great pure Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” will spread throughout the world. Nichiren’s message is hopeful: This most difficult time is the right time to share the Mystic Law to help all people become truly happy.

—Prepared by the SGI-USA Study Department 

From Ikeda Sensei’s Lecture on “The Selection of the Time”

Ikeda Sensei: Nichiren Daishonin … places foremost importance on the time, a stance that is based on his in-depth study of the sutras. He therefore clearly states in this writing that after Shakyamuni’s pure Law has been obscured and lost, it will be time for “the great pure Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, the heart and core of the Lotus Sutra” to spread widely throughout the world (see WND-1, 541). This is the Daishonin’s towering declaration as a person actively committed to transforming the Latter Day from an age of Buddhism in decline into an age of kosen-rufu and the flourishing of the correct teaching of the Mystic Law in the Latter Day.

The teaching to be spread in the Latter Day to free people from suffering is the great Law of the Daishonin’s Buddhism of sowing—that is, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—which has the power to directly activate the Buddha nature in each individual’s life, irrespective of their capacity for understanding. As the fundamental “seed of Buddhahood” by which all Buddhas are born, the Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo enables people of this defiled latter age to positively transform their lives on the most fundamental level. (November 2026 Living Buddhism, p. 31)

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What Do You Think? 

What’s the Buddhist Take on Guilt?

“Oh no, I forgot to do gongyo!”

“Ugh, I should be doing more.”

“I bailed on our plans and haven’t responded for months, so… I can’t reach out now. I feel too guilty.”

Ring any bells? Guilt creeps up in many forms. Most of us know what it’s like to feel guilty when we think we’ve let someone down or made an awful mistake.

Some may have heard SGI members say, “There’s no guilt in Buddhism.” Yet guilt is a real human emotion. So, what does that actually mean?

Nichiren Buddhism doesn’t teach us to let guilt or other feelings define us. Instead, it encourages us to focus on the causes we can make now for our growth and happiness. In other words, we practice Buddhism to liberate, not stymie, ourselves.

Through practicing Nichiren Buddhism, we can honestly acknowledge where we’re at and what we’re feeling. If we’ve hurt someone or fallen short, pretending otherwise doesn’t help. The question isn’t whether our guilt and other emotions are “good” or “bad.” The question is: What function will we allow them to serve? 

Rather than being defined by guilt, what matters most is how we choose to respond.

Though Conditioned for Guilt, We Can Change

Part of the reason guilt feels so familiar is that many of us have been conditioned to live with it.

Take guilt in Christianity. A passage from the New Testament reads “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”^[1] Ordinary people are considered “sinners”—guilty by nature—in contrast to the Almighty. Even those who’ve never gone to church have felt the centuries-long influence of Christian values on Western societies. 

Confucianism has similarly shaped Eastern civilizations. Confucius urges people to nurture their virtue, a process that requires an inner sense of shame.^[2]

Certainly, such traditions have helped people cultivate their morals and character. At the same time, they may have hardwired us for guilt or shame.

Some point to differences between guilt and shame, but everyday conversations about these feelings often overlap, describing the same sinking feeling of “Ahhh man, I messed up!” 

Buddhism, to be clear, doesn’t ask us to feel that way. That’s why members often say “there’s no guilt in Buddhism.” But it also doesn’t condemn us for feeling that way. 

Emphasizing the importance of self-reflection in these instances, Ikeda Sensei cites words that founding Soka Gakkai President Tsunesaburo Makiguchi often said: 

Of course, we will inevitably experience failure and make mistakes along the way. Such times are opportunities to self-reflect. Without self-reflection, we cannot progress. Some people will say that to reflect on oneself is to dwell on the past and therefore nothing positive can be gained from it. However, self-reflection is not the same as regret, even though they are often confused. Nothing can come of regret. Self-reflection leads to advancement.^[3]

Hot Take: Guilt Can Fuel Our Happiness

Early Buddhist teachings focused on eliminating “earthly desires”—attachments and impulses that cause suffering. They saw them as obstacles to attaining enlightenment. Guilt causes suffering, so surely it’s among these obstacles. But can we just get rid of things like guilt?

Nichiren Daishonin recognized that people cannot just will away inner worries or cravings. Thus, he offers a grounded yet revolutionary alternative: Our earthly desires are what we need to ignite and fuel our enlightenment. When we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, he says, we “are burning the firewood of earthly desires, summoning up the wisdom fire of bodhi or enlightenment.”^[4]

We don’t need to be consumed by guilt and other challenges, nor disregard them. We can use them as motivation to chant. Chanting ignites wisdom, ingenuity and courage—qualities of Buddhahood that enable us to tackle life’s challenges with an optimistic fighting spirit. 

In other words, we can transform our guilt into fuel for the revolution within us.

Regardless of what we might’ve done in the past, the present moment contains limitless possibility. In living with the motto “from this moment forward,” we can build a life of strength, satisfaction and unshakable happiness.

—Prepared by the SGI-USA Study Department 

From the November 2026 Living Buddhism