The following is from a lecture by Ikeda Sensei on Nichiren Daishonin’s writing “The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life.” It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 2, revised edition, chapter 17, installment 3, pp. 215–18.
In “The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life,” Nichiren Daishonin writes: “For one who summons up one’s faith and chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with the profound insight that now is the last moment of one’s life, the [Lotus Sutra] proclaims: ‘When the lives of these persons come to an end, they will be received into the hands of a thousand Buddhas, who will free them from all fear and keep them from falling into the evil paths of existence’” (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 216). Based on this passage, Ikeda Sensei discusses the ultimate spirit of faith.
With the profound insight that now is the last moment of one’s life” (WND-1, 216) doesn’t simply mean being ready or resolved. “With profound insight” means recognizing and fully comprehending that this is the real nature of life.
We all think that we have plenty of time left in our lives. But none of us knows when death may overtake us. We may die in the next instant. That is the true reality of life.
Even if we were to be guaranteed another 20, 30 or even 50 years of life, such time spans are, in the context of eternity, no more than fleeting moments. This is another sense of the insight that “now is the last moment of one’s life” (WND-1, 216).
Any thoughtful person, having understood this, cannot help feeling the profound significance of being alive now and practicing Nichiren Buddhism. Such things as worldly power, fame and riches are irrelevant. To accumulate good fortune that will not perish with death and for the sake of the eternal future, we cannot help but focus on the true purpose of life while exerting ourselves wholeheartedly in our Buddhist practice.
This is the ultimate spirit of faith. Even so, as Buddhists and as members of human society, we are not meant to literally renounce or sacrifice everything of this world. Rather, when we exert ourselves earnestly in faith and practice with the great objective of kosen-rufu, everything in our lives is put to good use based on the Mystic Law. That is the essence of our commitment to live with the awareness that “now is the last moment of one’s life.”
When we live each moment of our lives with this commitment, we “will be received into the hands of a thousand Buddhas, who will free [us] from all fear and keep [us] from falling into the evil paths of existence” (The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Sutras, p. 363). That means that we attain a state of complete security and never fall into the evil paths of existence—namely, the worlds of hell, hungry spirits, animals and asuras.
On a superficial level, the passage “When the lives of these persons come to an end, they will be received into the hands of a thousand Buddhas” seems to suggest that this takes place at the moment of death, but on a more profound level, “come to an end” refers to each successive moment in life. In that sense, it is describing a state that we can attain while still alive.
The phrase “now is the last moment of one’s life” urges us to put our entire being into the present moment. It means living each day wholeheartedly. It means to strive our hardest and give our all to achieve kosen-rufu and attain Buddhahood in this lifetime.
Even when it comes to sharing Buddhism with someone, if you allow the present opportunity to slip by, you never know if you will ever have another chance to talk to that person at length. Also, if you interact with people in earnest, based on the awareness that this is your only chance to help them transform their karma, you are already living with the spirit that “now is the last moment of one’s life.”
Whether you are chanting to the Gohonzon, engaged in Buddhist study, or writing words of encouragement to your friends and fellow members—the crucial thing is to devote yourself to that activity fully and wholly each moment.
Upon reflection, life is nothing more than the accumulation of each present moment. If you are unable to make today fulfilling, you won’t reap any positive results tomorrow. You can make the grandest long-term plans, but if you can’t treasure each moment, those plans will just end as empty pipe dreams. Past causes and future results are all encapsulated in the true aspect of all phenomena in the present moment, and a transformation in that single moment of life can both extinguish karmic impediments from the distant past and ensure good fortune that will continue into the eternal future.
This important passage from the Daishonin’s writings teaches the principle for changing our karma, the key to which lies in establishing solid faith based on the insight that “now is the last moment of one’s life.”
November 13, 2026 World Tribune, pp. 2–3
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