The following is from a speech at a Wakayama Prefecture general meeting in Wakayama, Japan, on March 24, 1988. It can be found in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 1, revised edition, chapter 2, installment 4, pp. 35–36.
Happiness is not determined by our circumstances but is something each of us creates for ourselves through our inner life condition. Nichiren Buddhism teaches the way to elevate that life condition.
The English poet John Milton wrote, “The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.”[1] This statement, a product of the poet’s profound insight, resonates with the Buddhist teaching of “three thousand realms in a single moment of life.”
How we see the world and feel about our lives is determined solely by our inner life condition. Nichiren Daishonin writes: “Hungry spirits perceive the Ganges River as fire, human beings perceive it as water, and heavenly beings perceive it as amrita.[2] Though the water is the same, it appears differently according to one’s karmic reward from the past” (“Reply to the Lay Priest Soya,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 486).
“Karmic reward from the past” refers to our present life state, which is the result of past actions or causes created through our own words, thoughts and deeds. That state of life determines our view of and feelings toward the external world.
The same circumstances may be perceived as utter bliss by one person and unbearable misfortune by another. And while some people may love the place where they live, thinking it’s the best place ever, others may hate it and constantly seek to find happiness somewhere else.
Nichiren Buddhism is a teaching that enables us to elevate our inner state of life, realizing genuinely happy lives for ourselves as well as prosperity for society. It is the great teaching of the “actual three thousand realms in a single moment of life,” making it possible for us to transform the place where we dwell into the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light.
Moreover, the good fortune, benefit and joy we gain through living in accord with the eternal Law [of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo] are not temporary. In the same way that trees steadily add growth rings with each passing year, our lives accumulate good fortune that will endure throughout the three existences of past, present and future. In contrast, worldly wealth and fame as well as various amusements and pleasures—no matter how glamorous or exciting they may seem for a time—are fleeting and insubstantial.
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