Transforming Our Fundamental Attitude—Refusing to Live an ‘Endless, Painful Austerity’

The character myoof myoho, or “Mystic Law,” has three meanings: to be fully endowed, to open and to revive.^[3] These three meanings are all implicit in chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. In other words, the chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo contains 1) the myo of perfect endowment—meaning that the single Law of Myoho-renge-kyo encompasses all phenomena; 2) the myo of transformation that “opens” the world of Buddhahood in the lives of beings in the nine worlds (the worlds from hell through bodhisattva); and 3) the myo of great benefit, whereby a life filled with suffering is “revived” as a life of great tranquility and joy.

Our lives themselves are entities of the Mystic Law. Therefore, they are fully endowed with all phenomena. Fundamental darkness and the enlightened Dharma nature,^[4] earthly desires and enlightenment, and the nine worlds and the world of Buddhahood—all of these exist within us. For precisely that reason, we can carry out a mystic and fundamental inner “revolution”—changing darkness into light; kindling the flame of enlightenment by “burning the firewood of earthly desires” (The Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings, p. 11) and thereby manifesting the world of Buddhahood in our lives of the nine worlds.

The key to achieving this profound inner transformation is our hearts—our fundamental attitude or mindset. Therefore, Nichiren Daishonin warns in “On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime”: “If you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but an inferior teaching” (WND-1, 3). When we diligently exert ourselves in chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo based on this admonition, always remembering that a change in our own hearts or minds is crucial, the three meanings of myo will clearly manifest themselves in our lives.

Needless to say, the Law contained in the practice of chanting spread by Nichiren is truly wondrous. But even the power of this wondrous Law cannot fully manifest in a life clouded by ignorance. Ignorance is the inner darkness that prevents us from believing in the Mystic Law and staying focused on our own Buddha nature and that of others. The practice of chanting enables us to break through this darkness and vibrantly bring forth our Buddhahood. Battling our fundamental darkness—this inner struggle is the essence of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

Studying Buddhism Yet Succumbing to Non-Buddhist Thinking

In the passage we are studying this time, Nichiren Daishonin strongly cautions: “You must never think that any of the eighty thousand sacred teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime or any of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three existences are outside yourself” (WND-1, 3). The use of the word never here is deeply significant. This passage explains that the entirety of Buddhism is contained within our own lives. Nichiren concludes that “the eighty thousand sacred teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha’s lifetime” and “the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three existences”^[5] are all phenomena inherent within us.

Nichiren goes on to say that as long as we seek enlightenment outside ourselves, even our performing “ten thousand practices and ten thousand good deeds” (meaning all of the practices expounded in Shakyamuni’s lifetime teachings) and believing in the protection of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas throughout the three existences (meaning the benevolent functions of the universe) will be in vain. Doing so is as pointless as counting a neighbor’s wealth, he states, because we personally gain nothing from doing so.

Nichiren then cites a passage from a T’ien-t’ai school commentary, which states, “Unless one perceives the nature of one’s life, one cannot eradicate one’s grave offenses” (WND-1, 3–4). If we fail to grasp this point, Nichiren warns, all of the practices and good deeds we might perform while seeking enlightenment outside ourselves will ultimately become “an endless, painful austerity” (WND-1, 4).

What does it mean to say that unless we perceive the nature of our lives, we cannot eradicate our grave offenses? “Grave offenses” here can be taken to indicate fundamental darkness, which is the source of all evil. The grave offense of slander—denigrating the Law or the correct teaching of Buddhism—arises from fundamental darkness or ignorance.

In T’ien-t’ai’s Buddhism, it is only possible to eradicate this ignorance through the practice of observing one’s mind—in other words, through wisdom. In Nichiren Buddhism, however, fundamental darkness can be overcome by the sharp sword of faith in accord with the principle of “substituting faith for wisdom.”^[6] This is the essence of the practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

To recap, if we seek enlightenment outside of us, we are not pursuing the path of “observing one’s mind,” which enables us to overcome the fundamental evil of ignorance or darkness. In that case, all our efforts and good deeds to attain enlightenment will be lacking the vital ingredient; they will be every bit as futile as counting a neighbor’s vast riches. Moreover, because none of these efforts will help us eradicate our ignorance, they will only become “an endless, painful austerity.”

This battle against ignorance is the heart of Buddhism. It is said that Shakyamuni’s enlightenment lay in identifying darkness or ignorance as the fundamental cause of the sufferings of birth, aging, sickness and death—as well as in expounding the way for overcoming this ignorance.

Therefore, as long as we seek the path to enlightenment outside our own lives, whatever practices and good deeds we carry out will deviate from the true essence of Buddhism. Accordingly, Nichiren says: “Such students of Buddhism are condemned as non-Buddhist” (WND-1, 4).

To Seek Enlightenment Outside Our Lives Is To Be Defeated by Fundamental Darkness

An important point in this writing is that we as Nichiren Buddhists also run the risk of falling into non-Buddhist ways of thinking if we seek the Law outside of our own lives. Hence, as Nichiren Daishonin’s disciples, we must always bear in mind his admonition “You must never think that any of the [Buddha’s] teachings … are outside yourself” (WND-1, 3).

The chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is a practice for revealing the “originally inherent mystic truth”^[7] that exists in all people and achieving Buddhahood in this lifetime. It is an incomparably “wonderful practice” (OTT, 88), in the sense that it represents the means by which all living beings can gain enlightenment.

If, however, we forget Nichiren’s admonition to never seek the Law outside of us, then no matter how hard we practice, we will lose sight of the correct path to universal enlightenment and effectively wind up practicing a non-Buddhist teaching. That’s why Nichiren is so strict on this point.

The essence of our practice is to perceive the true nature of our lives. To do this we must wage an inner struggle. If we allow ourselves to be defeated by the three obstacles and four devils,^[8] we cannot bring forth our enlightenment. That is why battling the darkness or ignorance within us is an unavoidable part of the process of becoming a Buddha. In other words, whether we continuously battle our innate ignorance is the single most important determinant in whether we attain Buddhahood. As such, it is something we must never forget.

By engaging in this struggle, we can reveal the Buddha wisdom within our lives and thereby confront and overcome our ignorance. But if we fail to undertake this struggle, ignorance will shroud and conceal our Buddha nature. Ignorance deepens and exacerbates the five delusive inclinations of greed, anger, foolishness, arrogance and doubt within us. That is what happens if we succumb to the erroneous view that the Law is outside ourselves.

Faith for Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime

Naturally, the Gohonzon—the object of devotion in Nichiren Buddhism—in itself is great beyond measure. A passage from Nichikan’s Six-Volume Writings^[9] states: “Even someone who has not yet aroused true faith will still receive immense benefit through connecting with the correct object [of devotion, namely, the Gohonzon].”

The true lineage of faith we inherit in the Soka Gakkai is what opens up this infinite and boundless power of the Gohonzon. Faith as practiced by the Soka Gakkai entails an active struggle to manifest the Mystic Law in our lives; it also produces clear actual proof of benefit. When we advance together with the Soka Gakkai, we naturally come to internalize the correct practice of faith as taught by Nichiren Daishonin.

Therefore, those who sincerely chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon and practice and participate in activities with the Soka Gakkai cannot fail to become Buddhas. The purpose of faith is to freely realize our full potential and shine in our own unique way. That’s why it’s important to keep advancing and challenging ourselves, to have the spirit “I will exert myself in my practice! I will deepen my faith! I will do my best as a member of the Soka Gakkai.” This is the certain path to attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime.

With this understanding, let’s concretely and strictly apply to our daily practice Nichiren’s admonition “If you think the Law is outside yourself, you are embracing not the Mystic Law but an inferior teaching” (WND-1, 3). To seek the Mystic Law somewhere outside of us essentially amounts to evading responsibility for our own lives.

Practicing Nichiren Buddhism means not being swayed this way and that; it means constructing a self that is solid and resolute like towering Mount Fuji. But if we neglect this task and focus our energies somewhere else, before we’re even aware of it, we can end up veering onto the path of externally seeking the Law.

For example, if we chant to the Gohonzon but always blame other people or our environment for our circumstances, we are avoiding the challenge of tackling our inner darkness or ignorance. By doing so, we are seeking enlightenment outside of us. By changing ourselves on a more profound level, we can begin to improve our situation. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is the driving force for that change.

It is also important that we don’t fall into the trap of practicing “dependent faith,” where we pin our hopes on having our prayers answered through the divine or transcendent powers of gods or Buddhas. This is a typical example of viewing the Law as outside oneself. The provisional Buddhas of the pre-Lotus Sutra teachings^[10] readily lend themselves to this kind of faith, the essence of which is escapism.

Even when they’re obviously suffering, people of dependent faith avoid looking at their problems. They don’t have the courage or make any actual effort to challenge their situation. In such cases, quite frankly, faith is simply something people hide behind as they avoid dealing with reality. Without a struggle, however, we cannot directly engage the gears of our human revolution.

To use the analogy of mountain climbing, if we just walk around the base of the mountain and never actually attempt to ascend its slopes, we’ll never reach the summit, no matter how much time passes. If we avoid challenging our own issues, we can never strengthen and develop ourselves, and we won’t be able to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime.

In addition, it is important that we try to rid our lives of ambiguous, elusive doubt and disbelief as well as grumbling and complaining. The erroneous belief that Myoho-renge-kyo (the Mystic Law) exists outside of our lives has at its core an inability to believe that all people—ourselves and others—possess the Buddha nature. And this disbelief stems from fundamental darkness.

In terms of attitude in faith, this tendency to skeptically regard the Buddha nature as “a nice ideal but one that doesn’t really change reality” will manifest itself as prayer that is vague and lacking in conviction. If our efforts in faith are halfhearted, we cannot change our attitude or fundamentally transform our lives.

As Nichiren indicates in this writing when he says, “You must summon up deep faith” (WND-1, 3), if we hope to make our inherent Buddha nature the basis of our lives—or as Nichiren terms it, to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime—we must continue striving to deepen our faith, our conviction in chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. And as our faith deepens, it will manifest as confident and concrete prayer.

Because our practice of faith is aimed at attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime, it is essential that we have a solidly focused attitude when chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. It is like trying to shoot an arrow: without a clear target, we won’t draw the bow with any real force or determination. In the same way, when we replace vague yearnings with concrete determinations and confident prayer, we can definitely accomplish what we hope to achieve.

Grumbling and complaining are the principal gateways to ambiguous, elusive doubt and disbelief. Even if we know it is wrong, we may find ourselves grumbling and complaining in spite of ourselves. Should such behavior become habitual, it will act as a constant brake on our growth and cause us to forget about advancing and improving ourselves. We will then effectively close off our own potential, falling into the path of seeking the Law outside of us. While it might be a real challenge to stop grumbling and complaining, we can derive from the Mystic Law the wisdom to control these tendencies and use them as a springboard for positive growth and development.

Let’s also strictly guard against slandering our fellow members. Slandering and harboring resentment and jealousy toward others results in denying their Buddha nature. The inability to believe in others’ Buddha nature—just like not believing in our own—causes us to stray off course and seek the Law externally. Our Buddha nature is what fundamentally spurs us to realize happiness for ourselves and others. Not to believe in the Buddha nature is to deny the spirit of the Lotus Sutra, which teaches that all people have the potential for Buddhahood. Consequently, Nichiren sternly warns that if we go against the spirit of the sutra, not only won’t we accomplish our desire to attain Buddhahood in this lifetime, but we will end up committing slander of the Law.^[11]

Also, unless we practice together united in the spirit of “many in body, one in mind,” the great desire for kosen-rufu cannot be fulfilled.^[12]

Let us confirm once again that chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for the happiness of ourselves and others is the true means for attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime. Each person has the potential to become a Buddha.

The Spirit of the First Three Presidents Pulses in the Soka Gakkai

A Buddhist teaching that affirms the existence of the Law in each person’s life is one that treasures the individual. It calls out to each person, encourages his or her individual human revolution and seeks to lead all people to enlightenment. In the appearance of one person after another embracing faith, we find the principle of bodhisattvas steadily emerging from the earth to propagate the Law, and the unchanging formula of kosen-rufu.^[13]

This is the path of the Soka Gakkai that the first three presidents—Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, Josei Toda and myself—have steadfastly followed. That is why the Soka Gakkai has achieved such phenomenal development and why our kosen-rufu movement has spread throughout the entire world.

In contrast, Buddhist teachings that view the Law as existing outside one’s own life tend to be authoritarian or formalistic, to disregard and repress people. They are prone to emphasizing rituals or clerical authority, while their followers passively seek to assuage their anxieties through dependence on ceremonies or clergy. Further, taking advantage of the fact that one of human beings’ greatest sources of anxiety is death and what comes after, Buddhist schools of this kind in Japan have come to function almost exclusively as purveyors of funeral and memorial services for the deceased, devolving into what is known as “funeral Buddhism.” They offer no philosophy that empowers people or enables them to live better lives. 

The Soka Gakkai’s founder, President Makiguchi, asserted that Nichiren Buddhism is a “teaching for transforming one’s life.” To believe that the Mystic Law of Myoho-renge-kyo exists within us is to have the confidence that we will definitely become happy and attain Buddhahood in this lifetime. Faith also means actively working for kosen-rufu through sharing Nichiren Buddhism based on the conviction that it holds the key to happiness for both ourselves and others. This genuine faith pervades the Soka Gakkai and the SGI. The greatness of the Soka Gakkai and the first three presidents’ spirit of the oneness of mentor and disciple shine in the undertaking of this most difficult of challenges—that of awakening people to the Law within. 

President Toda used to say, “You should resolve, ‘I am Myoho-renge-kyo!’” The Mystic Law is the “highly effective medicine” (The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Sutras, p. 269) that relieves the sufferings of all people. It is also the great treasure storehouse that brings good fortune and happiness to all. The important thing is to live out our lives based on and completely in sync with the Law; it is to imbue and solidify our lives with the Mystic Law.

Our daily realities are filled with an endless succession of problems. But with the firm belief that our lives are Myoho-renge-kyo, we should strive to boldly challenge everything with the unwavering conviction that we can overcome all hardships and become happy without fail. When we maintain deep faith based on the foundation that “I am Myoho-renge-kyo,” we can take on any problem with courage. The key to victory in life lies in whether we can bring forth courage. Not a shrinking timidity but a challenging courage—this is what we need to have!

Irrespective of the obstacles we may encounter in the course of our practice, we must not retreat a single step. We must not be alarmed or startled by them. The power of the Mystic Law (Myoho-renge-kyo) can triumph over anything. To become deeply confident of this is most important.

Fearing hardships and bemoaning and resenting our environment are to believe that the Law is outside our own lives. So is losing confidence in our ability to overcome our circumstances and turning to others in the hope that they will save us, or blaming others for our problems, or giving in to hopelessness and resignation.

When difficulties beset us, no matter how trying they may be, we must clearly see them for the obstacles or devilish functions they are and battle against them without retreating. This is the way of life of those who chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and dedicate their lives to the Mystic Law. Nichiren Daishonin says, “[My] disciples cannot accomplish anything if they are cowardly” (“The Teaching, Practice, and Proof,” WND-1, 481). In accord with these words, let’s cast aside cowardice and make courage our foremost attribute. 

People of courageous faith can break through the dark clouds of fear, ignorance and delusion to bring the sun of the Mystic Law to shine and beautiful flowers of Myoho-renge—the lotus of the Mystic Law—to bloom in their lives. 

Second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda gave the following guidance to young women’s division members in the pioneering days of our movement: “You should take pride in possessing the same life as the Buddha of the Latter Day. Win in life with a noble spirit. You must absolutely never depreciate yourselves.”

Nichiren Buddhism starts from the realization that the supreme life condition of Buddhahood exists in each of us. It is a teaching that makes it possible for us to achieve the profoundest inner transformation—a transformation of our fundamental attitude or mindset. That’s why Nichiren emphasizes the importance of our minds, of what’s in our hearts.

He writes: “Whether you chant the Buddha’s name, recite the sutra, or merely offer flowers and incense, all your virtuous acts will implant benefits and roots of goodness in your life. With this conviction you should strive in faith” (WND-1, 4). All our efforts in faith—including our practice of reciting the Lotus Sutra and chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo each morning and evening, as well as all of our various Soka Gakkai activities—are virtuous acts that “implant benefits and roots of goodness” in our lives. Those who advance with this deep awareness will be true victors who travel the direct path to attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime.

Always upholding the great philosophy embodied in Nichiren’s words “It is the heart that is important” (WND-1, 1000), let us lead magnificent, victorious lives!

From the September 2026 Living Buddhism