For most people in the West, the idea of Buddhahood very often involves some sort of ‘other-worldly’ notion about nirvana, tranquility and transcendental powers. In part, this is probably due to our Judeo-Christian background. We are brought up with the idea of God as something separate and better than us, and so we automatically assume that Buddhahood is also something special and ‘other’, and therefore unattainable by us right here and now.
However, Nichiren Daishonin teaches us, ‘Attaining Buddhahood is nothing extraordinary’ (MW1, p.259) because Buddhahood, like every other state of life, is something that we already possess. For this reason President Ikeda explains that essentially:

“Attaining Buddhahood is not so much a matter of arriving at a destination or reaching a goal, as internalizing the process of continually strengthening the world of Buddhahood in our lives. …[it] is not a matter of becoming a Buddha but of revealing the Buddha in one’s own life, of cultivating the life of Buddhahood within”. (UKE Dec., 1996, p.26-27)

For me, Buddhahood simply means being myself at my most dynamic and most creative, so that I can connect with society in a way that enables me to create value from my actions, rather than creating nothing, or anti-value. In our society it is far easier to be negative than positive. However, our positivity, our hope, is something that nothing and no one can take from us — only we can take it from ourselves.

Initially, my practice was totally based around my ‘inconspicuous’ realization that I could always feel hope. However, it takes great effort to attain and maintain hope, and it is a huge struggle to maintain a positive view of life when we can see so much suffering and exploitation in the world. But that is part of our challenge as people who are practising Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism in today’s society and, of course, being positive and hopeful is a better way of living than being negative.

No matter how long we’ve been practising, all of us have to fight every day; we have to struggle every day to win. Life changes continually and so our struggles change. It’s so important not to be afraid of change, or of changing, because fear blocks us from our Buddhahood. It keeps us living in a rigid, ‘fixed agenda’ type of way, so that either we desperately hang on to what is familiar, even though it does not enable us to grow; or we fall into the trap of thinking ‘only when I’ve got this or done that will I be happy’. In contrast, when our lives are based on our Buddhahood, we can be happy no matter what our circumstances.

Fundamentally, Buddhahood is about having the confidence to be our true selves wherever we are and whatever is happening. This means really appreciating life itself. When we appreciate our own lives and the lives of others, we are able to perceive things and act in a different way — a creative and positive way.

However, very often, we actually prevent ourselves from living like this. For example, when we’re eager to get something we can kid ourselves that we’ve taken action based on our Buddhahood, when actually we’ve jumped at the first opportunity and taken action based on our emotions or desires. When this happens, it’s as if we put a screen of our suffering and desires between us and the Gohonzon, so that although we may be looking at the character myo while we chant, we don’t actually see it. Instead, we simply see our problems and suffering.

By blocking ourselves with our own limitations, rather than recognizing the universal law of life working within us, we prevent ourselves from feeling the great open power of the Gohonzon awakening our Buddhahood to the full. However, despite this, it is always better to chant and take action than do nothing at all and, definitely, with time, we are able to see when we didn’t base our actions on the certainty of our Buddhahood.

Sometimes we may feel whilst chanting that we’re not really connecting with our Buddhahood. That can make us feel frustrated, thinking we should be feeling something other than what we are actually experiencing. But we just need to be natural and be ourselves. Sometimes we feel the great power of our Buddhahood emerging as we chant, and at other times we may not feel it so much. There’s no need to worry. Chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is always effective. When I was very stressed and depressed I just repeated the words mechanically, yet that still had an effect. Chanting always increases our life-force, so that whether we are aware of it or not, we can change patterns that we’ve always followed.

Ultimately, to attain Buddhahood, ‘it is not necessary for us to go somewhere far away or to become someone special.’ (Conversations & Lectures on the Lotus Sutra, Vol.1, p. 257)
Rather, we just need to advance along the same path as the Buddha — to accept and uphold the Lotus Sutra to the best of our ability for, as Nichiren Daishonin points out:

“…even common mortals can attain Buddhahood if they cherish one thing: earnest faith. In the deepest sense, earnest faith is the will to understand and live up to the spirit, not the words, of the sutras”. (MW1, p.268)

In conclusion, if it’s a naïve ideal to believe in the value and uniqueness of one’s own life, one’s greater self, living positively in society, the equality of all, and creating happiness for oneself and others, then I’m glad that it’s one that I have.

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This page was last modified on Sunday, August 20, 2006.