In the word Myoho of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Myo is often said to signify light, while Ho signifies darkness. Implied in this definition is the fact that light and dark are both sides of the same coin. Both are contained within the universe, and both are found within human life.
Because of this concept, there is a phrase in Buddhism which reads Mumyo Soku Hossho (Darkness equals enlightenment). This means that if we somehow acquire the capability to pierce the darkness within our own lives we can find our enlightenment. This capability stems from our practice of true Buddhism. The Gosho says, Faith alone enables one to embrace the true Law. Faith is the only sword which can cut Gampon-no Mumyo.

The key to dispelling the fundamental darkness within our own lives lies in discovering the most positive relationship between ourselves and the environment (en from noyze-en). Bad en can lead us further into darkness, whereas good en can lead us towards enlightenment. Of course, the supreme en is our relationship with the Gohonzon.

In his 38th General Meeting address, President Ikeda brought the concept of Gampon-no Mumyo to a practical level when he analyzed the effects it is having on the world today and its dissipation as the primary reason for religion:
"We could say that man's moral blindness poses an 'internal' threat, and flaws in government structure an 'external' one; but ultimately, both are problems of the human being himself…. Without grasping the reality of his 'internal threat', people wander helplessly in the mists of anxiety and confusion. That's what's happening today. Here lies the ultimate raison d'être of religion: as a beam of light, shot into the darkness of the future. Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism identifies the source of the 'internal threat' as Gampon-no Mumyo, or 'fundamental darkness', an essential ignorance of the true nature of life. The Daishonin's Buddhism is an universally applicable religion which shows anyone how to break through this darkness."

What this understanding of Gampon-no Mumyo can do for us as SGI members is to allow us a deeper insight into the dark or bleak corners of our own lives. The darkness and depression that naturally set in when we are confronted with obstacles should not be a signal for us to retreat even further into our own confusion or uncertainty. Rather, darkness within our lives becomes a time to switch on the beacon of the Gohonzon, clearly illuminating the path we can take towards a glorious future. "It's always darkest just before the dawn" is more than a cliché in Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism. It is a call to arms to challenge the Gampon-no Mumyo within our own lives and rapidly bring about the dawn of a new peaceful world.
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Buddhism explains in the Ten Factors of Life that the Law of Cause and Effect manifests itself in four different ways. They are Noyze-in, Noyze-en, Noyze-ka and Noyze-ho - the inherent cause, the external cause, the latent effect and the manifest effect. As an example of this, if you stir what looks like a glass of pure water with a spoon and it becomes murky, the cause of its murkiness is not the spoon (which is the external cause) but the fact that there is dirt in the water (inherent cause). Thus what Buddhism is concerned with is not the spoon but the dirt in the water, which is our unhappy karma. From this it becomes clear, that it doesn't matter in the least what we actually did in the past, i.e. the external cause - hating someone or stopping some from practising; what matters is the inherent cause which made us behave like this, because the same inherent cause may still exist deep in our life and therefor causing us suffering now.

Slandering the Law is not only speaking against Buddhism, hating someone, preventing someone from practising or causing disunity amongst members. Slander is in fact any action which involves disrespect for life. Thus pollution, injustice, misusing another person's possessions or money and of course, murder and other criminal acts, are all slander. Even to misuse one's body by eating or drinking too much is slander. Because we all possess the six lower worlds, especially the Three Evil Paths in our lives, we cannot, in fact, help committing small slanders even when we are practising, which is one of the main reasons why "practise like flowing water" is so important; thereby we continually make great causes which offset our inadvertent slander.

Whereas there can be a myriad different forms of external causes of slandering the Law and it is usually quite impossible and indeed, truly unnecessary and undesirable to try to imagine which particular ones we committed in the past, the inherent cause is in fact, unbelievably simple and fundamental. It is one of the Three Poisons which beset our lives and every other human life in this world. In other words, it is either greed, anger or ignorance of the true meaning and nature of life itself; that ignorance which breeds not only blind stupidity but fear - especially fear of the unknown. Why should we suffer from greed or anger or fear? There is only one answer isn't there? We are greedy and try to grab all we can in this life; we manifest anger in the form of arrogance or contempt because we wish to wield power; we are fearful and lack confidence in ourselves erecting barriers and screens to hide our true nature - only because we doubt (in other words, slander) the unlimited power of the Gohonzon and especially that it exists nowhere else but in ourselves. If we knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Gohonzon - the Buddha state, source of all courage, wisdom, compassion and good fortune - shone within us, anger, greed and ignorance or fear would naturally be overcome and with them, the sufferings we are undergoing because of them.
This is exactly as the Lotus Sutra declared: "If you wish to do zange, sit upright and meditate on the true entity of life, and all your offences will vanish like frost and dewdrops in the sunlight of enlightened wisdom". The true entity of life is of course, the Gohonzon or Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

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