Surmounting the Absence of Philosophy in Our Age

Saito: President Ikeda, we are delighted to have this opportunity to join you in what is sure to be a profoundly meaningful discussion on the essence of the Lotus Sutra. We look forward to studying with you the illuminating insights the Lotus Sutra provides for the present age and the vast body of wisdom it encompasses. We especially hope that this series will help our new members and our members overseas deepen their understanding of Buddhism. Thank you very much for making this series possible.

SGI President Ikeda: Not at all. It is I who should thank you for giving me this opportunity. The time to engage in an earnest discussion on the role and function of religion in the next century is now upon us. With the collapse of communism and a pervasive absence of philosophy in our age, humanity is now directing its gaze beyond the present in search of a powerful new philosophy.

In other words, people are looking for something that will satisfy the spiritual emptiness they feel, something that will revive their weary, battered lives and fill them once again with hope and vigour. Humanity is searching for a wisdom that will provide true direction and purpose to the individual and society.

Whether it be the warring states of the former Yugoslavia, the industrialized nations indulging in excess, the confusion and disorder in the former socialist nations of Eastern Europe, or the Third World nations battling poverty--humanity is beginning to recognize that something is wrong with the present world which ranks economic performance above all else. There is an increasing recognition that people must be our first priority and that "human growth" is more important than economic growth. We are starting to understand that in our modern information-oriented societies with their explosion of knowledge, there is an urgent need for a matching explosion of wisdom to make proper use of that knowledge.

Something is wrong. Something is missing. Scientific developments alone cannot bring happiness. Neither socialism nor capitalism can save us. No matter how many conferences we hold, how we stress ethics and morality, how we lecture on human psychology or philosophy, something essential is lacking. This is, I believe, a fair description of humanity's present state of mind.

French author Antoine Saint-Exupery (1900-44), who is so well known for his book The Little Prince, writes: “We have to understand that somewhere along the way we have taken the wrong road. Humanity as a whole is richer than ever before. We enjoy unsurpassed affluence and leisure time. Yet something more basic, something indefinable, is lacking. The sensation of ourselves as human beings becomes gradually more and more rare. We have lost something that was one of our mysterious prerogatives”. 1

Humanity has taken the wrong road, he says. Where are we going, and for what purpose?

This question reminds me of a famous scene in the Lotus Sutra. When the multitude of bodhisattvas appears out of the earth in the "Emerging from the Earth" (fifteenth) chapter, the bodhisattva Maitreya asks Shakyamuni Buddha, "where they have come from, / what causes and conditions bring them together!"2 Maitreya asks his question as a representative of all who are assembled.

Saito: Shakyamuni Buddha praises Maitreya for asking such an important question. And as his reply, he preaches the most important teaching of the entire Lotus Sutra, which is contained in "The Life Span of the Thus Come One" (sixteenth) chapter.

Ikeda: Maitreya's query is indeed an important one. I'd like to discuss its significance from a doctrinal perspective in detail on another occasion. Put quite simply, however, it comes down to the questions: where have we come from, and for what purpose were we born in this world?

Endo: I am reminded of the impromptu poem you recited before second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda the first time you attended a Soka Gakkai discussion meeting, the events of which are described in The Human Revolution:

Traveler, Where do you come from?
And where do you go?
The moon has set,
And the sun has not yet risen.
In the darkness before dawn
I advance
In search of light.
To dispel the dark clouds in my mind
To seek a great tree unbowed by the storm,
I spring from the earth.3

Ikeda: As a young person struggling amid the chaos of post-war Japan, I was earnestly trying to find the meaning of life. Then I met Mr. Toda. Here was a man who had been imprisoned for his opposition to the Japanese militarist government [during the Second World War]. I instinctively felt I could trust him. My encounter with Mr. Toda was my encounter with the Lotus Sutra. All human endeavor is inspired by the effort to answer the questions: where do we come from, where we are going, and why we are here?

Suda: The issue then becomes what philosophy, religion, or belief system can provide clear answers to those questions. Though an entire nation may have been reduced to ashes by war, its people's future will remain bright as long as a positive philosophy still breathes in their hearts. I think that you are proof of that, President Ikeda.

Saito: That is also the philosophy of the Lotus Sutra.

Suda: On the other hand, people's future will be dark if their hearts are laid to waste, even if they live in an affluent nation.

Ikeda: Precisely. I am reminded of the words of Austrian psychologist Viktor Frankl, who describes the contemporary state of mind as "our hearts have been bombed."4 Dr. Frankl is well known for having survived imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War.

Endo: Yes, he has authored a famous book on that experience.

Ikeda: Dr. Frankl writes: “The abuse of every kind of passion has resulted in an age in which all types of idealism have been destroyed. While we would normally expect to find the younger generation extremely passionate and idealistic, today's generation, today's youth, have no ideals at all”.5 Dr. Frankl is saying that young people have lost the meaning of life.

Endo: The concentration camps were the epitome of an environment that completely destroyed all human dignity and meaning in life. Yet even there, some people survived, maintaining their humanity throughout the ordeal.

Dr. Frankl is suggesting, I think, that even though the concentration camps have been destroyed and the war is over, humanity remains locked up in a sort of invisible concentration camp.

Ikeda: Yes, you may be right. Some people say that the prevailing mood in the world today is one of powerlessness. Whatever the case may be, we are all aware that things cannot continue as they are. Yet decisions about political, economic and environmental issues all seem to be made somewhere beyond our reach. What can the individual accomplish in the face of the huge institutions that run our world? This feeling of powerlessness fuels a vicious cycle that only worsens the situation and people's sense of futility.

At the opposite extreme of this sense of powerlessness lie the Lotus Sutra's philosophy of a single life-moment encompassing three thousand realms (ichinen sanzen) and the application of this teaching to our daily lives. The principle of one life-moment containing three thousand realms teaches us that the inner determination (ichinen) of one individual can transform everything. It is a teaching that gives ultimate expression to the infinite potential and dignity inherent in the life of each human being.

Saito: We need to emphasize that the human being is not a pitiful and powerless creature. Russian politician Aleksandr Yakovlev, who is a good friend of yours, President Ikeda, is often called the architect of the former Soviet Union's policy of perestroika ("restructuring"). In response to the question, "Does Russia have a future?" he writes:

“Today, even the most objective scientific rationalism teaches us that the human race faces certain destruction unless we recognize the value of each and every individual”.6

Ikeda: I last met Dr. Yakovlev in May 1994 in Moscow. He is earnestly seeking the advent of a "Russian renaissance" centering around a restoration of human values. He remarks: “In the few remaining years of the twentieth century, the last illusions of the communism that we have known from the mid-nineteenth century will have been utterly destroyed. That is certain. At the same time, we will see a restoration of truly humane values. Until now, humane values have been, as a matter of active policy, completely overwhelmed through misunderstanding, lies and slander. Finally the time when they will be liberated has come. When we consider both the present and the future, we cannot escape the conclusion that the greatest crisis we face today is in the realm of spiritual ideals”.7

Saito: The Lotus Sutra constitutes the grandest and most sublime presentation of those humane values.

Ikeda: Yes, that is our firm conviction. There was a period in the history of the Holy Roman Empire called the Great Interregnum (1254-1273). During that period the empire's throne was vacant for all practical purposes. Interestingly, this coincides with the period in which Nichiren Daishonin lived.

Today, in the years after the end of the Cold War, we are living in a "Great Interregnum of Philosophy," an era in which there is an absence of any guiding philosophy. That is why this is precisely the time to speak of the Lotus Sutra, long known as the king of sutras.

Endo: The Lotus Sutra is the king and champion of all sutras. I fully agree that we are living in a Great Interregnum in terms of philosophy today. Faith in communism has disappeared, yet it is doubtful whether the new-found freedom of those liberated from its yoke is really making them happy, either. Instead, the worship of money, shallow materialism, and mindless pleasure-seeking have spread across the globe.

Suda: I agree. You (President Ikeda) met with former Czechoslovak president Vaclav Havel, who was renowned as a staunch campaigner against the oppression of the communist state. Mr. Havel warns of the changes that have been taking place in society after the liberation from communism:

“The return of freedom to a society that was morally unhinged has produced... an enormous and dazzling explosion of every imaginable, human vice...”

“We are witness to a bizarre state of affairs: society has freed itself, true, but in some ways it behaves worse than when it was in chains...”8

Saito: Extreme nationalism is one of those vices. In today's unified Germany, for example--even though the neo-Nazi movement comprises only an extremely small number of supporters--calls for the exclusion of certain races are growing among the general populace. Some Germans even say that the Berlin Wall should be rebuilt--but this time around the entire country to keep foreigners out.

Ikeda: Yes, the roots of racism run deep. Movements to fan racial hatreds for political, economic, or religious advantage are always with us. The very seriousness of this problem lies in the fact that it is so closely tied up with people's spiritual and emotional desires. In other words, we might say the desire for an identity--to know where one came from and where one is going--lies at the root of racism. A philosophical and ideological vacuum drives people to seek their identity in their race. They cannot bear the void in thought, so they look elsewhere.

That, of course, is one of the reasons why religion is important, but the reality is that in many cases religion is contributing to divisiveness.

Endo: Yasushi Akashi, special representative of the United Nations secretary general assigned to the task of finding an end to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, had this to say at the Sixth World Conference on Religion and Peace [in November 1994]: "In the former republic of Yugoslavia, religion was appropriated and misused by intolerant racists. If religious leaders had been on the ball and had stood up before the conflict reached this stage, war could have been avoided."9

Ikeda: Mr. Akashi is a valued friend of mine. The war in the former Yugoslavia is a terrible tragedy. When I think of the people there, my heart breaks. Their country has become a living hell. A Bosnian poet made the comment: "The only things that we can write in Sarajevo today are obituaries."10

Saito: I have heard that when Orthodox Christian soldiers of the Serbian forces take Roman Catholic Croatian soldiers prisoner, they force them to perform the sign of the cross with three fingers, in the Orthodox fashion.

Suda: The Roman Catholic practice is to use two fingers.

Saito: Yes. If the prisoners refuse, I have heard, their captors bind their fingers together with wire so that they cannot help but perform the sign of the cross with three fingers. Whether this is true or not, pictures of these prisoners are printed in the Croatian newspapers. When Croatians see them, of course, their hatred for the Serbs is only fanned.11

Ikeda: Depending on the use it is put to, religion can be a demonic force. Religion should bind us together, but it is exploited by some to create greater schisms between us. Nothing could be more unfortunate. Religion must always be for the people. People do not exist for the sake of religion. This must be the fundamental rule of religion in the next century.

Endo: Dr. Anatoly Logunov, the renowned Russian physicist and former rector of Moscow State University, says that one of the lessons he learned from you (President Ikeda) is that society exists for the sake of people, and not the other way around. In the Soviet society of the past, he says, that was a shocking idea, because it indeed represents a revival of humane values.

Ikeda: To place supreme value on the human being is the teaching of the Lotus Sutra. It is the humanism of the Buddhist Law. We hear some of the stories of the innocents of Sarajevo. One little girl was unable to leave her house for a year and a half. Amid the continuous shelling, even her own room was too dangerous to enter. The toilet and hallway were the safest parts of the house, and she once spent an entire month solely confined to this space. She had no running water, no electricity. Pieces of bodies blown apart by shell explosions lay strewn about her. In winter, temperatures dropped to minus seventeen degrees centigrade; she had neither wood nor a stove to burn it in. It was so cold that any water she had froze. She couldn't wash her face or hands. A trip to a public well would expose her to the peril of sniper fire.12

A seventeen-year-old youth living under similar conditions writes: “I had many dreams, but the war robbed me of all of them... I don't know when it will be, but if I can love someone, if I still have the ability within myself, I would like to love someone. The most important thing, no matter what happens, is to be a human being, to remain a human being."13

Peace must be a central premise in any discussion of the twenty-first century. Nothing is of any use without peace. That is one reason why religion in the twenty-first century must be a force for the creation of peace. Dr. Johan Galtung, the pioneering Norwegian peace researcher, has concluded that Buddhism is the most pacifistic religion. And the very essence of Buddhism is, of course, the Lotus Sutra.

Endo: The cry "I must remain a human being no matter what," in such a desperate situation as Sarajevo, pierces the heart. As far as appearances are concerned, Japan seems a peaceful country, but I think I am not the only one who has grave doubts about whether we Japanese have been able to maintain our humanity.

Ikeda: Yes. And that is precisely why, wherever we are, it is necessary to begin with the revitalization, the revolution of each individual human being, one at a time. That is what we mean by the revolution of society and the world through the human revolution. That is the teaching of the Lotus Sutra. And actions directed toward that end, I would like to stress, represent the wisdom of the Lotus Sutra.

Suda: Even a general overview of society reveals that we are living in a period of great upheaval, a time of chaos – a "Great Interregnum of Philosophy" in which old systems of belief have reached a dead end. The world is becoming smaller and smaller, yet we know less and less what direction we should be moving in. It is only natural that humanity today needs a basic standard to guide and lead it.

Ikeda: Actually, the Lotus Sutra is a scripture that shows its true brilliance in just such periods of great transition. The age in which the Lotus Sutra was first taught seems to have been similar. In India in Shakyamuni's time, the growth of cities was leading to a transcendence of old tribal divisions and to a new age in which people would live together in new, symbiotic relationships. It was a time of great intellectual confusion, with people teaching everything from pure materialism to hedonism to asceticism.

Suda: These are the teachings of the so-called "six non-Buddhist teachers."14

Ikeda: Yes. Against that background, Shakyamuni taught new principles of integration to unify humanity in this period of great change. And the Lotus Sutra is the living essence of that teaching.

Later in China and Japan, when religion was in a state of chaos and people didn't know what to believe in, the Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai and Nichiren Daishonin advocated the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and with it boldly confronted the issues of their respective eras and societies. The Lotus Sutra, one might say, represented the banner of unity with which they charged ahead in their struggles amid periods of great spiritual turbulence.

Suda: That reminds me of remarks made by Professor George Tanabe, chairman of the Department of Religion at the University of Hawaii. The department he heads is known around the world for its comparative studies of Eastern and Western religion.

In a recent interview with a correspondent of the Seikyo Shimbun, the Soka Gakkai daily newspaper, Dr. Tanabe stated that as a doctrine of the universal and the eternal, the Lotus Sutra holds an unrivaled place in the Buddhist canon. We could learn much, he said, by looking into why the Lotus Sutra has been "so successful in speaking and having meaning to so many different people, in so many different places, so many different cultures, and so many different times." The "one vehicle" of the Lotus Sutra, Dr. Tanabe stressed, should be understood as meaning that it embraces all other vehicles, all other ways. This, he said, offers a very important message for people today, namely, that "we live in one world, one planet and are really one people." He was of the opinion that the Lotus Sutra is a universal text for all people that can be readily translated into different cultural contexts.

Ikeda: This is indeed an astute assessment of the contemporary significance of the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra--expounding the very essence of the Law--is the king of sutras. A king does not negate the existence of others; his role is to bring out the full potential of all. Nichiren Daishonin writes:

“Ultimately, all phenomena are contained within one's life, down to the last particle of dust. The nine mountains and the eight seas are encompassed by one's body; the sun, moon, and myriad stars are contained within one's mind. However, [common mortals do not perceive this,] just as the blind do not see images reflected in a mirror or as an infant fears neither flood nor fire. The non-Buddhist teachings set forth in the outer writings15 and the Hinayana and provisional Mahayana teachings of the inner scriptures16 all teach no more than fragments of the Law inherent in one's life. They do not expound it in its entirety as the Lotus Sutra does. (MW-5-181)

All philosophies other than the Lotus Sutra are nothing more than fragments, parts of the great law of life. Basing ourselves on such fragments, even though they may contain partial truths, will not enable us to realize a thorough-going revitalization of all aspects of our lives. Indeed, philosophies that expound only partial truths end up distorting our lives.
The Lotus Sutra, on the other hand, teaches the one, fundamental Law that unifies all these fragmentary teachings, gives them proper perspective, and allows each to shine and fulfill its function within the whole. That is the "wisdom of the Lotus Sutra."

In "The Life Span of the Thus Come One" (sixteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra, we find mention of "a skilled physician who is wise and understanding."17 Like a skilled doctor, the wisdom of the Lotus Sutra saves those who are suffering and in pain.

Endo: Later the sutra says of those who were saved by this wisdom: "Constantly harboring such feelings of grief, they at last come to their senses..."18 What exactly is the wisdom that enabled them to do so?

Ikeda: If there was an easy answer to your question, we'd have no need for this series! However, to cut to the conclusion, "they at last come to their senses" means that they finally awoke to the truth that each of them has always been a Buddha from the eternal past and will always be a Buddha into the eternal future. Of course, this realization is not a sudden, simple "Oh, I see."

The Lotus Sutra is an attempt to teach this truth to all in an easily comprehensible fashion. Nichiren Daishonin, the votary of the Lotus Sutra in the Latter Day of the Law, made it possible for all to embody this truth in their daily lives. The Lotus Sutra teaches of the great "hidden treasure of the heart," as vast as the universe itself, which dispels any feelings of powerlessness. It teaches a vigorous way of living, in which we breathe the immense life of the universe itself. It teaches the true great adventure of self-reformation.

The Lotus Sutra has the breadth and scope to embrace all people on the way to peace. It has the fragrance of magnificent culture and art. It leads us to an unsurpassed state of life imbued with the qualities of eternity, happiness, true self and purity, so that wherever we are, we may say, "This, my land, remains safe and tranquil."19

The Lotus Sutra has the drama of fighting for justice against evil. It has a warmth that comforts the weary. It has a vibrant, pulsing courage that drives away fear. It has a chorus of joy at attaining absolute freedom throughout the three existences. It has the soaring flight of liberty. It has brilliant light, flowers, greenery, music, paintings, vivid stories. It offers unsurpassed lessons on psychology, the workings of the human heart, lessons on life, lessons on happiness and lessons on peace. It maps out the basic rules for good health. It awakens us to the universal truth that a change in our heart, or attitude, can transform everything. It is neither the parched desert of individualism nor the prison of totalitarianism; it has the power to manifest a pure land of compassion, in which people complement and encourage each other.

Both communism and capitalism have used people as means for their own ends. But in the Lotus Sutra--the king of sutras – we find a fundamental humanism in which people are the goal and purpose, in which they are both protagonist and sovereign. Perhaps we could call this teaching of the Lotus Sutra a "cosmic humanism"?

Saito: Yes, I agree. The term "cosmic humanism" would draw a clear line between the anthropocentric viewpoint that all other life forms can be sacrificed for the sake of human beings-a view which has dominated up to now.

Ikeda: I think it is a lofty and powerful designation that will serve as a signpost for the twenty-first century. In any case, wisdom and acquiring wisdom are what are important. We will discuss the relation-ship between wisdom and knowledge in later installments, but a British author once wrote:

“It is better to have wisdom without learning, than learning without wisdom; just as it is better to be rich without being the possessor of a mine, than to be the possessor of a mine without being rich”.20

Of course, it is ideal to possess both wisdom and knowledge, but everything ultimately depends on wisdom. Our goal is happiness, and happiness cannot be attained through knowledge alone. The only way to realize true human happiness and prosperity in the twenty-first century, therefore, is to make it a century of wisdom.

Though knowledge can be transmitted from one person to another, wisdom cannot. The only way to develop wisdom is to acquire it through personal experience. That is one reason the Lotus Sutra places such strong emphasis on the teacher-disciple relationship--a relationship that demands a total life-to-life commitment by both parties.

Endo: Our relationship with the Buddhist scriptures must also be a total personal commitment, not just an intellectual relationship. This also applies to daily life.

Suda: The awakening that President Toda attained during his imprisonment was also a result of his desperate quest for the very essence of the Lotus Sutra.

Saito: His realization at that time that "A Buddha is life itself" became the starting point for the contemporary revitalization of the Lotus Sutra, which many regarded as being merely an ancient text with no practical relevance to the present day. This realization is, I believe, the profound and eternal foundation of the SGI.

Ikeda: I agree. I'd like to begin the next session of our discussion with a consideration of the significance of Mr. Toda's enlightenment to the essence of the Lotus Sutra.

How should we read the Lotus Sutra? In the "Ongi Kuden" (Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings), Nichiren Daishonin says:

"Thus I have heard" means to listen to the meaning and significance of each passage and phrase of the twenty-eight chapters [of the Lotus Sutra] as a teaching that expounds the reality of one's own life. That which is "heard" is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. (Gosho Zenshu, p. 794).

Each passage and phrase of the Lotus Sutra is teaching about oneself, the entity of the Mystic Law. The sutra is not discussing something far removed from our own lives.

In the "Ongi Kuden," the Daishonin instructs us how to read the Lotus Sutra from that fundamental standpoint. Deeply and carefully studying the "Ongi Kuden" with the assistance of your sharp young minds, I would like to begin this challenging journey to explore the "wisdom of the Lotus Sutra" for the coming age. It is a journey to the truth that we ourselves are Buddhas. Life is an endless odyssey into the innermost sanctum of our own lives.

German author and poet Hermann Hesse (1877-1962) advocated the need for a revolution in human consciousness. He was keenly aware of the malaise of this century. His poem "Bucher" (Books) is instructive in our exploration of the Lotus Sutra:

“All the books in the world
Will not bring you happiness,
But they will quietly lead you
Back inside yourself.

There you will find all you need,
Sun, stars and moon,
For the light for which you search
Dwells within you.

The wisdom you so long sought In books,
Will then shine forth from every page –
For now that wisdom has become your own”.21

Saito: In this series, we hope to study the Lotus Sutra from various perspectives. Indeed, it is imperative that we do so. Through our diligent studies, we hope to strengthen our conviction that the Lotus Sutra is the core philosophy for leaders in the twenty-first century.

Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra 1 - References

[1]Translated from Japanese: Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Jinsei ni Imi wo, trans.
Kazutami Watanabe (Tokyo: Misuzu Shobo, 1987), p. 173. cf. A. Saint-Exupery, Un
sens a la vie (Paris: Gallimard, 1956).

[2]Burton Watson, trans. The Lotus Sutra (New York: Columbia University Press,
1993), p. 216.

[3]Daisaku Ikeda, The Human Revolution (New York: Weatherhill, 1986), vol. 1,
pp. 217-8.

[4]Translated from Japanese: Victor E. Frankl, Soredemo Jinsei ni Iesu to Iu,
trans. Kunio Yamada and Mika Matsuda (Tokyo: Shunjusha, 1993), p. 7. cf. V. E.
Frankl, ...trotzdem Ja zum Leben sagen (...Still Say Yes to Life) (Wien: Franz
Deuticke, 1947).

[5]Ibid., p. 10.

[6]Translated from Japanese: Aleksandr N. Yakov-lev, Rekishi no gen'ei
(Illusions of History), trans. Koji Hitachi (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shim-bunsha,
1993), p. 364.

[7]Ibid., p. 378.

[8]Vaclav Havel, Summer Meditations, trans. Paul Wilson (New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 1992), pp. 1-2.

[9]Tokyo Shimbun (Tokyo Newspaper), November 17, 1994.

[10]Translated from Japanese: Juan Goytisolo, Saraevo Nooto (Guaderno de
Sarajevo), trans. Yoshiko Yamamichi (Tokyo: Misuzu Shobo, 1994), p. 114.

[11]Kyoko Gendatsu and Eiji Inagawa, Ushinawareta Shishunki (Lost Adolescence:
Messages from Sarajevo) (Tokyo: Michi Shobo Inc., 1994), p. 62.

[12]Ibid., pp. 96-98.

[13]Ibid., pp. 272-273.

[14]Six non-Buddhist teachers: Influential thinkers in India during
Shakyamuni's lifetime who openly broke with the old Vedic tradition and
challenged Brahman authority in the Indian social order.

[15]Outer writings: Non-Buddhist scriptures, such as the teachings of
Brahmanism or Confucianism.

[16]Inner scriptures: The Buddhist sutras.

[17]Lotus Sutra, p. 227.

[18]Lotus Sutra, p. 229.

[19]Lotus Sutra, p. 230.

[20]Rev. C. C. Colton, Lacon: Many Things in Few Words (London: Longman, Rees,
Orme, Brown and Green, 1829), vol. 2, p. 18.

[21]Translated from German: (Books), Trost der Nacht: Neue Gedichte von Hermann
Hesse (Berlin: G. Fischer), p. 60.

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