Marital Discord and the Law of Cause and Effect
Kinu Sasai was new to the practice. "How has everything been lately?" -- Toda must have known of her family discord. Her husband, physically weak, was nonetheles...s a tyrant, and his factory was suffering financially. As a woman of firm character she was struggling with all her might, rearing a number of children; but her strength seemed to have left her. When she joined, she was totally at a loss as to the future, but it also attracted intense opposition from her despotic husband. Already facing severe circumstances, this only made her difficulties all the worse.
These thoughts seemed to dog Kinu Sasai all day and night: "I was told that if I took faith in this religion, everything would go well, but my life is becoming harder. Last night my husband resorted to violence to force me to give up my practice. He has become even more unbearable than before I took up this faith. Why is this? If things continue like this, I'm afraid I'll only end up suffering more unhappiness."
"Maybe this religion is wrong for me, but everyone keeps telling me again and again that this religion is absolutely correct. Well I can't take it anymore. No woman in the world could be more unhappy than I am."
After painful contemplation, she finally reached a conclusion: "If this religion is correct, then my husband's intense opposition may be a sign that I should divorce him. At any rate, I can no longer endure this situation. Yes, I will divorce him. I must. Of course I will experience troubles even after the divorce, but they must be more endurable than my current problems."
When she came to the evening's meeting, Kinu Sasai already had firmly made this resolution. The first words that passed from her lips were those of the conclusion she had reached: "Sensei, I have made up my mind to divorce my husband, no matter what."
Toda gazed at Mrs. Sasai's Gaunt face, but kept his silence for some time. The audience was all ears waiting for Toda's reply to her desperation.
He began calmly,
"Your pains and troubles are very understandable, but I cannot interfere in marital affairs. There is, however, one thing I must tell you."
His words, resounding, were nevertheless touching.
"So long as you do not change the underlying Karma which causes you to have such a husband, you will remarry the same kind of man even if you divorce this one. If you are going to face more of the same anyway -- and since you have many children and have managed to live together this long -- why not suffer with your present husband?"
People felt smiles emerging from within, but Toda's expression remained serious.
"If you continue your faith without yielding, no matter what the trouble facing you, you will thereby be able to change your Karma and your husband will become a better man. Looking at your situation from a deeper point of faith, it could be likened to the interval between winter and spring, or nothing more than the changing of the tides from low to high. If your husband, however, should never change despite your devoted faith, he himself will opt to leave. Then you can think of divorcing him.
Let me clarify my point. I'm not saying you should not divorce him. Nor am I saying you should do so. In order for you to prove the validity of this faith, I want you to do your best for one year, or at least six months, to shape the nucleus of your family revolution. Try to carry through the practice of your faith valiantly for the sake of changing your misfortune for the better."
Mrs. Sasai raised her head with an embarrassed look, then lowered it, showing some disappointment. Indifferent, Toda continued,
"You may not easily accept what I have said to you. With your troubles you may well be thinking, 'No matter what you say, there is little I can do. In reality what choice do I have? I want to ask you about this.'"
Sasai Nodded like a child.
With a smile, Toda continued,
"You are an honest person I see that you desire a medicine which produces an immediate effect. If I had any, I would naturally give it to you. Yet, there is no medicine available for illnesses like yours, which are so hard to cure. I think no one has ever discovered a virus causing marital discord."
"Viewed from the law of cause and effect over your three existences, however, you can more easily discern the reason. As soon as you took up this faith, your husband began to raise severe objections. This is not a coincidence, but a result. Misleading new religions and old dying sects do not bring about such results, but our religion has power. It is a living faith."
"What do you think is the main reason for your being so afflicted with troubles despite having taken faith in true Buddhism? Is it because you lack faith, as inferior religions often preach, or because your opposing husband is all wrong. No, these are not the fundamental reasons. Rather, it is because of the strict law of cause and effect. Even if you never heard of this law, you cannot excape its workings. It is the teaching of the Buddha. It is completely different from the deceitful words of vainglorious sect-founders and professional religionists. It is not falsehood but truth. Even if you become conversant with the law of cause and effect, however, solutions are still not easily attained. For the sake of finding the most basic solution, Nichiren Daishonin inscribed for all posterity the True Object of Worship, the Gohonzon. All you have to do is to strive for the revolution of your life by devotedly chanting Daimoku to the Gohonzon. A sapling does not grow into a great tree in a day, nor does a baby mature in a day or two. It takes years of faith in order to change one's bad destiny."
Toda's guidance finally began to touch Kinu Sasai's heart.
What counts is whether you will practice this principle with confidence or be overcome by doubt and discontinue. The result will be determined accordingly, for good or for bad. Be determined that the more opposition you meet in your faith, the sooner you will be able to purify your life, which is stained with bad Karma. You will no doubt be able to understand this at a later date. Once you remove the cause of your evil Karma, you will naturally be free of it for all time. Then the course of your life will be greatly changed for the better."
The Fugen Sutra reads, 'The sea of all Karmic obstacles arises from illusions. If you wish to make amends [for your past karma], sit upright and meditate on the true entity of life, and all your offenses will vanish like frost and dewdrops in the light of enlightened wisdom.'"
Unless you carry through your faith to this extent, all will be for naught. If you continue your faith amid difficulties, whether you like it or not, and whether you feel tortured or not, you will later feel a refreshed feeling as if you had applied "moxa" to an injury. Compared with the eternity of life, a trial period of a year or even six months is but a mere flash. So long as you embrace strong faith. I guarantee you with my whole life that things will change for the better....
Excerpt From page 24 Volume 3 No.5 of the "Human Revolution: "New Start"
