SEEK THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM WITHIN YOURSELF, THE GOHONZON IS NOT OUTSIDE US

SEEK THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM WITHIN YOURSELF, THE GOHONZON IS NOT OUTSIDE US.

By former SGI-USA General Director Greg Martin

Imagine doing gongyo, chanting daimoku, doing shakubuku, attending discussion meetings, promoting publications, participating in zaimu, lifetime after lifetime for countless aeons, and never changing your karma; never attaining enlightenment. That’s a depressing thought.

The Daishonin is pointing out here how important it is to not look outside yourself. Don’t try to get power from outside yourself. Seek the solution to the problem within yourself. You are the problem. You are also the solution.

If you chant daimoku in front of the Gohonzon with the prayer, “give me the wisdom to know what I need to do. Give me the wisdom to know what action I need to take”, you will be amazed at the progress you make. Outwardly directed prayers will not help you in the least, even if you do it for the rest of your life.

The Daishonin’s strict point here is that if you’re going to chant daimoku, don’t waste your time trying to fix things outside of yourself. The Gohonzon has almost no power in the outer realm, but the Gohonzon has a universe of unlimited power to change you and reform your life. Open your life and see your true nature. Deal with your true nature. It is characterized by one of the three poisons: greed, anger, or stupidity. To find out which it is, just ask yourself, “am I greedy, am I angry, or am I stupid?” It’s one of those three!

The Daishonin goes on to state: “... you cannot attain Buddhahood, even if you practice lifetime after lifetime for countless aeons. Attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime is then impossible ... for example, a poor man cannot earn a penny just by counting his neighbour’s wealth, even if he does so night and day.”

The Gosho goes on to say that if you do not understand that this is happening within you and not out there some place, you will be unable to change your karma. Your practice will become an endless, painful austerity.

Let’s turn that around. Look at your life. Is there any area in your life in which, when you chant daimoku about it, it seems an endless, painful austerity? It may be your job, your relationships, your children, or anything else. You might be fine in all other areas, but when it comes to relationships, for example, you can be completely non-Buddhist and getting no benefit. This can go on for years. You may even give up because it’s so painful.

The problem is not Buddhism. The problem is not that your karma is so heavy. The problem is that you are looking in the wrong place. You are the problem. You are not looking inside. It’s easier to look outside.

Let’s say you have a large problem that you want to overcome. You begin a campaign of chanting one million daimoku. Somewhere around 999,950 daimoku, it suddenly dawns on you, “hey, maybe the problem is me!” Knowing this, we can shorten the process a little bit!

Starting out knowing that “the problem is me”. That way we can make progress chanting maybe only 50,000 daimoku instead of one million …

When we look at our practice, we only see it from one direction, and it always looks right to us. Most of the time, we think we’re just fine. But someone else can clearly see if we are way out of line. This is especially true when you have an experienced senior in faith. This is why we receive guidance.

The following is an excerpt from a summary of a lecture given by former SGI-USA General Director Greg Martin at the Seattle Culture Centre on June 9, 1995.