A Practice of Benefits

A Practice of Benefits

The following explanation of the benefits of Nichiren Buddhism comes from chapter 15 - "Why Do We Chant Every Day?" - Of President Ikeda's book "Discussions on Youth": Sometimes our immediate prayers are realized, and sometimes they aren't. Buddhism accords with reason. Our faith is reflected in our daily life, in our actual circumstances. Our prayers cannot be answered if we fail to make efforts appropriate to our situation.

In Nichiren Buddhism, it is said that no prayer goes unanswered. But this is very different from having every wish instantly gratified, as if by magic. If you chant to win in the lottery tomorrow, or to score 100 percent on a test tomorrow without having studied, the odds are very small that it will happen.  Nonetheless, viewed from a deeper, longer-term perspective, all your prayers serve to propel you in the direction of happiness.

Furthermore, it takes a great deal of time and effort to overcome sufferings of a karmic nature, whose roots lie deep in causes made in the past. There is a big difference, for example, in the time it takes for a scratch to heal and that required to recover from a serious internal disease. Some illnesses can be treated with medication, while others require surgery. The same applies to changing our karma through faith and practice. In addition, each person's level of faith and individual karma differ. By chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, however, we can bring forth from within a powerful sense of hope and move our lives in a positive, beneficial direction.

It’s unrealistic to think that we can achieve everything overnight. If we were to have every prayer answered instantly, it would lead to our ruin. We'd grow lazy and complacent.

Suppose that rather than working, you spend all your money playing and are now destitute. Do you think someone giving you a large sum of money would contribute to your happiness in the long run?  It would be like making superficial repairs to a crumbling building, without addressing the root problem. Only by first rebuilding the foundation can we build something solid upon it. Faith enables us to transform not only our day-to-day problems, but our lives at their very foundation. Through our Buddhist practice, we can develop a strong inner core and a solid and inexhaustible reservoir of good fortune.

There are two kinds of benefit that derive from faith in the Gohonzon: conspicuous and inconspicuous.

Conspicuous benefit is the obvious, visible benefit of being protected or being quickly able to surmount a problem when it arises - be it an illness or a conflict in personal relationships. Inconspicuous benefit, on the other hand, is less tangible. It is good fortune accumulated slowly but steadily, like the growth of a tree or the rising of the tide, which results in the forging of a rich and expansive state of life. We might not discern any change from day to day, but as the years pass, it will be clear that we've become happy, that we've grown as individuals. This is inconspicuous benefit.

When you chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, you will definitely gain the best result, regardless of whether that benefit is conspicuous or inconspicuous. No matter what happens, the important thing is to continue chanting. If you do so, you'll definitely become happy. Even if things don’t work out the way you hoped or imagined, when you look back later, you'll understand on a much more profound level that it was the best possible result. This is tremendous inconspicuous benefit.

The true benefits of Nichiren Buddhism are of a lasting and inconspicuous nature that accrues in the depths of your life.  Conspicuous benefit, for instance, might allow you to eat your fill today, but leave you worrying about your next meal. As an example of inconspicuous benefit, on the other hand, you may have only a meager meal today, but you are steadily developing a life where you will never have to worry about having enough to eat. The latter is a far more attractive prospect, I think. The more we exert ourselves in faith, the greater the benefit we experience.

(Taken from "Discussions on Youth", p225 – 228)