ABSOLUTE HAPPINESS

ABSOLUTE HAPPINESS 

My mentor, second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda, said:

  

"For what reason have we been born? As the Lotus Sutra passage 'living beings enjoy themselves at ease' states, we have been born in order to enjoy ourselves. How dull it would be then, if we did not do so! When we believe in the Gohonzon with all of our heart, we will savor a state of being in which life itself, and everything we do, is a source of joy."

  

President Toda used the term "absolute happiness" to describe the state of mind in which we can feel that life itself is a joy. If you persevere in faith, you will definitely come to experience this.

  

Our Buddhist practice boosts the power of our "engine," strengthens our life force so that we can always declare, "I'm ready for anything!" When our engine is weak, even a small slope will leave us gasping and struggling painfully as we attempt to surmount it.

  

When you get right down to it, does material wealth assure happiness? Does fame? Does living in a big house? The answer is an emphatic "no." All the time we see people embroiled in bitter battles over money; people plunged into misery when onetime fame and popularity disappears; people ruining their own lives when they let fame and power go to their heads; and people living in large luxurious homes where family members cannot stand one another and a cold and hostile atmosphere pervades.

  

Such things as money, fame and material possessions offer a fleeting, transitory kind of satisfaction, something which can be called "relative happiness." However, when we transform our lives internally, when we develop within ourselves a brilliant inner palace, then we can be said to have established "absolute happiness." If we develop a state of mind as vast and resplendent as a magnificent palace, then nothing--no matter where we go or what we may encounter in life--can undermine or destroy our happiness.

   

The wonderful thing about Nichiren Buddhism is that through chanting daimoku, the four sufferings of birth, aging, sickness and death can be transformed into four castle walls or ramparts that fortify the palace of your life. Though it might be difficult to appreciate at first, the "mud" of our suffering provides the building material from which we can erect a solid bulwark for our palace of happiness within. The deeper the mire of suffering, the more indomitable a palace we can establish.

  

If you establish a solid foundation now, there is no limit to the size of the structure you can build upon it later. Many things contribute to building that foundation. Diligent application to one's studies helps build that foundation, as does exercising to develop physical fitness and stamina.

   

But our inner state of life lies at the core of our mental and physical well-being. Buddhist practice is the only means by which we can strengthen, purify and develop our inner life. We have to exercise our minds through study. We have to exercise our bodies through physical activity and sports. We also have to exercise our internal life condition through daimoku. When our inner condition of life changes, our minds and bodies also change. They will be refreshed and revitalized.

   

Daimoku charges our batteries. If we take care to regularly charge our batteries, then we'll always be full of energy and vitality. If we fail to keep our batteries charged, we won't have energy when we need it most and as a result may be defeated by our environment.

Those who saturate their lives with daimoku and learn to keep their batteries charged while they're young are building a foundation for lifelong happiness.

   

Since our Buddhist practice takes place in the midst of our daily lives, it is all too easy for us to grow lazy and neglect it. So in that respect, there is perhaps no more difficult practice when it comes to continuing. Nonetheless, if we challenge ourselves to keep up a little bit each day, before we realize it we will have built a path to happiness in the depths of our own lives.

   

Source: SGI President Daisaku Ikeda, Excerpted from Discussions on Youth (SGI-USA, 1998)