Discussion of the “Distinctions in Benefits” Chapter (Chapter 17).
The Buddha preaches a rarely encountered Law, one never heard from times past.
The World-Honored One possesses great powers and his life span cannot be measured.
The countless sons of the Buddha, hearing the World-Honored One make distinctions and describe the benefits of the Law they will gain, find their whole bodies filled with joy. (LS17, 235)
Ikeda: We now come to three chapters that all contain the word benefit in their titles: “Distinctions in Benefits,” the seventeenth;
“Benefits of Responding with Joy,’ the eighteenth; and “Benefits of the Teacher of the Law,” the nineteenth. Each provides an explanation of the benefit of the Mystic Law. In particular, they describe the great benefit of spreading that Law, and the change and growth that one devoted to working for kosen-rufu experi-ences. In that sense, it is SGI members who are truly living the teachings of these chapters. Let us proceed with that conviction.
To start with, what is the meaning of benefit?
Suda: Basically, the term means gain. It also implies the Buddhist concept of the beneficial power to produce good fortune and merit. Beneficial power is action that creates happiness and good, while good fortune and merit are the effects produced by this power. Positive action, or making good causes, has intrinsic virtue that brings good fortune and merit. In some cases, the term benefit is used to refer to this innate virtue of positive action.
WE ACCUMULATE BENEFIT THROUGH ACTION
Ikeda: That’s a pretty complicated explanation! The bottom line is, positive action has inherent benefit. Benefit is definitely not something that comes to us from the outside; rather, it wells forth from within our lives, manifested through our own actions. It gushes out like water rising from a spring. That’s what benefit is.
Endo: In other words, it has nothing to do with relying on some external power to grant one’s wishes, like awaiting a windfall.
Ikeda: Nichiren Daishonin says that benefit arises through “puri-fying the six sense organs.” The purification of the senses— sight, sound, smell, taste and touch as well as the mind —is itself the purification of one’s life. In other words, benefit means doing our human revolution and transforming our destiny.
The section of the “Record of the Orally Transmitted Teach-ings” dealing with the “Benefits of the Teacher of the Law” chapter says, Benefit’ means the result and recompense of purifying the six sense organs…. Benefit is attaining Buddhahood in one’s present form and the purification of the six sense organs” (GZ, 762).
Attaining Buddhahood, that is to say, doing one’s human revo-lution, is the supreme benefit. All the so-called worldly benefits manifest as concrete proof of happiness to the extent that we have purified our lives; this is in accord with the principle of the oneness of life and environment.
Saito: So, elevating our state of life is the foundation of all benefit.
Ikeda: Yes. When we change, we can, as the Daishonin says, “gather fortune from ten thousand miles away” (WND, I137).
President Toda often said, “Supposing the benefit I have received is comparable in size to this auditorium, then what you call benefit is only about the size of the tip of your little finger?” Mr. Toda received enormous benefit as the result of his actions for the sake of the Law, enduring great persecution alongside his mentor, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, the founding president of the Soka Gakkai, and willingly accompanying him to prison in the struggle to promote kosen-rufu.
Nichiren Daishonin says, “The element ku [in the word kudoku, or benefit] means eliminating evil, while the element doku means producing good” (Gz, 762). Benefit in the Daishonin’s Buddhism means getting rid of evil in one’s life and bringing forth goodness.
To manifest benefit we need to carry out the practice of propagating the Daishonin’s teaching. Doing so means refuting the mistaken beliefs that cause people to suffer and enabling them instead to live based on the Mystic Law.
Saito: Propagation is the action we take to “eliminate evil and produce good.” By carrying out this practice for others, we also manifest the same effect in our own lives.
Ikeda: On the other hand, the Daishonin says, “Both teacher and followers will surely fall into the hell of incessant suffering if they see enemies of the Lotus Sutra but disregard them and fail to reproach them” (WND, 747). Sharing Buddhism with others is all-important.
The next three chapters that we will study mark the start of the transmission section’ of the Lotus Sutra. Transmission, as the word implies, means propagation. In other words, the chapters after
“Life Span explain the benefit of propagating the teaching. We can only become happy inasmuch as we strive to help others become happy through faith in the Mystic Law. This is the concept of benefit in Buddhism.
Endo: In terms of the mentor-disciple relationship, transmission is the work of the disciples. Therefore, from this chapter forward the focus will be on the efforts of the Buddha’s disciples.
A LIVING PHILOSOPHY
MUST ADDRESS THE REALITY OF LIFE
Suda: Some mistakenly interpret the teaching of benefit as indicating a preoccupation with material gain and on that account look upon Buddhism as an inferior religion. But the Buddhist doctrine of benefit has to do primarily with purifying and revolutionizing one’s life.
Ikeda: Perhaps it would be more accurate to look at benefit in terms of value, or value creation. There are three kinds of value: beauty, gain and good. The opposites of these could be termed antivalues. Don’t all people aim to create value in their lives?
Suda: Working, eating, reading books, trying to cure disease—all are attempts to acquire or create some kind of value.
Ikeda: Everyone seeks happiness, just as plants and trees instinctively grow toward the sun. We always strive for a better life. This is only natural. To ignore or lose such drive is like being dead.
Saito: Consciously or not, all people seek happiness, value and benefit. It seems to me that this is indisputable. It is from the standpoint of this truth that all theory and explanation must begin.
Any philosophy not based on this premise is dead theory with no bearing on reality.
Endo: Never in the history of Buddhism has the idea of gain been rejected. All along, Buddhism has urged that people accumulate benefit.
The Buddhist term benefit is written in Japanese with two Chinese characters. The first can be interpreted as meaning happiness and the second as meaning gain.*
Suda: Of course, benefit in Buddhism does not refer only to the kind of gain visible to the eye. If Buddhism were to reject such gain altogether, however, it would be merely abstract doctrine divorced from actual life, an enervated religion lacking the power to help people realize concrete improvement in their lives.
EVEN ILLUSION BECOMES BENEFIT
Ikeda: Many people certainly hold the biased view that religion pertains merely to the subjective realm of life. But Buddhism is the law of life; it is a teaching for daily life.
Viewed subjectively, life is a matter of self—of how we experience our own existence. Viewed objectively, from the outside, it is a matter of how we live-our daily activities. It’s neither entirely one nor the other. Partiality to the subjective view leads to an emphasis on the spiritual, while partiality to the objective view leads to an emphasis on the material.
Buddhism rejects bias toward either of these extremes, enabling us to purify and strengthen our inner being while improving our daily lives. Put another way, through realizing improvement in daily life, we elevate our being.
For example, Buddhism speaks of attaining a state in which all our wishes are fulfilled. Wishes relate to the objective world. Being fulfilled means a sense of satisfaction experienced in the subjective realm. When these two are fused harmoniously, we attain the state of “fulfillment of all wishes”; this is a condition of happi-ness. That is how President Toda framed the issue.
Suda: This suggests that even a person with few wishes can readily find fulfillment.
Ikeda: I think it was Socrates who said that having few desires is the path to happiness.
Saito: It seems to me that practitioners of Hinayana Buddhism seek to attain happiness through the elimination of desire. In con-trast, Mahayana Buddhism, and the Lotus Sutra in particular, teaches the principle that “earthly desires are enlightenment.” It imparts the wisdom that enables us to channel the life-energy of earthly desires in the direction of good rather than something destructive.
Ikeda: The Lotus Sutra teaches that we can make our entire being blaze with the strong desire to attain a great objective. It teaches not that we should suppress anger, for instance, but that anger has a role to play in fueling our efforts to battle iniquity.
The “Orally Transmitted Teachings” reads, “In the ‘Distinctions in Benefits’ chapter… [the bodhisattvas] then recognize that the earthly desires of the three poisons innate to living beings in each of the Ten Worlds are the benefit of the Mystic Law” (GZ, 799).
To urge people to discard the three poisons— greed, anger and foolishness —from their lives would only breed hypocrisy. More-over, people who suppress their true feelings, who are content with being docile, powerless and merely swept along by outside influences, are perfect candidates to be exploited and used by the negative forces rampant in the Latter Day of the Law.
The Daishonin, however, urges that we challenge evil with great indignation and passion. When we base ourselves on the Mystic Law, everything becomes a source of value creation. This is the philosophy of the Lotus Sutra.
Benefit, or gain, and loss are not exclusive to the realm of reli-gion. All people’s lives are, in a way, a succession of gains and losses, value and antivalue. In business, selling is gain or value. But if the goods are sold at too low a price, the business takes a loss. When a painter realizes his or her subjective desire to paint a wonderful masterpiece (i.e., create the value of beauty), a fusion of subject and object occurs, filling the person with a sense of happiness.
And when the painting is purchased, gain is realized.
When we create value, we feel happy. The purpose of the Lotus Sutra is to enable us to develop in our inner, or subjective, world the great life force to create value no matter what circumstances we may encounter in our outer, or objective, world. This is the process called human revolution.
Suda: That is true benefit.
Ikeda: Taking faith in the Daishonin’s Buddhism does not mean that all difficulties will disappear. Being alive means that we will have problems of one kind or another. But no matter what hap-pens, it’s important that we remain firm in our hearts. The Mystic Law is the teaching of”earthly desires are enlightenment” and
“the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana.”
As long as we have the spirit of faith to dedicate our lives to advancing kosen-rufu, everything that happens to us will become our benefit without fail. Though we may not realize it while it’s happening, gradually our lives enter a path where all wishes are fulfilled and we can honestly say, “Everything that I’ve gone through has really been for the best.” This said, let’s begin our study of these three chapters, starting with “Distinctions in Benefits.”
THE “BENEFIT OF THE ‘LIFE SPAN’ VERSE SECTION”
Endo: This chapter describes how those who had heard the preaching of the preceding “Life Span” chapter received benefit of different kinds according to their states of life. This benefit is distinguished into twelve different levels. That is why the chapter is called “Distinctions in Benefits.”
Saito: The Daishonin calls this benefit collectively the “benefit of the verse section of the ‘Life Span’ chapter.” In “Letter to Horen” he says:
But it is not for me to describe the blessings deriving from the verse section of the “Life Span” chapter.
Rather I refer to the subsequent “Distinctions in Ben-efits” chapter, which elaborates on them. It says that those people who became Buddhas after hearing the above verse section are equal in number to the particles of dust in a minor world system or a major world sys-tem. (WND, SIO)
Ikeda: We could discuss this from many angles. But from the standpoint of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism, listening to the preaching of the verse section and thus becoming a Buddha is the benefit of worshiping the “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo Thus Come One.” This is the great benefit of revering the Gohonzon. It is the great benefit of believing and understanding that since the remote past our lives have been one and inseparable with the life of the “Buddha of time without beginning.”
Suda: The “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter begins as follows:
“At that time, when the great assembly heard the Buddha describe how his life span lasted such a very long number of kalpas, immeasurable, boundless asamkhyas of living beings gained a great many rich benefits” (LSI7, 233).
Endo: It explains the content of these “great many rich benefits” as follows:
Some abide in the stage of no regression, some have acquired dharanis,
some can speak pleasingly and without hindrance or retain ten thousand, a million repetitions of the teachings.
Some bodhisattvas numerous as the dust particles of a thousand major worlds are all able to turn the unregressing wheel of the Law.
Some bodhisattvas numerous as the dust particles of a thousand intermediate worlds are all able to turn the pure wheel of the Law….
Thus when living beings
hear of the great length of the Buddha’s life, they gain pure fruits and rewards
that are immeasurable and free of outflows. (IS17, 235-36)
Ikeda: In this passage, Bodhisattva Maitreya is summarizing and restating the benefit that Shakyamuni has described.
Endo: Regarding the first of these benefits, that of abiding in the stage of no regression, “no regression” means not backsliding. In other words, it is to attain the state in which one can advance eternally, always realizing growth and improvement.
Ikeda: That’s right. It has often been said that to not advance or struggle is to retreat. A person who attains the stage of no regression is already a winner.
Saito: To “acquire dharanis” means gaining the ability “to retain all that they hear” (LSI7, 233-34).
Ikeda: The Daishonin says, “When great obstacles arise, just as they were told would happen, few remember it and bear it firmly in mind” (WND, 47ł). And “Foolish men are likely to forget the promises they have made when the crucial moment comes” (WND, 282). Essentially, taking faith in this sutra means attaining a state of life where we do not forget our promises. It means correctly remembering and putting into practice the teachings of the mentor.
THE MORE WE SPEAK, THE MORE POWERFUL OUR “VOICE”
Suda: To “speak pleasingly and without hindrance” is also expressed elsewhere as gaining “the eloquence that allows them to speak pleasingly and without hindrance” (ISI7, 234). This is referring to the ability to freely explain the Law without impediment and in a manner that brings joy to listeners.
Ikeda: The Daishonin says, “The voice does the Buddha’s work” (GZ, 708). We have to use our voices. This means we must speak eloquently and intelligently. There may also be times when having the gift of gab is useful!
Of course, eloquence does not mean simply being long-winded. Sometimes just a few well-chosen words can deftly refute a misconception. Also, using the voice to do the Buddha’s work means correctly responding to whatever others want to know in the depths of their hearts. If you do not know the answer, you can invite the person to join you in going to talk with someone who does. Sometimes that’s the best course to take.
What is important is to know how to move people’s hearts and to empathize with them. In short, this is what it means to freely employ one’s voice for kosen-rufu.
THE SPIRIT NEVER RESTS
Suda: Next, the sutra says the bodhisattvas can “retain ten thou-sand, a million repetitions of the teachings.” In the prose section it says they gain “dharanis that allow them to retain hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, millions, immeasurable repetitions of the teachings” (LS17, 234). The Chinese character used in this expression meaning “repetition” is often used to describe the function of a centrifuge, separating matter according to weight through centrifugal force. This seems to indicate the spiritual power to separate out and sublimate earthly desires by “rotating” them at a tremendous speed, thereby revealing the greatness of the Buddha. The Sanskrit term dharani denotes the spiritual power to promote good and thwart evil.
Ikeda: As this passage implies by its description of things rotating at high velocity, to live a truly peaceful existence requires diligently and vigorously challenging the negative forces that aim to cause suffering. The benefits enumerated next also contain the idea of rotation.
Suda: Yes, the fifth kind of benefit is the ability to “turn the unre-gressing wheel of the Law.” And the sixth is the ability to “turn the pure wheel of the Law.” The “wheel of the Law” comes from the fact that the Buddha, in expounding the Law, is metaphorically said to turn the wheel of teaching. I think these passages express an unceasing and dynamic faith—a faith dedicated to conveying the Buddha’s pure teaching to others and spreading it far and wide.
Endo: The passage continues by saying that many bodhisattvas
“are assured that after eight more rebirths they will be able to complete the Buddha way”(LS17, 235). It further states that after four, three, two or one more rebirths, many bodhisattvas will attain the perfect and unsurpassed enlightenment. The passage con-cludes, “All [living beings] are endowed with good roots to help them set their minds on the unsurpassed way” (LS17, 237).
Saito: The Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai of China categorizes these benefits according to the fifty-two stages of bodhisattva practice.
The sutra describes various benefits that bodhisattvas receive. At first, it may seem to suggest that people can only receive benefit according to their specific level of attainment. To the contrary, I think it actually reveals the great power of the “Life Span” chapter to benefit any and all people.
Ikeda: All benefit that can be attained through bodhisattva practice comes from faith in the “Life Span” chapter. That’s because those bodhisattvas who reach the stage of enlightenment almost equivalent to the Buddha’s when they hear the “Life Span” chapter simultaneously awaken to the Mystic Law of time without beginning. At that moment, they make the transition from the stage of common mortals who have simply embraced the Lotus Sutra to that of the Buddha.
It is as though they are steadily climbing a mountain with their sights set on reaching the state of enlightenment, the life-state of the Buddha. But when they arrive at the top, at the summit of the
“Life Span” chapter, what scene unfolds before them? They perceive that the true Buddha enlightened from time without beginning is constantly and tirelessly carrying out activities in the world to lead all beings to enlightenment. They understand that they once received his instruction. And they realize that they were originally united in a relationship of mentor and disciple with the Buddha who is one with the universe.
In other words, they recollect the truth of their own lives, remembering where they came from and where they are going, and they envision their true identity. They recall their mission to work together ceaselessly with the eternal and fundamental Buddha to lead others to enlightenment.
Essentially, those bodhisattvas awaken to the truth that Buddha-hood, or enlightenment, is certainly not a static goal. Embracing the Lotus Sutra itself is the way to enlightenment for ordinary people. To live with the original cause of Buddhahood as the center of one’s life and never stop progressing is to embody the life of the Buddha.
This is the conclusion of this sutra.
Saito: This is not clearly stated on the surface of the “Life Span” chapter. But the teaching that the Buddha attained enlightenment in the extremely remote past provides us with a clue that enables us to understand this.
Suda: Shakyamuni explains that he attained enlightenment in the remote past. Those in the assembly who hear this and consequently reach the stage of enlightenment almost equal to the Buddha understand that the Mystic Law from time without be-ginning, the teaching by which Shakyamuni became enlightened, is itself the true cause for attaining Buddhahood.
Endo: I think therefore that the fundamental teaching of the sutra is that the common mortals who embrace it instantly arrive at a state of enlightenment equal to that of Shakyamuni.
CELESTIAL BODIES EXHIBIT A WIDE RANGE OF ASPECTS UPON DEATH
Ikeda: Those people return to the very core of their own lives.
They understand that they are one with the single great living entity that is the entire universe.
This might seem like a digression, but I recently saw several photos of dying stars released by NASA. These were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Interestingly, the stars exhibited a variety of shapes: sphere-shaped, balloon-shaped, sprinkler-shaped, butterfly-shaped, rocket engine exhaust-shaped and pinwheel-shaped.
Endo: Stars also go through the cycle of birth and death.
Ikeda: It seems that stars exhibit different kinds of death depending on their mass. Many stars of approximately the same mass as our sun burn out completely in the final stage and, while slowly emitting gas, eventually become dim stars known as white dwarfs.
Saito: Among people, too, there are those who completely burn out and quietly fade away.
Ikeda: On the other hand, a star with several times the mass of the sun will produce a brilliant explosion called a supernova upon its death.
In his Meigetsuki (Bright Moon Diary), Japanese literary figure
Fujiwara no Teika discusses the great supernova that created what today we call the Crab Nebula. On the Western calendar, that was in the year IoS4, during the latter half of Japan’s Heian period.
Endo: That’s just two years after I052, the year traditionally marking the start of the Latter Day of the Law.
Suda: The luminosity of a supernova suddenly increases by millions of times the normal brightness of the original star. Some are so brilliant that they can be seen with the naked eye even in day-light. They grow dim in time.
Ikeda: The supernova that appeared in I054 was recorded by astronomers in China and Arabia. Line drawings were found in caves in North America that seem to record the same event.
Endo: The Crab Nebula is about 7,200 light-years away. For the death of a star so remote to have caused such a stir on Earth means it must have been an exhibition of enormous energy—a truly remarkable event.
Suda: No doubt there are people who aspire to go out in such a blaze of glory!
Saito: From the photos recently released, I was intrigued to see that stars in the same class as our sun seem to undergo many kinds of death.
Ikeda: Everything in the universe is alive. Everything is an entity of life and death, an entity of the Mystic Law.
Even if we look only at the material aspect, matter that is scattered throughout the universe as a result of the death of a star will be used in the birth of new stars and in the bodies of biological organisms. The atoms making up our bodies, too, were once shining as part of a star somewhere.
Human beings are children of the stars, of the universe. Our lives are one with the great life of the universe. The benefit of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is literally the benefit of the entire uni-verse. It is inexhaustible. Limitless.
The “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter says, “He will gain immeasurable merits, boundless as the open air” (IS17, 243), and
“Their virtue will be uppermost, immeasurable and boundless, as the open sky, east, west, north and south, in the four intermediate directions and up and down, is immeasurable and boundless. The blessings of such persons will be as immeasurable and boundless as this” (LSI7, 24T).
ATTAINING A STATE OF LIFE IN WHICH ALL WISHES ARE FULFILLED
Ikeda: The benefit of the Gohonzon is infinite and boundless.
Therefore, it is impossible to explain thoroughly.
In his commentary on Nichiren Daishonin’s “The True Object of Worship,” Nichikan, the twenty-sixth high priest, says: “[If you have faith in this Gohonzon and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo even for a short while, no prayer will go unanswered, no offense unexpiated, no good fortune unbestowed, and all righteousness proven.” Such absolute conviction contains all the benefits of the four stages of faith and five stages of practice described in the
“Distinctions in Benefits” chapter.
As long as we have faith, there is no difficulty we cannot over-come. The great life force of the lion king wells up in our lives, the Daishonin’s boundless spirit comes pouring out. The “Dis-tinctions in Benefits” chapter describes the practitioners of the sutra as “roaring like a lion” (LS17, 239) in the same manner as the Buddha:
Saito: Those who hear of and believe in the unfathomable life span of the Buddha state the following pledge upon accepting the Lotus Sutra:
Our wish is that in future ages
we may use our long lives to save living beings.
Just as today the World-Honored One, king of the Shakyas,
roars like a lion in the place of practice, preaching the Law without fear, so may we too in ages to come, honored and revered by all, when we sit in the place of practice
describe our life span in the same manner. (LS17, 239)
Ikeda: “Long lives” here means living with the unsurpassed life of the Mystic Law. The Chinese term for lion comprises two ele-ments: the first means “teacher” or “mentor,” and the second, ” dis-ciple.” “Roars like a lion” refers to the oneness of mentor and disciple where mentor and disciple roar together. This is the true meaning of propagation.
Early in my practice, I made the determination: “President Toda is the mentor of propagation in the Latter Day, and I am his dis-ciple. Therefore, it is impossible for me not to propagate Nichiren Daishonin’s teaching.” With that resolve, I accomplished propagation of the Daishonin’s teaching second to none.
The chapter says that the disciples are “without fear.” We should never be afraid. We need not be fearful or complain or lament our situation. Rather, we must have bright, vital faith. Then the limitless beneficial power of the Mystic Law will flow through our lives.
All along, I have continued to spread the Daishonin’s teaching and protect the Soka Gakkai while enduring all manner of persecution and overcoming all kinds of obstacles. As a result, I have received truly immense benefit from my practice to the Gohonzon.
Although we are all chanting to the same Gohonzon, if our faith is weak, we will not savor the truly great joy of faith pouring out of our lives. The benefit we receive differs depending on our faith. Each person’s benefit is unique and different. This is the meaning of”distinctions in benefits.”
Again, while the manner in which benefit manifests differs for each person depending on his or her faith, life-condition and karma, as long as we persevere in faith, in the end we are sure to attain the state in which all wishes are fulfilled. This is the profound meaning of” distinctions in benefits.”
For example, while we should of course exercise care to avoid accidents, the Daishonin teaches that even if we should die in an unfortunate accident, as long as we have embraced strong faith, then “in the space of a moment” (Gz, 574) we will return to the ranks of those working for kosen-rufu.
A passage from the Nirvana Sutra cited in his writings says:
“Even if you are killed by a mad elephant, you will not fall into the three evil paths. But if you are killed by an evil friend, you are certain to fall into them” (WND, 620). In modern terms, to be
“killed by a mad elephant” would be comparable to dying in a traffic accident.
Those who die in the course of carrying out activities for kosen-rufu cannot fail to receive great effects from their faith.
The Daishonin makes this clear in such writings as “Lessening One’s Karmic Retribution.” This sort of death literally exemplifies the principle of giving one’s life for the sake of the Law. This is the noblest way to die.
A SENSE OF CALM AND SECURITY AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH
Saito: A little earlier it was mentioned that dying stars exhibit a variety of aspects. The same is true of people’s deaths.
Akiko Kojima, the secretary of the Soka Gakkai nurses group, expressed to me her belief that the view of life and death that we hold while alive is a very important factor in determining our final moments. But if it is only a matter of theory and knowl-edge, she says, it will count for absolutely nothing when that moment comes. Ms. Kojima further said that under the assault of the three poisons that spew forth at the time of death, unless you feel true calm and security in the depths of your heart, you cannot weather the ordeal.
Naturally, status and wealth are irrelevant; nor do leadership positions in the organization count for anything at the time of death. Ms. Kojima says that, even if leaders go to extreme lengths to conceal their pain out of a sense of responsibility, they cannot hide their suffering at the moment of death.
Endo: There was a member who until the moment he died never ceased encouraging those who came to visit him. As the end approached, his wife, who had looked after him throughout his ill-ness, began crying. Noticing this, he turned to her and said,
“There’s no need to cry,” adding, “I think that this is the end Please convey my thanks to all of the nurses for their hard work.”
He died encouraging his wife to the very end.
Suda: I also heard the story of a member whom the nurses would later compare to a marshmallow. The reason was that each nurse who attended her felt as though gently embraced in a soft marsh-mallow. The woman possessed abundant warmth and concern for others. To the very last, she continued to bring joy to those around her with her magnanimous spirit.
Ikeda: That is the life of a bodhisattva. No, of a Buddha. Not only do such people strive to revolutionize their own state of life, but to the very end they make constant efforts to elevate those around them.
Saito: The “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter describes the benefit that accrues to those who understand the importance of the long duration of the Buddha’s life span, that is to say, the benefit of awakening to the eternity of life. This probably manifests in their appearance at the time of death.
Ikeda: Yes. This is not mere theorizing divorced from reality. We must live earnestly, always moving forward energetically, proud to experience complete fulfillment in both life and death. Buddhism was expounded to enable us to manifest such magnificent life force.
The “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter in one place speaks of people who are “diligent and courageous, mastering all the good doctrines, keen in faculties and wisdom, good at answering difficult questions” (LS17, 242). Diligent and courageous—doesn’t this describe SGI members?
A LIFE OF STRUGGLE TO THE FINISH
Suda: Ms. Kojima also told me that one patient impressed her more than any other. That patient, a member, died of cancer. But no matter how dire his situation became in the course of his ill-ness, he maintained a fighting spirit to the very last.
Even when he was receiving treatment, and even when he was experiencing the most pain, his will to fight never abated. He would tell his doctors and nurses exactly how he felt and discuss methods of treatment with them, all the while challenging his situation with every ounce of his energy.
Ms. Kojima says that his eyes left the strongest impression on her. She describes them as the eyes of a master swordsman. At one point in his treatment he recovered somewhat and was discharged from the hospital, only to be hospitalized again when the cancer recurred. But even then, she reports, his swordsman’s eyes glowed with the same unshakable determination. She also relates feeling that, even though his body was being devoured by cancer, his life itself continued to burn as strongly as ever.
Ikeda: To live vigorously through every ordeal is proof that someone understands the eternity of life. Eternal life cannot be verified with our eyes, but it is something that we can believe in.
Saito: The Lotus Sutra repeatedly emphasizes the importance of belief.
Ikeda: Belief means basing one’s entire life on the Law. It is the state where our actions themselves manifest faith. This occurs when we carry out propagation and encourage our friends. By struggling to communicate an understanding of the Mystic Law to someone, we polish our own lives. And a life that has been thoroughly polished can soar freely throughout past, present and future.
Without our even realizing it, we attain a state of eternal free-dom. Like a rocket that can traverse the universe, our lives store up an inexhaustible supply of energy. We develop the great life force of a lion king. That is the benefit of the “Life Span of the Thus Come One” chapter.
Saito: I am reminded of the benefit described in “Distinctions in Benefits” of gaining the “truth of birthlessness” (IS17, 233). Similar to the benefit of “abiding in the stage of no regression” that we talked about earlier, this indicates a state of confidence that there is neither birth nor death, that, in other words, life is eternal. It basically affirms that all phenomena are free from birth and death.
Ikeda: Our lives are one with the eternal Buddha. The Buddha is none other than our own lives. When we have this great confi-dence, we will never become deadlocked. We can advance limit-lessly, overcoming all suffering, all sadness, all inertia. We attain a calm state of no regression.
Endo: That is a life imbued with the optimism of Buddhism.
Ikeda: Buddhist optimism is not the escapist optimism of those who throw up their hands and say, “Somehow or other things will work out.” Rather it means clearly recognizing evil as evil and suffering as suffering and resolutely fighting to overcome it. It means believing in one’s ability and strength to struggle against any evil or any obstacle. It is to possess a fighting optimism.
Speaking of optimism, I remember the smiling face of Dr. Norman Cousins, who was known as the “conscience of America.” Although he did not practice Buddhism, in his belief in the power of the human being he was no different from a Buddhist. Dr.
Cousins once wrote:
No one need fear death. We need fear only that we may die without having known our greatest power-the power of his free will to give his life for others. If something comes to life in others because of us, then we have made an approach to immortality.?
When we devote ourselves to the happiness of others, when, of our own free will, we undertake the struggle of a bodhisattva, the immense force of life without beginning or end wells up in our being. The eternal life of the Buddha permeates our being like a rising tide. Then, there is no way that we cannot dramatically change our lives for the better.
In that sense, chanting daimoku, spreading the Daishonin’s teaching and working for kosen-rufu in themselves are the greatest benefits. The Daishonin states, “There is no true happiness for human beings other than chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” (WND, 681). This plainly indicates that a life dedicated to kosen-rufu is most noble and lofty. The “Distinctions in Benefits” chapter imparts the wisdom to recognize this.