Why Chanting and Sharing Buddhism Lead to Benefits

The following is second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda’s guidance in The Human Revolution, pp. 885–86, on planting seeds of the Mystic Law.

Faith is just another word for embracing the Gohonzon. It is equal to planting a tree that grows to become a Buddha. It means to sow the seed of Buddhahood in the garden of your mind. This seed is invisible to your eyes, but once it is sown, all of the heavenly deities will faithfully protect you day and night.

As days pass, the seed will sprout to form a small tree and, as it grows, the tree will spread branches, put forth leaves, come into bloom and finally bear fruit—the entire process happening in an incredibly short span of time. By then, the price of that land will soar, whether you like it or not. That is what the state of Buddhahood is like. However, you won’t have to reach this highest state to enjoy truly happy days; you will be doing exactly that by the time the tree shows its leaves.

You are still in the stage where the seed has sprouted; perhaps it has not even budded in some of you. If a worm devours the shoot, all of your past efforts will come to nothing. Should the weeds run rampant on the ground, the young tree will fall into decay.

You must weed the garden of your mind. You can do this by participating in propagation activities. When you chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo in the morning and evening, you are enriching the field. Some of you are uncertain that you have ever received benefits. That is because you leave the ground overrun with weeds. Since you already have the precious seed planted in the garden of your mind, you must continue to apply fertilizer and pull up the weeds. That is the only way you can become happy.