This section features Ikeda Sensei’s seminal guidance to the members of the United States. The following is an abridgement of his speech given at the First SGI All-America General Meeting, held at the World Peace Ikeda Auditorium, Santa Monica, California, February 24, 1990. The full speech can be found in My Dear Friends in America, fourth edition, pp. 69–75.
Nineteen fifty-two was truly an auspicious year, in which we celebrated the 700th anniversary of the establishment of Nichiren Buddhism. That summer in Japan, a lotus seed that had been discovered the previous year among 2,000-year-old ruins in Chiba—the prefecture where Nichiren Daishonin was born—awakened from its long slumber and gave bloom to a beautiful, pale crimson lotus flower. It was named the Oga Lotus after its discoverer, Ichiro Oga (1883–1965), and it created quite a stir among the Japanese back then.
Around the same time, right here in America, another ancient lotus seed, supposedly tens of thousands of years old, germinated and blossomed in a beautiful pale crimson. News of this was also reported in Japan, though it didn’t warrant more than a small article. It did not escape the notice of my mentor, second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda, however.
President Toda construed the blossoming of the two primeval lotus seeds in both the East and the West in the same year marking the 700th anniversary of Nichiren Buddhism as an auspicious omen for the rise of the correct teaching.
The lotus flower is invested with profound significance in Buddhism. It is thought to be the only plant that simultaneously produces both flower (cause) and seedpod (effect). This unique trait is used to indicate the Buddhist principle of simultaneity of cause and effect.
The Daishonin explains the significance of cause and effect: All sutras other than the Lotus Sutra expound that Buddhahood (effect) can be attained only after having made good causes—that is, after practicing their teachings (cause) over a length of time. With the Lotus Sutra, however, the very act of embracing it (cause) enables one simultaneously to become a Buddha (effect).
Such is the splendid power of the Mystic Law. It does not require that you undergo lifetime upon lifetime of practice to become a Buddha. Moreover, the Mystic Law releases us from the shackles of our past negative karma. Based upon our firm faith in the Gohonzon each day, we can enable the most precious state of Buddhahood to pulsate vibrantly in our lives every moment.
This is the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin. In general, it expounds that followers who possess strong faith and remain committed to kosen-rufu throughout their lives are already Buddhas. Therefore, leaders who deprecate and look down on such members, in essence, despise Buddhas. And those who disparage Buddhas are naturally creating bad causes. On the other hand, we cannot praise too much an individual who is dedicated to the Mystic Law.
The Pure Flower of Good Fortune Blooms in the Mire
The “Emerging from the Earth” chapter of the Lotus Sutra reads, “Unsoiled by worldly things like the lotus flower in the water” (The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Sutras, p. 263). That is, the lotus flower brings forth pure and beautiful blooms from muddy pond waters. Just like the lotus blossom, a person who embraces this great Law can never fail to establish a vigorous and beautiful life filled with the aspects of eternity, joy, true self and purity, even in the mire of this trouble-filled world.
The Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin expounds that we should not seek a heavenly paradise somewhere outside ourselves, nor should we seek an emotional escape from reality. The lotus flower of our own lives blooms in no other place than in actual society and in our daily existence.
Society is a place of confusion, full of contradictions and collisions of egos. It is precisely in these murky waters of earthly desires that the state of Buddhahood—in other words, the great flower of absolute happiness—fragrantly blooms forth.
Referring to the ancient lotus seeds that germinated and bloomed at the same time in both Japan and the United States, President Toda said: “The great desire of the people, who are suffering in the quagmire of reality, is to see the emergence of a great Buddhism. This is the time when a great Buddhism, so sublime and righteous, strictly adhering to the law of cause and effect, and completely reliable, must spread.
“The lotus flowers bloomed simultaneously in both the East and the West, emerging majestically out of the muddy earth and awakening from a slumber of thousands of years, nay, tens of thousands of years.
“Now, the sublime Buddhism expounded by the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law is about to burst into bloom from the troubled Japanese people as it awakes from the slumber of seven centuries—and even further back to time without beginning.
“The simultaneous blooming of the lotus flowers in both the East and the West must surely be a sign for the Buddhism of the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law to begin to blossom beautifully.”
I was 24 years old at the time. In discussions with my mentor, I had already begun to formulate a vision of American kosen-rufu deep in my mind. …
The Seed of Buddhahood for All Buddhas
Incidentally, the sequoia trees here in California are very famous. Some of them grow more than 400 feet, and their stumps can reputedly hold more than 40 people. Some of these trees also live more than 3,000 years. Even such giant redwoods sprout from a single tiny seed. One seed contains unlimited potential.
Nichiren Daishonin states in “Letter to Akimoto,” “All the Buddhas of the three existences and the ten directions have invariably attained Buddhahood through the seeds represented by the five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo” (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 1015). All Buddhas attained Buddhahood through the seed of the Mystic Law. The Daishonin clarifies that the same principle, not any other special means, equally enables all people to attain enlightenment.
Now, all of us have had this same seed of the Mystic Law planted in our lives. How wonderful! When we exert the powers of faith and practice to tap the powers of the Buddha and the Law inherent in the Gohonzon, we can definitely show proof of having attained Buddhahood in this lifetime. This is Nichiren’s promise and absolutely never fails to materialize.
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