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 a Youth Division Training Session, held at the Malibu Training Center, Malibu, California, February 20, 1990. The full speech can be found in My Dear Friends in America, fourth edition, pp. 45–52.
Gohonzon means fundamental object of devotion. It is the object we devote ourselves to and have faith in as the basis of life. It is only natural, then, that our lives are fundamentally determined by the object we take as our object of devotion.
Traditionally, the objects of devotion in Buddhism were most frequently images of the Buddha. In some cases, paintings of the Buddha were used. …
Nichiren Daishonin’s basic object of devotion, however, consists of writing, of words. Rather than a graphic image, the Daishonin made the written expression of the world of the intellect—the great and lofty wisdom of the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law—the object of highest reverence. In this one respect alone, the Daishonin’s object of devotion is fundamentally different from those traditionally worshipped in Buddhism.
Words are mysterious. They have tremendous power. Take people’s names, for example. When people sign their names, it embodies everything about them—their character, social position, power, emotion and physical condition, personal history and karma. …
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is just like that: it encompasses all phenomena in the universe. The true aspect of all phenomena in the ever-changing universe is perfectly expressed just as it is in the Gohonzon. The true aspect of the macrocosm of the universe is precisely the same for each of us, who are each a microcosm of the universe. Nichiren tells us this in his writings. That is why the Daishonin’s Gohonzon embodies the basic Law of the universe; it is the true fundamental object of devotion. …
Both Good and Evil Are Illuminated by the Light of the Law
The universe includes both the powers of good and evil. On the Gohonzon, all of the Ten Worlds are represented, from Shakyamuni and Many Treasures, who represent the Buddha realm, to Devadatta, who represents the state of hell.
Both the representatives of good and evil powers and capacities are illuminated equally by the light of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Both then display the “dignified attributes that they inherently possess” (“The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 832). The dignified attributes of fundamental existence are manifested as the fundamental object of devotion.
When we do gongyo and chant daimoku before the Gohonzon, the good and evil capacities of our lives begin to function as the exalted form of fundamental existence. Lives that are full of the pain of hell, lives that are in the state of hunger, lives warped by the state of anger—such lives, too, begin to move in the direction of creating their own personal happiness and value. Lives being pulled toward misfortune and unhappiness are redirected and pulled in the opposite direction, toward good, when they make the Mystic Law their base. It is as if sufferings are made the fuel for a fire of joy, wisdom and compassion. It is the Mystic Law and faith that ignite that flame.
The Greatest Merits of Faith Are in Inconspicuous Benefits
The merits of the Gohonzon can be divided into conspicuous and inconspicuous benefits. Conspicuous benefits reveal themselves when you have some problem with your health or with work or in some other aspect of your daily life, and you are protected and a solution suddenly presents itself.
At the same time, you accumulate blessings and gradually establish a rich and expansive state of life, just as the waters of the sea gradually rise with the swelling tide. Once you have established that state, you will never be defeated, no matter which of life’s troubles might confront you. Plus you will be able to enjoy yourself in a state of happiness not only in this existence but for all eternity.
This is the meaning of inconspicuous benefits. They are like a spring: once you wind it up, it is always ready to be set in motion. But if the spring isn’t wound, it will not work when needed. To continue this metaphor, it is faith that winds the spring, and the state of the spring when it is fully wound and has the potential to act whenever necessary is a life filled with inconspicuous benefits.
The power of the Mystic Law allows us to naturally achieve a life in which all our wishes are fulfilled and we enjoy eternal happiness. But those benefits depend upon faith. The Daishonin writes in “The Essentials for Attaining Buddhahood,” “No matter how sincerely one believes in the Lotus Sutra, if one is guilty of failing to rebuke slander of the Law, one will surely fall into hell, just as a single crab leg will ruin a thousand pots of lacquer” (WND- 1, 747).
The fourteen slanders are taught as the causes of evil. Among those slanders are contempt, hatred, jealousy and grudges. These mean being contemptuous of, hating, being jealous of, or holding grudges against those with faith.
There are cases when we wonder why benefit doesn’t reveal itself in spite of our earnest and high degree of faith. At such times, rather than entertaining doubt about the Gohonzon, it is better to ask yourself whether you are guilty of these four types of slander, because a person who harbors contempt, hatred, jealousy, or grudges will realize no benefits.
Of course, you are perfectly free to say what must be said even to your fellow members in faith, and it is necessary to do so. But there is a difference between words spoken with real concern for your listener and those spoken with feelings of hatred or jealousy. It is extremely important to understand and observe this distinction.
All of us who gather here together before the Gohonzon in the cause of world peace are the Buddha’s children, the family of the Mystic Law. That is why we must respect and encourage one another throughout our lives. Let me end today’s speech by urging you to be absolutely convinced that the merits of the Gohonzon and the protection of the Buddhist deities are bound to increase for a person who does so.
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