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Suggested Study Material for June 2008

SGI-USA Men’s Division Monthly Meetings
Suggested study material for June 2008

This month as we review President Ikeda’s 13-part lecture series on “The Heritage of the Ultimate Law” we wish to format our study material slightly differently.  The material from the May/June Living Buddhism (LB 12/3 pgs 62 -73) contains some key points from President Ikeda’s lectures and we would encourage you to read over this material.  Below is an excerpt from the final installment of the lecture in which President Ikeda reconfirms the main points of the heritage of faith.   Ultimately, it is our hope that each Men’s Division member who has encountered this study material will reflect on what he has learned from this series and on what he is determined to take away from it.  As always, we want to encourage all Men’s Division members to subscribe to Living Buddhism and read the complete material there, as well as to attend and participate actively in the 4-divisional study meetings in your local organization.

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Lecture on "The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life and Death."
by SGI President Ikeda

EXCERPTS  FROM THE CONCLUSION OF THE LECTURE
The Heritage of Faith in All Its Aspects
(LB 12/3. p.46-48)

Only faith can break through the darkness of ignorance shrouding our lives and enable us to tap the infinite power of the Mystic Law we inherently possess.  To share in the heritage of the Law means to bring forth within us this boundless power of the law.

That is why in this writing Nichiren has gone to great lengths to offer a full, multidimensional explanation of the heritage of faith, which we have discussed in detail over the course of this series.  In this final installment, let us reconfirm the main points.

First, correct faith is grounded in the realization that “Shakyamuni Buddha who attained enlightenment countless kalpas ago, the Lotus Sutra that leads all people to Buddhahood, and we ordinary human beings are in no way different or separate from one another” (WND-1, 216).  This is a crucial point concerning the substance of faith in the Mystic Law.  In this writing, Nichiren states that chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo with this belief is a “matter of the utmost importance” for his disciples (WND-1, 216).  The core message of this statement is to believe that our present self is an entity of Myoho-renge-kyo and that we can attain Buddhahood in our present form in this lifetime.

Second is the aspect of striving fully in faith so that we have no regrets, based on the spirit that “now is the last moment of one’s life” (WND-1, 216), and achieving “a correct and steadfast mind at the moment of death” (see WND-1, 218).  Wholeheartedly practicing faith day after day and month after month, and continuing to do so throughout our lives, assures us of attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime.  Here, Nichiren explains the heritage of faith in terms of one’s own depth of faith and the continuing of one’s Buddhist practice.

Moreover, when we attain Buddhahood in this existence, the life-and-death cycle we continually undergo throughout past, present and future becomes “life and death as functions of Myoho-renge-kyo” and follows the rhythm of birth and death in the realm of Buddhahood.  This present lifetime in which we have been born as human beings is an irreplaceable existence; it will determine the direction of our lives throughout the eternal cycle of birth and death.

Third is the importance of unity in faith, a commitment to the widespread propagation of the Law in the spirit of “many in body but one in mind” (WND-1, 217).  The heritage of Myoho-renge-kyo is not just there for us alone.  All people are entities of Myoho-renge-kyo and as such can partake in the heritage for attaining Buddhahood.  Actions to help others gain access to this heritage is the way of kosen-rufu, the great wish or vow of the Buddha.  And kosen-rufu is made reality by the harmonious community of practitioners united in faith toward that shared objective.  Here, Nichiren clarifies the heritage of faith in terms of kosen-rufu and the harmonious community of practitioners.

As I have summarized above, Nichiren explains the heritage of faith on different levels, addressing 1) the substance of faith; 2) the depth of faith and continuing Buddhist practice; and 3) kosen-rufu and the harmonious community of practioners.  He thus gives us a full picture of the kind of faith needed to share in the heritage of the ultimate Law of life and death.

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Suggested Discussion Questions

1. The study review for this lecture series discusses these five points: The Buddhist View of Death; The Vow of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth; Many in Body but One in Mind; The Sufferings of Birth and Death are Nirvana, Earthly Desires are Enlightenment and; Mentor and Dsiciple.  What aspect of this lecture series or concept covered during it had the most impact on you? For example: the clarification of the mentor-disciple relationship; a deeper understanding of the Buddhist view of death; the importance of making a vow; the critical element of unity in advancing kosen-rufu.  Can you share an experience that you may have had based on something you learned in studying this lecture series?
2. Why do you think President Ikeda has written this lecture series at this time?  What do you feel is his intention in focusing on “The Heritage of the Ultimate Law of Life and Death” in such detail?