The Lotus Sutra passage from the “A Parable” chapter that I mentioned earlier continues as follows: “But now it [this threefold world] is filled / With disaster and trouble, / And only I am able / To rescue and protect them [living beings].”
This is the Buddha’s way of reassuring us by saying “There are many kinds of hardships in this world, but you don’t have to worry, because I am watching over you.”
Suffering can be an opportunity to experience the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha. Until we human beings realize that we are given the gift of life and sustained by the Buddha, we are driven by desire and selfishness, and our suffering never ceases. This is why the role of people walking the Buddha Way who encounter someone who is suffering is to connect with that person using a gentle approach, under the belief that the opportunity for that person to encounter the teachings of the Buddha may still not be entirely ripe.
When encountering people who are struggling with suffering and distress, it is important for those who know that they are given the gift of life and sustained by the Buddha to engage distressed people in a way that helps them recognize the compassion of the Buddha through the problems they are facing. If you have experienced the preciousness of the Buddha’s teachings even once, you can reflect on the state of your heart in light of the teachings in every such encounter. And it will be possible for you to apply that experience in compassionate action to resolve the suffering and distress of others.
People who have personally experienced liberation from suffering can engage others so that they become aware of the compassion of the Buddha. And through this effort, those who help others realize the compassion of the Buddha unfold their own buddha nature even further. When we accept every encounter as an opportunity to bring our own buddha nature to light, we stride straight ahead on the bodhisattva way.
Revealing the buddha nature of another can be done at any time and in any kind of interaction. Whether at work or in your community, the important thing is to encourage those who have roles there to do what they do in the spirit of devotion for the benefit of others.
When I arrive at the Great Sacred Hall in the morning, I’m always greeted by that day’s volunteers serving at the Hall. Among them sometimes are small children as young as kindergarten age. When I pat them on the head and say “You came to volunteer today! Do a good job!” they respond with big nods and their facial expressions transform to show they are eager to help. I believe that even this much interaction will spark an awareness within each child’s heart that they are playing an important role.
In Buddhism there is the concept of “becoming a buddha through any of ten thousand good deeds,” and I am certain that the experience of fulfilling a role for the Buddha from a young age surely leads people to act for the benefit of others and the world at large when they become adults.
Bodai no me o okosashimu [Germinating the Seeds of Awakening] (Kosei Publishing, 2018), pp. 32–33
Nikkyo Niwano, the founder of Rissho Kosei-kai, was born in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, in 1906. A longtime advocate of cooperation and dialogue between the world’s religious faiths, Rev. Niwano promoted interreligious understanding as honorary chairman of Shinshuren (Federation of New Religious Organizations of Japan), honorary president of Religions for Peace, and in various other capacities. He is the author of several books on Buddhism, the Lotus Sutra, and spirituality, such as Buddhism for Today, Lifetime Beginner, Buddhism for Everyday Life, and more. Rev. Niwano passed away in 1999 at the age of 92.
