People everywhere, when confronted with hardships, sorrows or difficulties, ponder over the fastest and easiest way to solve or to overcome these problems. Yet it is never simple nor easy to discover the root cause of sufferings in human life. Happiness, in the true sense, does not merely mean having ample food, clothing and shelter nor does it signify simply living a life of comfort.
Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism expounds the one true Way to attain absolute and unwavering good fortune whereby all the people are able to fundamentally overcome the basic universal sufferings of being born, of old age, sickness and death as well as doubts and disillusions that plague mankind.*
Visit Myosenji Temple this month for our Introduction to Buddhism lecture series. This Saturday, February 7th, at 2:00 pm, the meeting will be about the purpose and history of Buddhism and it’s relevance to life today. Specifically, you will learn why compassion for yourself and compassion for others is crucial for your happiness.
The Lotus Sutra is like:**
A clear, cool pond satisfying those who are thirsty
A fire for one who is cold
A robe for one who is bare
A group of merchants finding a leader
A child finding her mother
Someone finding a ship in which to cross the water
A sick man finding a physician
Someone in the darkness finding a lamp
A poor person finding riches
The people finding a ruler
An export trader finding his way to the sea
A torch that illuminates the darknessIn the same way, the Lotus Sutra can enable all people to be free from discomfort, illness, and pain. It can break the chains of birth and death.
* Excerpted from “The Road to True Happiness”
** Excerpted from The Ten Comparisons and Twelve Similes lecture by High Priest Nichinyo Shonin, December 4, 2011.
