
佛教的要旨是扎根於所有人皆本有佛性來達至真正平等和正義,從而賦予所有人力量來建立一個真正和平的社會。
(佛陀視)任何人、任何生命都是尊貴平等的。我確信《法華經》的人性主義才是下一個千年所需要的「宇宙性人性主義」。
佛法是在根底層次,闡揚最高的「敬人之道」。佛法教示能夠展現我們本有佛性的,唯有我們為人處世之道。所有人皆是平等的,所有人皆具最尊貴的本質,而所有人皆有獲得幸福的權利。
有人簡單地把支配現代的風氣說成是一種「無能為力」的感覺。誰都認為非改變現狀不可,但不管政治、經濟、環境等問題,皆非一人能力所及,這些問題全都被掌握與操縱著……這種無能為力的感覺促使事態更加惡化,形成惡性循環。
與這種感覺相反的,就是《法華經》的哲學……教導一個人的「一念」可以改變一切,並且明確地教示我們,人擁有無限潛能與尊貴的生命。……
不管身在何處都必須從「一個人的蘇生」開始出發。這就是「透過人間革命來實現社會革命、地球革命」,其法理就是《法華經》。

佛教的要旨是扎根於所有人皆本有佛性來達至真正平等和正義,從而賦予所有人力量來建立一個真正和平的社會。
釋尊是一個的王子,養尊處優……各個季節有不同的宮殿,身邊總有侍者撐傘,遮陰避暑。
促使釋迦牟尼出家修行並且成為整個佛教起源點的力量,是要超越人類生命本有苦難的熱切渴求。
釋尊的口才和誠懇,是佛教在當時深入及廣泛地銘刻在民衆心裡的原由。
如是我聞。
二十八品的《法華經》能夠整理出來,是因為(釋尊)有一些弟子……決意立於與佛同樣的境涯,救渡全民眾,實踐「如是我聞」。
這兩個人感到滿意,其根源所在,他們能夠把個人感情和偏見放在一邊,而認真地去追求真理。
所有的人都是我的兒女,我希望我自己的兒女在這個和下一個世界裡能有一切福利和幸福,也希望所有人都能有。

《法華經》裡述說與邪惡奮戰的正義觀,有鼓勵疲憊的人的溫馨場面,也有鼓舞人們消除恐懼的勇氣。
經文裡有三世自由自在的歡喜合唱、自由的飛翔、燦爛的光芒、花草、綠樹、音樂、繪畫和故事。亦有最高的心理學、人生學、幸福學、和平學,是健康的根本軌道。亦能使人領悟宇宙的真理――「心變則一切改變」。
更賜壽命。
以永恆的生命來看,……壽命的長短並不重要,而是在於這一生是怎樣過的?做了什麼?如何改變了自己的境界?令多少人們幸福?才是重要。於今世開啟、鞏固了佛的境界者,將永恆持續此境界。
汝等皆行菩薩道,當得作佛。
照顧他人,不但可以引出他人的活力,也會加強自己的生命力。擴大他人的生命,自己的境涯隨之提升,利他與自利一致,此即菩薩道之妙。
此經能救一切眾生者,此經能令一切眾生離諸苦惱,此經能大饒益一切眾生,充滿其願。如清涼池,能滿一切諸渴乏者。……此法華經亦復如是,能令眾生離一切苦、一切病痛。
諸佛世尊,唯以一大事因緣故,出現於世。……諸佛世尊欲令眾生開佛知見。
開顯眾生的佛知見,表示眾生本具備著佛知見……(釋尊)這句話等於宣言「眾生乃極尊之存在」。
廣說諸經,
而於其中,
此經第一。

要傳播表現佛教最高教義的《法華經》,無疑需要具有菩薩或菩薩們那樣真正特殊的覺悟和決心。
我等於如來滅後,周旋往返十方世界,能令眾生書寫此經,受持讀誦,解說其義,如法修行,正憶念。
釋尊的佛教,不單純是印度民眾的狹隘民族宗教。它帶有普遍性,具有一種超越國境、超越民族差異、逐漸向全世界普及的世界宗教――也可以稱之為「人類宗教」――的性質。
The camel, known as the "ship of the desert," was one of the principle means for traveling that road. Chang Shuhong, the late honorary director of China's Dunhuang Relics Research Institute, observed that the hoofprints of camels resemble lotus flowers.
It was the translations of the famed scholar Kumarajiva that communicated the essence of Buddhism to China with unmatched precision.
[Buddhist missionaries] determined to carry the teachings of their faith to the people of other lands… and were prepared to face [all manner of] danger and hardship in the pursuit of their goal.
Dunhuang in western China has been called a great art museum in the desert. It is a marvelous storehouse of Buddhist artworks spanning a thousand years.

If good men and good women embrace, read, recite, expound, and copy the Lotus Sutra … these persons will be looked up to and honored by all the world.
If people do not possess innate Buddha wisdom, how could the Buddha say he wanted to open it? One must understand that Buddha wisdom is inherent in all human beings.
The same Lotus Sutra is expressed in different ways, depending on the Buddha who preaches it, the time it is preached and the capacity of the people to understand it. Though the ultimate truth of the Lotus Sutra is identical in all cases, there will be differences in its presentation.

The Lotus Sutra is the teaching that enables all living beings to attain the Buddha way.
You must spread it abroad widely throughout [the world] and never allow it to be cut off.
The Law does not spread by itself. Because the people spread it, both the people and the Law are respectworthy.
Constant diligence day and night—this has always been the way to seek the Buddha way.
I ... held the Lotus Sutra in my hand, and with a straw coat around me and a straw hat on my head, I managed to live [on Sado].

Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is only one phrase or verse, but it is no ordinary phrase, for it is the essence of the entire sutra .. Everything has its essential point, and the heart of the Lotus Sutra is its title, or Nam-myoho-renge-kyo… Chanting the title alone is the source of tremendous good fortune.
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is not only the core of the Buddha’s lifetime teachings, but also the heart, essence, and ultimate principle of the Lotus Sutra.
The five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo do not represent the sutra text, nor are they its meaning. They are nothing other than the intent of the entire sutra. So, even though the beginners in Buddhist practice may not understand their significance, by practicing these five characters, they will naturally conform to the sutra’s intent.
A teaching this easy to uphold and this easy to practice was expounded for the sake of all living beings in… this latter age.
It is the heart that is important.
You must quickly reform the tenets that you hold in your heart and embrace … the single good doctrine [of the Lotus Sutra]. If you do so, then the [world] will become the Buddha land, and how could a Buddha land ever decline?
Little streams come together to form the great ocean… When I, Nichiren, first took faith in the Lotus Sutra, I was like a single drop of water... But later, when two people, three people, ten people, and eventually… a million people come to recite the Lotus Sutra and transmit it to others, then they will form… an ocean of great [enlightenment].
Buddhism … enables us to find supreme hope within ourselves. When we can find supreme hope in our own lives, we can also find the same luminous hope in the lives of others. We can awaken to our mission of building a new and better world characterized by respect for life and human dignity, based on a fundamental spirit of empathy and caring for others.
Religions that are dependent on authority and power naturally cannot possibly serve as a force for reform or to develop society for the benefit of the people.

President Makiguchi made the writings of Nichiren Daishonin his mentor, facing great persecution and revitalizing Buddhism in an age when the Law was threatened with extinction.
Daisaku, I will build a solid foundation for kosen-rufu in Japan, but you will pave the way for kosen-rufu throughout the world. I will create the blueprint; you will make it a reality.
In the Lotus Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha proclaims, "I have been constantly in this suffering-filled world, preaching the Law, teaching and converting." We must struggle within society! Always among the people! Never forget that this is the great, eternal path of the Soka Gakkai, with its mission of establishing the correct teaching for the peace and prosperity of the entire world, of all humanity.
This is what I heard.
The heart of “This is what I heard” exists in the disciples rising up with the determination to lead others to happiness just as their mentor did.

Now I entrust it to you. You must single-mindedly propagate this Law abroad, causing its benefits to spread far and wide.
Nichiren chants Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, vowing to make it possible for all [living beings] to attain Buddhahood.
Everything depends on how earnestly one can accept and act on even a single word of the mentor. A true disciple strives to actualize the mentor’s vision—not by mimicking the mentor but by putting into action what the mentor has taught.

Who is capable of broadly preaching the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Law?
If one lights a fire for others, one will brighten one’s own way.
When we fully integrate both the practice for ourselves and the practice for others, we get in sync with the rhythm of the universe.
The more we advance in the practice for oneself, the more our practice for others develops. And as our practice for others advances, our practice for oneself deepens.

Our wish is that in future ages we may use our long lives to save living beings.
The Buddha’s preaching of the Law is called the lion’s roar, and the Lotus Sutra is the foremost roar of the lion.
As long as we have faith, there is no difficulty we cannot overcome. The great life force of the lion king wells up in our lives.
When we devote ourselves to the happiness of others, when, of our own free will, we undertake the struggle of a bodhisattva, the immense force of life without beginning or end wells up in our being. The eternal life of the Buddha permeates our being like a rising tide. Then, there is no way that we cannot dramatically change our lives for the better.

The benefits gained by this person will be such that when he is reborn he will be in a place where the Lord Shakra is seated.
What a joy it is for us to have been born in the Latter Day of the Law and to have shared in the propagation of the Lotus Sutra!
When we possess the kind of strong faith where we love the Gohonzon, love chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, and love SGI activities, our life overflows with the “benefits of responding with joy.”

At that time in the Buddha’s presence there was a tower adorned with the seven treasures …that rose up out of the earth and stood suspended in the air.
No treasure tower exists other than the figures of the men and women who embrace the Lotus Sutra.
We can attend the eternal Ceremony in the Air here and now. We can cause the treasure tower to shine in our lives, our daily existence, our homes. That is the greatness of faith in the Gohonzon. It is always close at hand and always reflected in our immediate reality.

If after the Buddha has passed into extinction
one can understand the meaning of this sutra,
one will be the eyes of the world
for heavenly and human beings.
Nichiren, who propagates [Nam-myoho-renge-kyo], the heart and core of the Lotus Sutra, throughout the country of Japan—is he not the “eyes of the world for heavenly and human beings”?
The SGI members who are carrying on [Nichiren]’s legacy are the “eyes” of … the world in the 21st century. Hope for the new century rests with the victory of the SGI. Resolutely defeating all unjust slander, let us cause the great light of justice of the SGI to shine in our communities and throughout the world.

Those who are able to embrace this sutra... Their virtue will be uppermost, immeasurable and boundless as the open sky.
When once we chant Myoho-renge-kyo, with just that single sound we summon forth and manifest the Buddha nature of all Buddhas; all existences; … the sun and moon, and the myriad stars; … human and heavenly beings, and all other living beings. This blessing is immeasurable and boundless.
Human beings are children of the stars, of the universe. Our lives are one with the great life of the universe. The benefit of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo is literally the benefit of the entire universe. It is inexhaustible. Limitless.

Single-mindedly desiring to see the Buddha.
Single-mindedly observing the Buddha, concentrating one’s mind on seeing the Buddha, and when looking at one’s own mind, perceiving that it is the Buddha.
The mind of an ordinary person who seeks the Buddha becomes the mind of the Buddha itself.
The heart is what really matters. One simply cannot understand Buddhism without a pure seeking spirit stemming from the depths of one’s heart.

The benefits gained by such a person
are boundless and inexhaustible,
like the vast sky in the ten directions
that no one can set a limit to.
When we chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo single-mindedly with strong faith, this ordinary body of ours will immediately become the body of the Buddha.
Could there ever be a more wonderful story than your own?
The fundamental teaching of the Lotus Sutra and of the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin is that ordinary people—just as they are—should live, assert themselves, and strive wholeheartedly for happiness while fully expressing their humanity. To do so is to throw oneself completely into the struggle, to stand up against adversity. This is what it means to practice without begrudging one’s life. Apart from this, there is no “living Lotus Sutra.”

His pure light, free of blemish,
is a sun of wisdom dispelling all darkness.
He can quell the wind and fire of misfortune
and everywhere bring light to the world.
There are no living beings that do not possess the true aspect of Buddhahood.
Just as a seed will grow into a great tree with the passage of time, the branches of good fortune and benefit in our lives will thicken and produce abundant flowers and fruit as we continue to practice.
A tree of good fortune and benefit that is thus rooted in the earth of life will not fall over. It stands firm even when buffeted by a fierce storm.

If a person who has an illness is able to hear this sutra, then his illness will be wiped out and he will know neither aging nor death.
“Myo” is the elixir of immortality.
We can develop our lives to the extent that, as we overcome various hardships, we will live each day, each moment, savoring the joy of being alive. This is true health.
To be healthy in body and mind is to live vigorously, dedicated wholeheartedly to accomplishing one’s mission in this existence. It means that, as long as we are alive, even should illness overtake us, we will continue chanting [Nam-myoho-renge-kyo] and telling others about the Mystic Law. It means living fully for our mission throughout eternity. To have such faith is to possess a state of life free from aging and death.

This bodhisattva manifests himself in various different bodies and preaches this sutra for the sake of living beings in various different places.
“Wonderful sound” refers to the unfathomable and wonderful sound made at the present time, in the Latter Day of the Law, when Nichiren and his followers now chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.
When we tune and practice the instrument of the self, we cause the wonderful sound of the universe to pulse in our lives; we cause it to reverberate and ring out. Buddhist practice teaches us how to do this.
While we may exert ourselves in different areas, we are all motivated by compassion and humanity. We should burn with a spirit and determination to become the foremost ally of those who are suffering.

This sutra is to be honored
as highest among all sutras.
Constantly I guard and protect it.
If one fails to denounce the enemies of the Lotus Sutra, it will be impossible to attain the way.
The Soka Spirit is the courage to speak out for the sake of truth. We must strive undauntedly to ensure the triumph of justice.

He views human beings with compassionate eyes.
The sea of his accumulated blessings is immeasurable.
It could never come about that the prayers of the practitioner of the Lotus Sutra would go unanswered.
When we take action for kosen-rufu with a selfless spirit, the microcosm of our lives fuses with the macrocosm of the universe and our prayers are answered.
To walk the essential path of humanism throughout life, the path of kosen-rufu, is to lead an unsurpassed existence. Therefore, we need to forge ahead on this path without retreating a single step. There is no need to hold back.

The moon appears in the west and sheds its light eastward, but the sun rises in the east and casts its rays to the west. The same is true of Buddhism. It spread from west to east in the Former and Middle Days of the law, but will travel from east to west in the Latter Day.
This worldwide spread of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism of the sun, with its teaching of respect for all people, is essentially what is meant by the statement that “[Buddhism] will travel from east to west in the Latter Day."
Exert yourself in the two ways of practice and study. Without practice and study, there can be no Buddhism. You must not only persevere yourself, you must also teach others. Both practice and study arise from faith.
Above are quotes from the Humanism of the Lotus Sutra exhibit at the SGI-USA Plaza. Only quotes that can be sourced from material available to SGI-USA members are listed. For World Tribune and Living Buddhism references beyond 2019, please use the e-reader at:https://sgiusapublications.pressreader.com/