The World Buddhist University
An International Conference on “Buddhism and World Peace”
Maxx Hotel, Roma 9 Road, Bangkok Thailand
10
February 2002
Buddhism
and World Peace
Some
Thoughts on the idea and the practice of Rissho Kosei-kai
1. Greeting
Your Eminence Phan Wannamethee, Your Excellency Suvit Khunkitti, Eminent Venerables, Professor Noranit Setabutr/Rector of the World Buddhist University, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen: At the outset, I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations to you on the 1st anniversary of the establishment of the World Buddhist University. Thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to make a presentation on the significant occasion of this international conference commemorating the Anniversary.
2. Main Subject
(1) Introduction
The main theme of this conference is :Buddhism and World Peace”. As the Proxy of Rev. Nichiko Niwano, President of Rissho Kosei-kai, I would like to talk a little about Rissho Kosei-kai’s Buddhist practice and commitment to peace. I will refer occasionally to the Rissho Kosei-kai Pamphlet which I hope you have.
(2) Founder Niwano’s auspicous encounter with the Lotus Sutra
Rissho Kosei-kai was founded by Rev. Nikkyo Niwano and co-founder Myoko Naganuma together with around thirty like minded persons in Tokyo in 1938. They were bound together by the purpose of ‘saving people and reconstructing society according to the teachings of Buddhism”. Though founder Niwano was neither a Monk nor a Buddhist Scholar, he always sought the way that provides authentic salvation of people. Consequently he encountered the Sutra of the Lotus flower of the Wonderful Dhamma.
He realised that this was the perfect and universal teaching for saving every person in the world. The Lotus Sutra, as the essence of Buddhism, encourages a man or a woman to pursue the Bodhisattva way, the practice of saving people and serving society. Lay people can save and can be saved by following the way of the Bodhisattva. Niwano was so strongly influenced, he devoted his life to sharing the way for more than sixty years. Today Rissho Kosei-kai has more than six million members in Japan and overseas.
(3) Principle of laity
Rissho Kosei-kai is a Sangha consisting of lay persons including spiritual leaders. Each Member practices the teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha concretely in his or her daily life and is supposed to disseminate the teachings to neighbours. These are the special features of Rissho Kosei-kai.
(4) Idea of Peace
The Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dhamma, one of the scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism came from India through China and (the) Korean peninsula to Japan. The Members Vow of Rissho Kosei-kai, the outline of principle and guidance of the Members, is also based on the teachings of the Sutra. I would like to read it to you.
We, Members of the Rissho
Kosei-kai
Take refuge in the eternal
Buddha Shakyamuni
And recognise in Buddhism
the true way of salvation,
Under the guidance of our
revered Founder Nikkyo Niwano.
In the spirit of lay
Buddhists we Vow to perfect ourselves
through personal
discipline and leading others
and by improving our
knowledge and practice fo the faith
and we pledge ourselves to
follow the Bodhisattva way
to bring peace to our
families, communities and countries and to the world.
As expressed in these sentences the purpose of Rissho Kosei-kai is to perfect the personalities of individuals and attain world peace.
(5) The Way of Enlightenment (Perfecting of Personality)
Every Member of Rissho Kosei-kai has practices to do every day following the teachings of Buddha for perfecting their personalities. In other words to try to be person of authentic peace as called for in the Vow.
(1) Sutra Recitation
The importance of the Recitation of the Sutra is taught everywhere n the Lotus Sutra. For instance, “you should understand that anyone who reads and recites the Dhamma-Flower Sutra has put on the ornaments of the Buddha” in Chapter 10 Teachers of the Dhamma. This indicates we are to have the same beauty as Buddha.
Open to page 2 of the Pamphlet please. recitation of the Lotus Sutra morning and evening is one of the important daily practices of Members. Each Member family has an altar for the Buddha in their home. They recite from a Sutra book of extracts of the Lotus Sutra at the beginning of every day. Through recitation they listen to the teaching of Buddha, purify their minds and Vow to live the day following the teachings. In the evenings recitation they reflect on how well they could do this.
(2) Testimony Meeting
Open to page 6 and 7, please. members gather together at our community Centers throughout Japan on the 1st day of every month, and on the 15th of every month, the memorial day for Shakyamuni Buddha. On these two days we have a Testimony Meeting in which some Members speak(s) before fellow members to share their experiences. They share frankly with fellow Members their past lifestyle of illusion, how they met the Sangha and practice the teaching of the Buddha, become saved and happy. It is sharing of joy, confirming the value and wonderful nature of the teachings and an opportunity to learn the way of practice and spiritual merit.
(3) Hoza Meeting (Dhamma Circle)
Open to page 4, please. Around 5 to 15 members have a unique form of group counseling called Hoza, in which they can resolve daily problems or suffering through Buddhist teaching. The Hoza leader offers concrete advice to the person who has a problem, according to the teachings such as the four Noble Truths, the Eightfold path and the Six Paramitas. The leader provides a way to understand and feel the message of the eternal Buddha which can be found even in the midst of suffering. Then the leader gives concrete advice for practice to improve ones lifestyle. The advice is based on sharing the suffering by compassion and awakening to the mercy of the eternal Buddha, who is always leading us to recognise our Buddha nature and practice the Bodhisattva way.
(4) Generosity Practice
In the Lotus Sutra the importance of the Six Paramita, especially the practice of generosity is emphasised. It is said, for instance, in the Chapter 12 Devadatta, “wanting to fulfill the Six Paramittas, I diligently and unstintingly gave alms”.
According to this the members are encourage to practice generosity in their daily lives as much as possible in three ways: material donation and donating ones body to the Sangha or neighbours and also giving the Dhamma to others.
(5) Dissemination Propagation (Sharing the Teaching)
Open to page 6 and 7, please. For Rissho Kosei-kai Members, Dissemination is one of the core practices. From the first day of joining the Sangha he or she is supposed to share the joy and convey the teaching with others as much as possible according to ones ability. In Chapter 20 of the Lotus Sutra Bodhisattva Never Disrespectful, it is said “because I received and embraced, read and recited this Sutra, and taught it for others under previous Buddha's, I attained supreme awakening quickly” and “Bodhisattva Never Disrespectful met countless Buddha's, and through preaching this Sutra gained immeasurable happiness. Gradually developing his blessings, he soon attained the Buddha way”. Conveying and sharing the teaching not only for making neighbours happy but also for deepening ones own comprehension of Dhamma.
(6) Members Commitment to Peace
As shown in the Members Vow “we pledge ourselves to follow the Bodhisattvas way to bring peace to our families, communities and countries and to the world”, Members devote themselves to Bodhisattva activities for making peace through the following.
(i) donate a meal campaign
“Now, this threefold world is all my domain, and the living beings in it are all my children.” These are words of the Chapter 3 of the Lotus Sutra, A Parable. They show that all living beings are children of Buddha so that all human beings are brothers and sisters to each other. Rissho Kosei-kai Members have a variety of peace activities, done with a fundamental wish to share both the joys and sorrows of our brothers and sisters, and then to assist them somehow.
Open to page 10 of the pamphlet, please. Members go without a meal three or four times each month. They remember and try to feel as much as possible the suffering from hunger and other hardships of many people in the world. Then with prayer they donate the money of the meal to a Peace Fund. We call it the “Donate A Meal Campaign”. It is the basis of all our peace activities.
The donated money is pooled as The Peace Fund and utilised for many activities. So far around USD$ 4 to 5 million has been used each year.
(ii) Sharing Blankets with People In Africa
Open to page 12 to 15 of the pamphlet, please. For (the) last eighteen years Rissho Kosei-kai has actively participated in the Campaign for Sharing Blankets with People In Africa in cooperation with Grassroots NGO’s, the Japanese Government and the United Nations. In 1984 when serious drought attacked (the) African region and millions of people suffered from starvation, responding to an international humanitarian appeal, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on the civil society for collaboration. Then a joint Government and private sector group was organised. They successfully gathered more than 1.4 million blankets and presented them to African friends. Recognising that the need has not ended we established the Association of Japanese Agencies for Supporting Africa to continue this grass roots campaign. The blankets are not only a material gift, but also a token of our brotherhood and prayer. Moreover, we hope that this campaign has a positive effect on civil society by having more concern for the reality of the world situation and joining peace activities, Bodhisattva practice. More than 2.9 million blankets have been presented up to today.
(iii) Little Bags of Dreams Campaign
Open to pages 16 to 17 of the pamphlet please. In the same context of Bodhisattva practice we promote a Little bags of Dreams Campaign by primary and junior high school children together with their parents.
This Campaign started from the wish to share friendship and joy with conflict suffered and traumatised children in the former Yugoslavia. Children fill handmade cloth bags with their own toys, stationary and love. So far we could present them to more than 200,000 children in Northern Ireland, Palestine, Lebanon and former Yugoslavia. This year, the children of Afghanistan will also receive them.
This is a Bodhisattva practice of children sharing friendship and care.
(7) Inter-Religious Dialogue and Cooperation (The Sangha’s Commitment to Peace)
Open to pages 20 to 23, please. Rissho Kosei-kai, on the organisation level also, has tried to contribute to peace in some ways. One of the main ways is the promotion of inter-religious dialogue and cooperation.
In Chapter 2 of the Lotus Sutra Skillful Means, it is taught that “The Tathagata, by means of the One Buddha-Vehicle, teaches the Dhamma to all living beings; there is no other vehicle, neither a second or a third”. In accord with this teaching, Founder Niwano developed a firm faith that, in spite of differences of religious tradition or sect, we can transcend differences and cooperate to lead all people to the Buddha's enlightenment and authentic salvation. This is the Royal way and basic principle of religion.
Saicho, a great Japanese Buddhist Monk said, “ we can never catch a bird by only one net.
How could one sect save all people”. By this principle, Rissho Kosei-kai began inter-faith dialogue and cooperation at a early age with many religious partners.
In 1970 the first WCRP (World Conference on Religion and Peace) was held for religious leaders of the world to consider and exchange opinions and cooperate in concrete ways for peace. As one of its founders and promoters the Reverend Nikkyo Niwano devoted himself during the latter half of his life to it. President Nichiko Niwano has followed in his spirit as an incumbent President of WCRP. World assemblies have been held in Belgium, America, Australia, Italy (the Vatican) and Jordan. A great many and large variety of religious leaders of the world have participated, including representatives of Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and Japanese Shinto.
To contribute to agendas for peace, such as disarmament, human rights, development, environment, conflict resolution and so forth, WCRP has launched several standing commissions and is tackling the problems in concrete ways from a religious viewpoint. That includes some contribution to conflict resolution and common living in the former Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone, and Indonesia’s East Timor.
After the terrorist attack in New York on September 11th last year, a prompt response from religious and inter-religious communities was demanded by the world. WCRP held an inter-religious symposium for dialogue and action for peace. In the conference which included religionists, politicians and UN officers, we could definitely shows solidarity among world religious leaders and cooperate in working for non violence, religious tolerance and common living of peoples of different traditions. As one positive result, WCRP has started a commitment to conflict resolution in the Middle east from a dimension of religious cooperation.
Rissho Kosei-kai collected donations on the street for victims in New York and for Afghanistan refugees, and donated 1 Million USD$ through WCRP to (the) United Nations.
WCRP is going to hold an African religious leaders conference at Nairobi, Kenya this coming June to work towards saving more than 10 million of HIV orphans on the continent.
3. Conclusion
(1) Under the main theme of “Buddhism and World Peace” I have tried to show Rissho Kosei-kai idea of, and practices for, peace. I hope that it has addressed your concern in some way.
(2) World of Mutual Respect of Children of Life
In conclusion, I would like to introduce a message of President Nichiko Niwano of Rissho Kosei-kai. It from a speech on the occasion of the inter-religious prayer meeting in Assisi, Italy on the 24th of January this year. The meeting was convened by His Holiness John Paul 2nd.
“All people are brothers and sisters, we are all family. Irrespective of differences in race or religion each one of us is a “child of life” who is supported in being alive at this moment in this place by a single great life-force. Once we become free of our persistence in stressing differences in appearance, once we recognise and accept those differences and discover the commonality deep inside us--the truth that every person is a “child of life” --we will be able to become aware that the world is one. To bring about peace requires great patience and effort. But if each and every one of us continues to pray, have hope, be aware of the value of life, and have respect for all people as “children of life”, then I believe we can attain real peace”.
Thank you very much for your kind attention.
Rev. Norio Sakai
Counselor
Rissho Kosei-kai Japan