I finally had a few days of uninterrupted holiday. Determined to use these holiday valuably, I revisited my studies on religious and philosophical history which I held a vast interest. It had been a wonderful experience.

I recalled my final major project with the NTUSD before I graduated from NTU. I lead a research into the histories of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It had brought a new level of understanding of their relationship with one another and their various denominations. It also allowed me to renew my conviction in Nichiren Buddhism as the key philosophy that could provide the harmonizing factor among the various schools of thoughts.

The study of history is not simply because of our wish to know more about events of the distant past. What is more important is to seek parallels to our current concerns which will result in fresh insights.

Shakyamuni, who was the first historically recorded Buddha, appeared at the same period of time as other great philosophers such as Socrates in Greece, Confucius in China, and Deutero-Isaiah, whose thoughts exerted an important influence upon Christianity and the Judaic world. This seemingly coincidence can only be the result of the nature of human society at that time.

It seemed that during that era, ancient civilizations had started to undergo a general cultural revolution that resulted in a material orientated society. The byproduct of such a culture can only be epicureanism, nihilism, and decadence.

When we observe our world today, we can observe similar trends of such culture because of the unexpected rapidity in which industrialization and commercialism had advanced.

Thus, I cannot help but feel a sense of pride in being a member of SGI and SSA, which based on Nichiren’s exposition on Buddhism, is striving to provide a philosophy that can cope with the phenomenal growth of science and technology in term of its relations to the human spirit. For that, I am eternally grateful.