There is no distinction between the secular and the divine.

I once read a book by Dr Brian Weiss who, through years of psychological research, concluded that reincarnation is a reality. Of course there would still be people who will argue otherwise because if reincarnation is true, then life would be rather frightening. Why so?

There was an ancient Chinese saying that sufferings in life will occur 8 to 9 times out of 10. That is to say that about 80% of the time while we are alive, we are suffering. There are many forms of suffering. The most basic and common types described by Buddhism are Birth, Old Age, Sickness and Death. We could also suffer from more subtle human emotions just as loneliness, hatred and fear. Generally, we can say that people suffer because they have certain desires which they cannot achieve.

Since the beginning of human civilizations, people had strived to break away from the cycle of birth and rebirth because the sufferings are unbearable. Recognizing that desires causes sufferings, many had attempted to try to achieve a state of life with minimum desires. These are the hermits and monks we read about, living in seclusion among the mountains, meditating most of their days. Although these people may be relatively successful in eradicating sufferings, their practice is not suitable for the masses looking for a salvation.

Hence, people tried another alternative, and that is to deny or to break away from the cycle of life altogether.

In ancient Chinese, which was rich in mythology and folklore, there is a tradition of deitifying great emperors and heroes, much like the ancient Greeks and Romans. These are perfect conditions to envision a divine world separate from existence. If we, common mortals cannot do anything about our sufferings, maybe something more powerful and divine can. That was the thought that gave birth to a new school of philosophy.

When Buddhism spread to China, it evolved as influenced by the prevailing culture. The Buddha, which was originally meant to be an enlightened ordinary human being, became imbued with supernatural qualities. Instead of praying to the Law of the universe to gain the wisdom, courage and compassion of a Buddha, some people started to chant the name of Amita Buddha (南无阿呢陀佛) hoping to be delivered to a western paradise to live in eternally, hence breaking away from the cycle of birth and death and sufferings. That is actually a misguided practice of Buddhism. This is parallel to the development of western thoughts influenced by the Greek and Roman mythologies. Men hoped to live a worthy life so that when they die, they get to be in heaven with God for eternity.

Although such evolution of philosophy serves to encourage mankind to live justly and had indeed allowed us to prosper, it is against the natural flow of the Law of the universe. How then can we seek true happiness among the necessary sufferings without compromising our psychological inclinations?

(TO BE CONTINUED)

May 3. A significant day for the Soka Gakkai and can even be regarded as the "New Year" for organisation. Hence, I'll take this opportunity to share an extract from the "New Year Gosho".

New Year's Day marks the first day, the first month, the beginning of the year and the start of spring. A person who celebrates this day will gain virtue and be loved by all, just as the moon becomes full gradually, moving from west to east, and the sun shines more brightly traveling from east to west.

First of all, as to the question of where exactly hell and the Buddha exist, one sutra states that hell exists underground and another sutra says that the Buddha is in the west. However, closer examination reveals that both exist in our five-foot body. The reason I think so is that hell is in the heart of a man who inwardly despises his father and disregards his mother, just like the lotus seed, which contains both flower and fruit at the same time. In the same way, the Buddha dwells inside our hearts.

For example, flint can produce fire and gems possess value in themselves. We common mortals can see neither our own eyebrows, which are so close, nor heaven in the distance. Likewise, we do not see that the Buddha exists in our own hearts.

You may question how is it that the Buddha can reside within us when our bodies, originating from our parents' sperm and blood, are the source of the three poisons and the seat of the carnal desires. But repeated consideration shows the validity of my claim. The pure lotus flower blooms out of the muddy pond, the fragrant sandalwood grows from the soil, the graceful cherry blossoms come forth from trees, the beautiful Yang Kuei-fei was born of a maidservant, and the moon rises from behind the mountains to shed light on them. Misfortune comes from one's mouth and ruins him, but fortune comes from one's mind and makes him worthy of respect.

~ Nichiren

We have peace here in Singapore. But we do not yet have a Culture of Peace.

I am desperate.
I am desperate for Hope.
I am desperate for Humanism.