A Mind That Seeks the Truth
Rev. Nichiko Niwano
President of Rissho Kosei-kai

Becoming Aroused to Life

Large numbers of Japanese youths recently are reported not to be involved in regular full-time work and to not be actively seeking such steady jobs. This social phenomenon should be considered a warning to adults, who in the long period of 60 years since the end of World War II have devoted too much attention to material and selfish things and seem to have forgotten the basic sense of what is really important to human beings.

As adults and parents, we need to humbly reflect on what our attitude has been in leading our lives up to today, and we should determine the best course for young people to follow and explain it to them so they can revive their spirits and realize a purpose that makes life worth living.

There is a Zen saying, "Nothing left over, nothing lacking." This means that from the time a person is born, he or she has nothing left over and lacks nothing, but is already invested with all the essentials of life. In other words, that we live in the here and now is because as human beings we are supplied with just the right amount of power for life.

When we become aware of this fact, we can know true gratitude, our day-to-day worries and complaints disappear, and we are filled with hope and vigor. A fresh rhythm then enters our lives, and we become able to self-reliantly set a personal goal for the future and advance toward it. Opening our eyes to being caused to live arouses the power to live in us.

What is Asked of Us

I read in a local newspaper that Pope John Paul II, who ascended to heaven in April of this year, had expressed a wish to be able speak some Japanese before his scheduled visit to Japan in 1981. Despite his very busy schedule, he made time to receive Japanese lessons.

I was greatly impressed by the late Pope's enthusiasm and desire for learning, and the fact that he reduced his time for meals so he could study and asked that the meaning of each word that he learned be written down beside it.

Founder Nikko Niwano, due to his wish to save all people, continually sought the way to the Truth and imparted to us the teachings of impermanence and nonself-the wisdom of the Buddha as preached in the Lotus Sutra.

Through recognizing the Truth and developing the realization of this wisdom, we become aware of the mystery and preciousness of life, and when transmitting the joy we experience from this to other people, we will find a real zest for life.

That we gain this wisdom, and achieve comfort and joy-that was founder Niwano's wish, and it is what he "asked" of us.

Kaicho Howa August 2005

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