Recognizing Our Debt of Gratitude
Rev. Nichiko Niwano
President of Rissho Kosei-kai

A Mind Awakened to Its Debt of Gratitude

We have been born as human beings, we have encountered the conditions leading us to faith, and we are capable of finding happiness through learning the Buddha Dharma-all because everything has a cause. The Chinese character read as on (a favor or kindness, a debt of gratitude) which consists of two element-one for kokoro (heart, mind) and one for in (cause)—can also be interpreted as the mind having awakened to this fact.

We often hear people say, “I never realized how much my parents had done for me until I became a parent myself.” When we first experience having our own children and raising them, we finally come to recognize for ourselves how much we owe to our parents for having raised us with such care. Through recognizing our debt of gratitude to our fathers and mothers, we are able to maintain well-ordered families by performing acts of filial piety directed to our parents and venerating our ancestors, thus creating a warm family atmosphere.

Furthermore, by learning from a master teacher, and through a variety of personal experiences, we are able to know the great Life-force (the Buddha) that causes all things to live. Parents and children are connected in the realm of love and affection. Masters and disciples are connected in a spiritual realm that transcends this.

In this way, through our parents and our teachers we are taught those things, invisible to our eyes, that are most important to being human, and come to realize their importance.


Repaying What We Owe to Others

We human beings do not live alone. Our day-to-day lives are made up of the help and support we receive from many other people and things. We owe a debt of gratitude to our parents, our teachers, our friends and, in addition to those around us, to all of nature as well.

Realizing the importance of what we are taught is recognizing our debt of gratitude to those who taught us. The mind that acknowledges and repays this debt of gratitude is what can be called the very hallmark of a true human being. In other words, recognizing our debt of gratitude is also recognizing that we must lead our lives feeling grateful to everyone.

When we realize our indebtedness for the many things we receive, and genuinely strive to understand what we should do in repayment, then we cannot help but feel deep gratitude for each of the everyday things we have been taking for granted: “My salary is naturally what I receive for working,” “My dinner is naturally something that is fixed for me at the end of the day.”

As we greet the new year, let us vow to advance even further spiritually so that we are able to better repay the precious and appreciated debt of gratitude that we owe to the Buddha, our teachers, our parents, and to all of nature.

Kaicho Howa January 2005

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