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Michio Shinozaki
Buddhism Rissho Kosei Kai, Japan
Today, I am very honored to have this opportunity to present a Buddhist prayer as a source of peace at this international Meeting �War and Peace: Faiths and Cultures in Dialogue.� I would like to express my gratitude to the people of Aachen and the Community of Saint Egidio for making this gathering possible. Rissho Kosei-kai has participated in the annual Week of Prayer for World Peace for seventeen years. This event has been supported by thirty-seven religious organizations�Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist�and nonreligious groups. Last year, our prayer for this event incorporated the words from the Dhammapada that are emphasized by Rissho Kosei-kai�s president, Reverend Nichiko Niwano: �Hatred is never conquered by hatred; hatred can only be conquered by nonhatred.� Buddhist prayer embodies the noblest healing power, coming from the Buddha�s heart and the wishes of all living beings. In Buddhism, we speak of prayer as the great vow of the Buddha. In the Lotus Sutra, a Mahayana Buddhist sutra of the greatest importance to us, the Buddha makes a vow of his wish that all living beings attain buddhahood, awakening to a state of perfect freedom and work for helping other beings. This wish is something that everyone possesses deep inside. Thus, the Buddha�s vow is the same as the wish that springs forth from one�s innermost being. How, then, is the Buddha�s vow related to peace? The Buddhist ideal state of perfect freedom, Nirvana, is interpreted as harmony or peace. In this sense, the Buddha makes a vow that all living beings shall live in a harmony. Reverend Nichiko Niwano says, �Harmony, or peace, is essential for human life. The existence of all life depends on the crucial notion of harmony. Harmony is a hope that all human beings hold deep in their hearts.� The Buddha vows to make all living beings become aware of the fact that all beings on earth are given life by the same great life-force. In other words, the Buddha wants us to awaken to the fact that each of us is �a child of life,� who is supported in being alive, at this moment and in this place, by a single great life-force, even though we vary in race or religion. In this sense, all people are brothers and sisters; we are all one family. We are essentially interdependent in all dimensions of life. The Buddha�s great vow is expressed in chapter sixteen of the Lotus Sutra. The Buddha says: �I, ever knowing all living beings, Those who walk or walk not in the Way, According to their needs for salvation Expound their every Law, Ever making this my thought: �How shall I cause all living beings To enter the Way supreme And speedily accomplish their buddhahood?� The Buddha constantly teaches us, leading us to become aware of our own buddha-nature. Even though we are not aware of the fact, the Buddha always keeps us in his mind, watches over us, and sends his message to us directly. We should humbly receive the voice of the Buddha in the midst of this troubled world. When we view the reality of the present world situation, we recognize our distance from the Buddha�s vow. We ignore the sacredness of each life, though every person is �a child of life,� and deny the single world of harmony on which all living beings essentially depend. When we reflect upon this reality with the wisdom of religion, we are forced to bow our heads humbly before all gods and buddhas. As religious people, we come to repent our misdeeds, arrogance, and ignorance through reflecting on this miserable and inhuman reality. Thus, our prayer must begin with this repentance for being away from the gods� will and the buddhas� vow. We tend to be too arrogant to listen to the voices from the gods and buddhas in the place where we are. Once we reflect upon ourselves deeply with humility, we come to the awareness that we ourselves are really creating this evil that hinders peace. Second, our payer must be our commitment to nonviolence. The model of nonviolent action is expressed in the story of Never-Despise Bodhisattva in the Lotus Sutra. It is a story of a previous life of the Buddha. There was a wandering religious practitioner known as Never-Despise. Whenever he encountered people, he paid them respect, saying �I deeply revere you, because you are all to become buddhas.� Some people were irritated, and got angry and muddy-minded, reviled and abused him. Some people tried to beat him with clubs, sticks, potsherds, or stones. But while escaping to a distance, he still cried aloud, � I dare not despise you. You are all to become buddhas.� Even though he was abused by others, he did not return the abuse. This bodhisattva devoted himself only to this practice of revering the buddha-nature in others, even under hostile conditions. Never-Despise Bodhisattva�s way of life was the practice of revering, through nonviolent action, the child of life in others. In this sense, we pray for our commitment to nonviolence leading toward peace, saying, �I dare not despise you. You are all to become buddhas.� This prayer means that each of us reveres others because they are all children of life and someday will be aware of the preciousness of all life. This is the way to attain peace. Reverend Nikkyo Niwano, the founder of Rissho Kosei-kai, saw Mahatma Gandhi as one who exemplified this spirit of keeping a gentle and forbearing heart for the sake of the truth. We, the followers of the Lotus Sutra, have a prayer that we may become Never-Despise Bodhisattvas as apostles of peacemaking. Third, our prayer must be a prayer for overcoming of hatred and violence. With nonviolent attitudes, we should have reverence for our neighbors, even those who seem wicked, as in the case of enemies. I have already quoted the verse of the Dhammapada saying that hatred will cease only when we overcome hatred by nonhatred, or love. That is the way to cut off the chain of hatred. How do we overcome persecution and hostile actions toward us? It is easy to say, but difficult to practice. One of the ways for overcoming hatred really comes from deep and firm faith in the worldview that both self and others are children of life and interdependent, so acting in violence toward others is also acting against oneself. Another way of overcoming hatred comes from a Buddhist way of forgiveness by means of wiping away past bad karma. We must repent our hatred to the bottom of our hearts. In Buddhism, repentance is an act of expiating our sins and cleansing our minds and hearts. It can be construed as an action of repentance to the Buddha. A way to cut the chain of hatred among individuals, races, and nations is needed now in this troubled world. This is the most important vision that Buddhism can possibly contribute to this modern world. It is of great importance that we religious people, coming together from different traditions and countries, repent our past misdeeds that have been contrary to the gods� will and the buddhas� vows, so that we can pray for peace together. We are standing this moment at a starting point to attaining real peace on earth. Finally, I would like to close by expressing my gratitude for this opportunity to speak at this forum and by assuring you that we as religious workers will continue to pray for a more peaceful world to be realized in the eyes of the gods and buddhas. Thank you very much.
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