Our Mindset Shapes Our Future
Rev. Takashi Maeda
Director, Rissho Kosei-kai International
Looking back through history, whenever society has undergone major change, there has always been a similar sense of uncertainty. Yet from those times, new ways of living and new forms of society have emerged. When we reflect on this, we realize that we too are living within such a flow of great change.
President Niwano teaches us in this month’s message that whether we accept things and events with dissatisfaction and displeasure, or with joy, or with gratitude, depends entirely upon our own mind. It is not the event itself, but how we perceive it that determines whether our suffering deepens or eases. Even when faced with the same event, our state of mind changes greatly depending on whether we lament “Why is this happening to me?” or instead ask “What can I learn from this?”
That is why, rather than reacting immediately to the event, it is important for us to pause for a moment and reflect on its meaning. Buddhism teaches that all things arise through causes and conditions and are constantly changing. Both painful and joyful experiences are part of life, and they each serve as an important force that helps us grow.
Looking back, we often realize that we are who we are today precisely because of those past experiences. Rather than seeking answers outside ourselves, especially in times of anxiety and uncertainty, we should turn our attention inward. Then, let us steadily take one step that we can take right now. No matter how small that step may seem, it will never be in vain. Each sure step creates a path forward, and along that path, a new future opens before us.
