President’s Monthly Message

We Are Receiving the Precious Gift of Life

Nichiko Niwano
President, Rissho Kosei-kai

Learning from the Past

This year marks the eightieth anniversary of the end of World War II. Today there is no need to mention whether war is right or wrong, but I have mixed feelings about the fact that memories of that indescribably horrific war—such as the Great Tokyo Air Raid, the fierce fighting on Okinawa, and even the dropping of atomic bombs—seem to be fading, little by little, with the passage of time. That said, my only experience was going into an air raid shelter after hearing a siren warning of an approaching bomber squadron, so I cannot imagine the feelings and memories of those who survived the air raids and battles.

“Off they went / To be shot to death, / Burned to death, / And starved to death— / Their bodies piled up, / Until the fighting ceased” and “A lump of brown sugar / For today’s three o’clock snack / Tucked in the pocket / Of a dead child”—these are poems by an Okinawan poet, Yuko Momohara.

These poems move our hearts with the tragedy of Okinawa—which became a battlefield in the fighting between the Japanese forces and the Allied forces, troops mainly from the United States and Great Britain, and where over 200,000 precious lives were lost—and the grief of Momohara, a mother who lost her son, a second-year junior high school student who was caught up in the battle.

However, in order to build a brighter future, I think it is important that we look unflinchingly at these painfully sad events and the tragically cruel past. Because we are now receiving life, it is up to us to pass down these memories, reflect on them, learn lessons from them, and turn them into wisdom so that we can make the world a better place for future generations.

Moreover, the novelist Ayako Sono wrote that “By being exposed to evil, ugliness, cruelty, and indifference, we develop a human mind” (Sankei Shimbun, January 13, 2016). As the expression “learning from mistakes” suggests, when we reflect upon human-made disasters, symbolized by war, and contemplate the mind of evil and the mind of good that we all have within ourselves, we try not to repeat the same mistakes. At the same time, we try to develop the mind of compassion.

At this time of year, the Ullambana Festival and the memorial services for the countless victims of war present us with times and places to offer our prayers to console their spirits. As we do this, we look into our own hearts, acknowledge and express remorse for our own shortcomings, and think about the future.

The Mind of Great Harmony

Shakyamuni teaches us that “All people fear violence, and all people fear death. When you put yourself in the place of others, you do not kill them. And you do not make others kill.” Other people feel the same way you do about the things that you dread and fear. In other words, everyone wants their days to be peaceful and tranquil and to live their lives with a sense of security.

Meanwhile, in the Seventeen-Article Constitution, Japan’s first statutory law, Prince Shotoku included the famous phrase “We will value harmony” in the first article. The Japanese people have treasured this mind of valuing harmony, or spirit of daiwa [大和] meaning “great harmony,” since ancient times, but in light of the words of Shakyamuni, we could say that this is his hope, his original vow, shared by all people living on Earth, couldn’t we? In that case, there is nothing other than this “spirit of great harmony” that can lead to the realization of his original vow for world peace.

It seems that in Okinawa, where the aforementioned Momohara was born, all of Japan, except Okinawa, is called Yamato. This is probably related to the fact that one of the historical names for Japan is Yamato, [大和] in Chinese characters, which also has the meaning “great peace,” and I think it is important that as citizens of such a country, we Japanese have the guts to hope for a peaceful future and world, but we cannot do so unless we take the lead and demonstrate that spirit. Of course, it is impossible to teach “great harmony” (daiwa in Japanese, [大和] in Chinese characters) to others if spouses, parents, children, and siblings are fighting with each other at home, so we should live our daily lives with the mindset that there is no peace movement more important than putting our own homes in order.

In addition, in order to ensure that such a sad history will never be repeated, we must spread the teachings of the Buddha and strive for a world of great harmony. What we can do for the future, as we receive the precious gift of life as human beings, all comes down to this one point.