It is natural that even we who have faith should encounter various problems in the course of our lives. With the power of faith, however, we can solve all those troubles. One day we will be able to look back and think, “Because of that problem, I was able to grow, and a new road in life opened up for me.” Buddhism calls this the benefit of “changing poison into medicine. I once heard a young medical student relate his experience. Before he began practicing Buddhism, his mother had been bedridden with rheumatism. His father was a physician, but he could not cure his wife’s disease. On top of it the couple would engage in endless quarrels. How the youth resented the gloomy and depressing atmosphere of his family! This motivated him to take faith in Nichiren Buddhism.
Then, one after another, the other members of his family followed suit. As a result, his mother recovered from her illness and his family became a bright and harmonious one. The family was well-off. Had the father and mother been devoted to each other, and had the mother been healthy, the family would most likely not have taken faith in true Buddhism. It was because his parents fought like cats and dogs, and because his mother was ill, that the youth sought the Gohonzon and established his faith. Now, hearing this, some of you may decide, “Okay, we’ll start quarreling with each other from today. That way our children will develop.” But this is missing the point. Everyone has their own worries.
I once heard an old woman remark, “I have the worst karma in the world.” “How do you know it’s the worst?” I asked. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I never thought about it.” I asked her if she knew how deep her neighbor’s karma was. She said she didn’t. In adversity everyone thinks that he or she is the unhappiest person on earth. However, it is true that the deeper the mud, the larger the lotus flowers which bloom in it. Similarly, if one decides, “Okay, because this mud is so deep, I’m going to chant more dai-moku than other people,” then he can change poison into medicine.
I make it a rule to tell people to pray to the Gohonzon before they brood over their problems or complain. Some of you may be worried about your marriage partners not doing gongyo. But, no matter how many times you may complain, it will not make them embrace the Gohonzon. The Gosho teaches that benefits come from chanting dai-moku. Nowhere does it say that you can obtain benefits by complaining, even if you do so a million times. Fundamentally, everyone wants to be happy.
The key to attaining happiness lies in whether we can overcome the negative influences of our environment or whether we will be defeated by them. We must build up a strong life force in order to win. Think of the wheat, The harder it is trodden under, the stouter the seedling that grows. This very process assures a rich harvest. The same holds true with human development. No matter how well-bred a seed may be, as long as it is placed on a table it will not sprout, much less bear fruit. Only when it is buried in earth can it sprout.
Each of us has the seed of happiness—in other words, the seed of Buddhahood—within. It is covered with the “earth” of various problems, which motivate us to chant dai-moku to the Gohonzon. Then the seed will sprout, Thus the “earth” serves as a good influence. Some of you may be worried because of your mates, children or parents. But so long as you merely complain about them, you will not be able to solve your problem. Instead, resolve to turn your anxiety into an impetus for changing your karma, into a springboard for attaining enlightenment—in other words, into a good influence.
Then muster your power of faith and practice, and chant and chant until you have solved your problem. Only your faith in the Gohonzon can enable you to do this. Without the Gohonzon, it is impossible to transform your problem into a good influence for changing your karma.
