the land is sacred

[The Words and Phrases of the Lotus Sutra] says “Since the Law is wonderful, the person is worthy of respect; since the person is worthy of respect, the land is sacred.” 

Nichiren,1281.The Person and the Law. [http://www.sgilibrary.org/view.php?page=1097&m=1&q=person%20law]

life

Life at each moment encompasses the body and mind and the self and environment of all sentient beings in the Ten Worlds as well as all insentient beings in the three thousand realms, including plants, sky, earth, and even the minutest particles of dust. Life at each moment permeates the entire realm of phenomena and is revealed in all phenomena. 

Nichiren, 1255. On Attaining Buddhahood in This Lifetime. 

the infinite extent of our relations

Several times, when a visitor chanced to stay into evening, and it proved a dark night, I was obliged to conduct him to the cart-path in the rear of the house, and then point out to him the direction he was to pursue, and in keeping which he was to be guided rather by his feet than his eyes. Not till we are lost, in other words not till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves, and realize where we are and the infinite extent of our relations.

Thoreau Henri-David, Walden

wisdom : correcting the distortions of conscious purpose

Finally, it is appropriate to mention some of the factors which may act as correctives—areas of human action which are not limited by the narrow distortions of coupling through conscious purpose and where wisdom can obtain. 

(a) Of these, undoubtedly the most important is love. Martin Buber has classified interpersonal relationships in a relevant manner. He differentiates “I-Thou” relations from “I-It” relations, defining the latter as the normal pattern of interaction between man and inanimate objects. The “I-It” relationship he also regards as characteristic of human relations wherever purpose is more important

than love. But if the complex cybernetic structure of societies and ecosystems is in some degree analogous to animation, then it would follow that an “I-Thou” relationship is conceivable between man and his society or ecosystem. In this connection, the formation of “sensitivity groups” in many depersonalized organizations is of special interest.

The arts, poetry, music, and the humanities similarly are areas in which more of the mind is active than mere consciousness would admit. “Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point.”

Contact between man and animals and between man and the natural world breeds, perhaps—sometimes—wisdom.

(b) There is religion. 

Bateson Gregory, 1972. Steps to an ecology of mind. Chandler Pub. Co.

speaking in images

The evolutionary stratification of the Psyche is more clearly discernible in the dream than in the conscious mind. In the dream, the psyche speaks in images, and gives expression to instincts, which derive from the most primitive levels of nature. Therefore, through the assimilation of unconscious contents, the momentary life of consciousness can once more be brought into harmony with the law of nature from which it all too easily departs, and the patient can be led back to the natural law of his own being.

Jung Carl Gustav, 1933. The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man.

buddhist humanism

Recognizing that all is change within a framework of interdependence, we of course see harmony and oneness as expressions of our interconnectedness. But we can even appreciate contradiction and conflict in the same way. Thus the struggle against evil-- a struggle that issues from the inner effort to master our own contradictions and conflicts-- should be seen as a difficult yet unavoidable trial that we must undergo in the effort to create a greater and deeper sense of connection.

If we experience connection positively as a sense of harmony or oneness, we experience the same connection negatively in conflict. In that they are both aspects of connection, they can be understood as bearing an equal value. To the degree, however, that we recognize the reality of life as a struggle and understand that it is through struggle that our humanity is tempered and strengthened, a courageous engagement with conflict is even more crucial. In the Buddhist tradition, this is the mark of honor of the bodhisattva. Refusing to discriminate on the basis of stereotypes or imposed limitations, we can recognize the underlying oneness of positive and negative connection, and engage with the full force of our lives in the kind of dialogue that will transform even conflict into positive connection. It is in this challenge that the true contribution of a Buddhist-based humanism is to be found.

Ikeda Daisaku, 2005 peace proposal, 

http://www.daisakuikeda.org/main/peacebuild/peace-proposals/pp2005.html

inner universalism

[I]nner universalism is a method for searching the inner self to find a universal value within it. As a matter of course, Buddhism is a method of probing the depths of life, addressing the levels of human life, race, nation, biosphere and earth, leading to an understanding of original life force as ultimately fused with the universe itself. [...] The search for universal values in the depths of life corresponds to Buddhist wisdom (prajna) while the transcending of the self to reach out to external existence corresponds to the practice of compassion (maitri-karuna) in Buddhism.

Kawada Yoichi, 2001. The Importance of the Buddhist concept of Karma for World Peace. in Buddhism and Nonviolent Global Problem-Solving: Ulan Bator Explorations, Edited by Glenn D. Paige and Sarah Gilliatt. Center for Global Nonviolence.

Universal value is assumed to be inherent in each and every person, who must seek and develop it within his or her own life. This value is, by its very nature, one that cannot be imposed by force from outside. The strategy that logically derives from this concept of inner universalism is characterized by gradualism, as opposed to radicalism. Whereas radicalism is driven by force, gradualism is propelled by dialogue. The use of force is invariably a product of distrust; dialogue, by contrast, is based on mutual trust and respect.

Ikeda Daisaku, 1989. Toward a New Globalism,  Peace Proposal. Tokyo,  Soka Gakkai.

unity-of-means-and-ends

[T]wo axioms […] summarize Gandhism : unity-of-life and unity-of-means-and-ends. […]The conclusion drawn by Gandhi from these two axioms was respect for the sacredness of all life (hence vegetarism) and acceptance of the precept 'take care of the means and the ends will take care of themselves'. Thus the unity-of-life doctrine is very different from a doctrine of 'ecological balance', since it means enhancing all life, not just human life ; and all human life […]. And the unity-of-means-and-ends would lead to a doctrine of synchrony, calling for work on all issues simultaneously rather than the diachrony of one big step that is assumed to trigger the force motrice. Archetype : the Buddhist wheel where elements of thought, speech, and action tend to be at the same level of priority […].

Galtung Johann, 1996. Peace by peaceful means. Prio. pp 207-208.

deep-level consciousness

Deep-level consciousness transcends reason and can operate with great acuteness, speed, and accuracy. Though this ability is inherent in life itself, the civilizational development of mankind has weakened it. As a consequence man has come to believe that he can function satisfactorily even if his deep-conscious abilities are inactive. In other words, surface human consciousness, especially reason, has suppressed deeper human consciousness.

Ikeda Daisaku, Toynbee Arnold, 2008. Choose life : a dialogue. Tauris.

plants

Plants awaken the aesthetic feeling within us, soften our murderous tendencies, inspire us to poetry, and thus nurture our hearts and minds.


Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, 2002. Geography of human life. Caddo Gap Press .

the parable of the medicinal herbs

The equality of the Buddha's preaching
is like a rain of a single flavor,
but depending upon the nature of the living being,
the way in which it is received is not uniform,
just as the various plants and trees
each receive the moisture in a different manner.
The Buddha employs this parable
as an excellent means to open up and reveal the matter,
using various kinds of words and phrases
and expounding the single Law,
but in terms of the Buddha wisdom
this is no more than one drop of the ocean.
I rain down the Dharma rain,
filling the whole world,
and this single-flavored Dharma
is practiced by each according to the individual's power.
It is like those thickets and groves,
medicinal herbs and trees
which, according to whether they are large or small,
bit by bit grow lush and beautiful.

The Lotus Sutra, trans. Burton Watson (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993), 104

in the shadows of the mountains

As children we grow up in the shadows of the mountains and come to love them almost as we love our parents. Their presence grows within our minds and deeply affects our lives and personalities, unconsciously.

Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, 2002. A geography of human life, Caddo Gap Press, San-Francisco.

deeper & slower movements

The things that make good headlines attract our attention because they are on the surface of the stream of life, and they distract our attention from the slower, impalpable, imponderable movements that work below the surface and penetrate to the depths. But of course it is really these deeper, slower movements that, in the end, make history, and it is they that stand out huge in retrospect, when the sensational passing events have dwindled, in perspective, to their true proportions.

Toynbee Arnold, 1946. Civilization on trial

pure land

The Vimalakirti Sutra states that, when one seeks the Buddhas’ emancipation in the minds of ordinary beings, one finds that ordinary beings are the entities of enlightenment, and that the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana. It also states that, if the minds of living beings are impure, their land is also impure, but if their minds are pure, so is their land. There are not two lands, pure or impure in themselves. The difference lies solely in the good or evil of our minds.

Nichiren,1999-2006. On Attaining Buddhahood. The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin. 2 vols. Ed. and trans. by The Gosho Translation Committee. Tokyo: Soka Gakkai.

mind in nature

This universe is the entity of the Buddha and all phenomena are manifestations of the Buddha’s compassion. Or it may be more apt to say that compassion is the original nature of the universe. The existence of the sun, the moon’s light, the mutual pulling together and relating of stars, the wind and storms, the growth of grasses and trees-are all manifestations of compassion, and it is simply we who have arbitrarily decided that there is no heart or mind in nature.


Toda Josei, 1983. Jihiron [Theory of Compassion]. In Toda Josei Zenshu [The Collected Works of Josei Toda] vol. 3, (Tokyo: Seikyo Shimbunsha,), p. 44.

dependent origination

Buddhism uses the term "dependent origination" (Jpn. engi) to describe symbiotic relations. Nothing--no one--exists in isolation. Each individual existence functions to bring into being the environment which in turn sustains all other existences. All things, mutually supportive and related, form a living cosmos, what modern philosophy might term a semantic whole. This is the conceptual framework through which Mahayana Buddhism views the natural universe.

Daisaku Ikeda, 1993. Mahayana Buddhism and Twenty-First Century Civilization, Delivered at Harvard University, September 24.

It is manifested that the consciousness which appears on the surface always affects the depths on the basis of dependent origination, and the surface consciousness and the subsurface consciousness are always changing fluidly. In the same way, subject and its environment have close relation still more at the depths as well as relation which appears as phenomenon at the surface. Therefore, the phenomenon and the consciousness, which appear at the surface, are only the tip of the iceberg floating on the water. There is a vast world that extends under the surface of the water. That vast world is developed with the depths of the consciousness and the phenomenon in Buddhist thought.

Yamamoto Shuichi, 2001. Mahayana Buddhism and Environmental Ethics : From the Perspective of the Consciousness-Only Doctrine. IOP. The Journal of Oriental Studies, 11, 167–180.

In Buddhist thought, recognizing the occurrence of any phenomena is first justified by the doctrine of Origination in Dependence where everything is somehow connected.../...
This mutualism is suitably expressed in the simile of Indra’s Net describing the aspect of “arising from causation (engi)” in the Huayan or Flower Garland Sutra (kegon-kyo) in Buddhist literature. The simile describes a great net that hangs in the palace of Indra, the God of Thunder. The net has countless joints or knots adorned with jewels in a beautifully complex mesh. Each of these jewels clearly reflects all the other jewels in the net, so that every part of the net reflects all other parts. The knots of the net express each living entity, and the net is stabilized so that the relation is complicated. The reason each link or knot is expressed as a jewel implies that each living entity has value beyond imagination, and projecting other jewels signifies the mutual respect and deep relationship each living entity has towards one another.

Yamamoto Suichi & Kuwahara Victor S., 2006. Symbiosis with the Global Environment : Buddhist Perspective of Environmental Education IOP.The Journal of Oriental Studies, 16, 176-185.