VP Tsuji – Protect Prayer from Negativity

Once we have decided to succeed at something because a wonderful occasion has presented itself to us, we must protect our inner world, which is subjective, against the subtle attacks of our negative voices: “Nothing will ever change anyway, it is always the same thing, etc…” If we are subject to hearing these kinds of voices (which is the case for most of us) well, then, we listen to them.  And we let them influence our state of life.  The more we listen to them, the more they destroy our prayers. So, we slowly start to change the course of our prayers. And there comes a time when we start to agree with these inner negative voices, because this is what we have done most of our lives.

When we reach this point, our prayers have all the chance in the world to FAIL to come true. When we chant daimoku, it is what we think and what we feel at this particular moment that gets projected into the universe.  And as the Law is impartial, we are the one who decides what will happen.  It is like a mirror. So, if unconsciously, we change the course of our prayers, the Law accepts this as our desire.

So, our responsibility, when we truly desire something, is to hold on to our prayers without letting our negative voices discourage us.  If we start to compromise, we have abandoned our prayers’ goal without even being aware of it. Once a decision is made, no more compromises! Buddhism is victory or defeat. It is not compromise. Compromising is what we have done all our life.

So, create the decision and chant daimoku for it. Once the determination is there, how you will obtain this or that, how things will happen etc., becomes the responsibility of the Gohonzon (your Buddhahood).  Our responsibility is to hold on to our prayers without letting ANYTHING destabilize inside ourselves or in the outside world. (Stop judging your prayer – it is worthy!!)

It is also of the utmost importance to practice to manifest our BUDDHAHOOD every day. It is really the essential point because if we cannot manifest the Buddha state in our life, no big results can be expected from our prayers anyway. If we do not understand this, let’s say that we simply pass the time practicing for our desires.

Extremely important also is the concept explaining that we all have this Buddha nature inside ourselves.  Life itself is Buddha.  Our whole life is Buddha.  Everything that lives in this world is Buddha.  We must not think that this Buddha nature is outside us.  It is one and inseparable from ourselves.  The Gohonzon is an exterior object.  It is a catalyst that makes this Buddha state emerge from the depths of our lives.  The Buddha nature in us and the one that is embodied by the Gohonzon are the same reality. They seem two distinct entities but the eternal truth, unchanging, is Buddha.  It is life itself.

YOU ARE BUDDHA NOW! When you realize this, you start to recognize and appreciate the power, the dignity and the unlimited aspects of your life.

This means that you are the Buddha responsible for your life.  Nobody, but you.  You can do whatever you want with your life.  Not what your environment wants it to be.  When you acknowledge that your life is Buddha…it is ichinen sanzen.  And you can call forward the power to transform or create Buddha’s land wherever you are.  Not somewhere else or in the future.

The past is only a dream, no matter if it was good or bad, it is still a dream.  As for the future, it is nothing else than our imagination, be it positive or negative.  In itself and by itself, future does not exist.  The essence of life, which is Myo, is eternal and unchanging.  The more you will acknowledge that your life is Buddha, the more force and conviction will be found in your daimoku.

The ultimate ichinen of the Gohonzon is to make anyone from any world equal to it.  It is the reason why a Buddha appears – in order to give each person the key to his palace of enlightenment and to his own wisdom.  If we do not understand this, we are like beggars who chant daimoku.  And there comes a time when the Gohonzon doesn’t answer our prayers no more because if we continue in the wrong way, we cannot attain enlightenment.  We are completely wrong as to our objectives.  Whatever you feel towards the Gohonzon, you can experience towards the Gohonzon that lives inside yourself.

Buddhism is vertical: the present moment is infinite, unlimited, eternal.  There comes a time when we must consciously start to work at our own awakening.  We cannot just go with the flow.  We can practice all our life in the wrong direction.  But, in cultivating our attention consciously, we can come to see that our life is Buddha.  We must perceive the nature of our own life.  If we do not acknowledge this, we suffer each time a difficulty arises.  We feel desperate and powerless.  But when we realize that our life is Buddha, each time a problem arises, a strong conviction and a big confidence appear.  “Because my life is Buddha, I can transform this into a huge benefit.”  If we deepen this conviction that our life is the Buddha entity, as we are – and not after becoming these perfect beings – then things start to happen, we do not feel anxious or fearful; what is happening is only the occasion to transform the difficulty into a major benefit and the suffering into joy. 

The ultimate optimist is the one that has no fear for the future and no regrets of the past.  His life is Buddha, he can transform anything and make the Buddha nature appear in everything.  So, even in the state of hell, because he has this deep conviction that his life is Buddha and that he is its manifestation, the Buddha nature of ALL THINGS emerges also.