Clear Mirror (Part 3)

In honor of Women's Month, we will include excerpts this month from SGI President Ikeda's seminal Feb. 27, 1990, guidance to the SGI-USA Women "Buddhism is the Mirror That Perfectly Reflects Our Lives." For a book of his 1990–1996 speeches that includes the full text of this speech, click here.

Just as you look into a mirror when you make up your face, to beautify "the face of the soul," you need a mirror that reflects the depths of your life. This mirror is none other than the Gohonzon of "observing one’s mind," or more precisely, observing one’s life. Nichiren Daishonin explains what it means to observe one’s life in the Gosho "The True Object of Worship": "only when he looks into a clear mirror for the first time does he see that he is equipped with all six sense organs" (MW-1, 49).

Similarly, observing one’s life means to perceive that one’s life contains the Ten Worlds, and in particular, the world of Buddhahood. It was to enable people to do this that Nichiren Daishonin bestowed the Gohonzon of "observing one’s mind" upon all mankind. In his exegesis on "The True Object of Worship," Nichikan Shonin, the twenty-sixth high priest, states, "The true object of worship can be compared to a wonderful mirror."

Nichiren Daishonin states in the Ongi Kuden (Record of the Orally Transmitted Teachings), "The five characters of Myoho-renge-kyo mirror all things without a single exception." The Gohonzon is the clearest of all mirrors that reflects the entire universe exactly as it is. When you chant to the Gohonzon, you are able to perceive the true entity of your life and tap the inexhaustible life force of Buddhahood.

Incidentally, the glass mirrors that we have today are said to have been invented in Venice, Italy. Sources differ as to exactly when, but their appearance is traced as far back as 1279. That was also the year when Nichiren Daishonin inscribed the Dai-Gohonzon of the high sanctuary of true Buddhism, the eternal great mirror reflecting the true aspect of all phenomena, for the benefit of all humanity.

At the time of the glass mirror’s invention, the production technique was said to have been kept a closely guarded secret in Italy. To prevent knowledge of the technology from spreading, glass craftsmen were confined to an island. But before long France and other countries learned how to produce mirrors, and today mirrors made of glass have completely replaced other types. These events might be construed as the kosen-rufu of the glass mirror.

Similarly, for a long time, the mirror of the Gohonzon, the source of profound beauty and happiness, was known to very few people. We are now promoting the movement to spread it far and wide.

The Gohonzon is a clear mirror. It perfectly reveals our state of faith and projects this out into the universe. This demonstrates the principle of ichinen sanzen, that a single life-moment pervades the three thousand realms.

In a letter to his disciple, Abutsubo on Sado Island, Nichiren Daishonin wrote: “You may think you offered gifts to the treasure tower, but that is not so. You offered them to yourself” WND-1, 299). Worshipping the Gohonzon graces and glorifies the treasure tower of your own life.

When people worship the Gohonzon, all Buddhas and bodhisattvas in the entire universe immediately respond to their prayers by lending their protection. If they slander the Gohonzon, the response will be exactly the opposite.

'One’s Mind of Faith Is Most Important'

For this reason, one’s mind of faith is extremely important. The mind of faith has a subtle and far-reaching influence.

There may be times, for instance, when you feel reluctant to do gongyo or take part in activities for kosen-rufu. That state of mind is reflected exactly on the entire universe, as if on the surface of a clear mirror. The heavenly deities will then also feel reluctant to play their part, and they will naturally fail to exert their full power of protection.

On the other hand, when you joyfully do gongyo and carry out activities with the determination to accumulate more good fortune in your life, the heavenly deities will be delighted and will valiantly perform their duty. If you must take some action anyway, it is to your advantage that you do so spontaneously and with a feeling of joy.

If you practice reluctantly with a sense that it’s a waste of time, disbelief and complaints will erode your good fortune. If you continue to practice in this way, you will not experience remarkable benefits, and this will only serve to further convince you that your practice is in vain. This is a vicious circle.

If you practice faith while doubting its effects, you will get results that are, at best, unsatisfactory. This is the reflection of your own weak faith on the mirror of the cosmos. On the other hand, when you stand up with strong confidence, you will accrue limitless blessings.

While controlling your mind, which is at once both extremely subtle and solemnly profound, you should strive to elevate your faith with freshness and vigor. When you do so, both your life and your surroundings will open wide before you, and every action you take will become a source of benefit. Understanding the subtle workings of one’s mind is the key to faith and to attaining Buddhahood in this lifetime.

There is a Russian proverb which says, "It is no use the blame the looking glass if your face is awry." Likewise, your happiness or unhappiness is entirely the reflection of the balance of good and bad causes accumulated in your life. You cannot blame others for your misfortunes. In the world of faith, it is necessary to realize this all the more clearly.