*Nichiren Daishonin writes:*
*"Hungry spirits perceive the Ganges River as fire, human beings perceive it as water, and heavenly beings perceive it as amrita. Though the water is the same, it appears differently according to one's karmic reward from the past." (WND-1, 486)*
How we perceive things differs according to our state of life. When our state of life changes, the realm in which we reside also changes. This is the essence of the doctrine of the "actual three thousand realms in a single moment of life" found in the Lotus Sutra.
Referring to the unending persecution he experienced throughout his life, the Daishonin says:
"Day after day, month after month, year after year I have been subjected to repeated persecutions. Minor persecutions and annoyances are too numerous even to be counted, but the major persecutions number four."(I WND-1, 240)
Yet even while exiled to Sado Island, the harshest of his persecutions, he still serenely declares: "I feel immeasurable delight even though I am now an exile" (WND-1, 386). The Daishonin calmly gazes down on his situation from the lofty heights of a life condition as vast and boundless as the universe.
*Soka Gakkai founding president Tsunesaburo Makiguchi endured his wartime imprisonment for his beliefs with a similar state of mind, writing in letters from prison: "What I am going through is nothing compared to the sufferings of the Daishonin on Sado"; and "Depending on one's state of mind, even hell can be enjoyable." This last sentence was censored and blacked out by the prosecutor.*
Establishing such a towering state of life is the highest aim of humanity.
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Excerpts from: https://www.sokaglobal.org/resources/study-materials/buddhist-study/the-wisdom-for-creating-happiness-and-peace/chapter-4-7.html
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