[9:34 AM, 6/25/2018] Kwee! Chang: Suda: For that matter, regarding President Toda's enlightenment while in prison, there have been enquiries from readers wondering whether they can have the same experience.
Ikeda: For many people, the word 'enlightenment' seems to have associations with mystical powers, such as the ability to remember past lives or to see into the future. But that is certainly not the case. Those who casually speak of enlightenment in such terms are definitely frauds. President Toda remarked: 'What is enlightenment in the Latter Day of the Law? It is to believe wholeheartedly in the Gohonzon.' Not to doubt the Gohonzon no matter what happens, to believe earnestly - this is enlightenment in the Latter Day. Faith in the Gohonzon itself equals enlightenment. To illustrate, there might be someone who agonizes over his home situation. The person lives in anguish, feeling that he is the most miserable person in the world. He feels resentment towards others and complains constantly.
However, as a result of opening his eyes to faith and learning about Buddhism he comes to understand that the causes of his misery are within his own life. He then strives to carry out his human revolution. As his faith deepens and his state of life expands, he is able splendidly to overcome his sufferings. Through this experience, the person grasps the truth that when one's frame of mind or spirit changes, everything changes. This is the case of embodying the principle of three thousand realms in a single moment of life, or ichinen sanzen. Isn't this an instance of brilliant enlightenment.
Suda. Members who have had such experiences are numerous. Indeed, they could well be described as countless.
Ikeda: Of course, President Toda possessed a wonderful state of life uniquely his own. But it was inseparable from his absolute, unparalleled confidence in the Gohonzon; no one could match his strength of conviction. His state of life was that of great confidence itself. The true nature of life and death
[9:39 AM, 6/25/2018] Kwee! Chang: What, then, is the true nature of life and death as seen with the eye of the Buddha? This is described in the next passage.
Saito: Yes. Shakyamuni says, 'There is no ebb or flow of birth and death, and there is no existing in this world and later entering extinction' (LS 16, p. 226). In the threefold world, there is neither birth nor death, there is neither withdrawing from this world nor appearing in it.
Accordingly, there is no distinction between those at present in the world and those who have died.
Suda: It seems to me that this clarifies the eternal existence of fife. From a common sense standpoint, we can only think of birth as appearing in the world and of death as withdrawing from it. But from the Buddha's perspective, birth and death are only alternating phases of life, which is itself eternal.
Ikeda: That's right. But the statement, 'there is no... birth and death', emphasizes the eternal aspect of life. Then again, if we were only to think of life from that angle, we might fall into abstraction. After all, life and death are realities of existence. To ignore them, therefore, is to engage in theoretical speculation.
Nichiren Daishonin goes one step further in saying, 'We repeat the cycle of birth and death secure upon the earth of our intrinsically enlightened nature' (Gosho Zensbu, p. 724). Life and death based on the Mystic Law are themselves dramas on 'the earth of our intrinsically enlightened nature', or the eternal stage of the great life of the universe. When we realize that we are in some sense enacting a drama, our existence becomes a source of inexhaustible joy. Life and death are not fraught with suffering; they are filled with joy. This is how we realize the ultimate state of life in which 'life is joyful and death is joyful, too'. The Mystic Law is the great beneficial medicine for overcoming the sufferings of life and death. The 'Life Span' chapter says, 'This is a highly effective medicine' (LS 16, p. 228). The members of the SGI who day in and day out are unsparingly using their minds and their bodies for the sake of the Law and for the sake of friends are truly advancing along the path of victory in life over eternity.
