The SSA Youth Musical (SYM) 2010 is now recruiting cast and crew!
Also check out the photographs of previous cultural festivals!

http://www.sym2010.com/

Deep Sense of Gratitude Towards My Parents, My Mentor, and the Mystic Law

By Mavis Tan (Distrist 3, Sengkang Central Chapter, Sengkang Zone, SSA), 10th April 2009

It’s my 24th birthday today. While I received numerous birthday wishes, I feel a deep sense of gratitude for my parents, my mentor Ikeda Sensei, and Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism. I would not have lived till today if not for this wonderful practice.

When I was 8 months old, my mother noticed patches of bruises on my body although I did not fall or injure myself. My parents took me to the doctor, and after a blood test, the doctor found that I was suffering from a blood disorder which caused my platelet count to be extremely low and my condition was life-threatening. My parents do not remember the name of the disorder, but it should be Thrombocytopenia. My parents were shocked because this form of blood disorder should be hereditary and they had no history of blood disorders. I was the youngest patient then in Singapore to be suffering from this blood disorder, and the doctor said that if I did not receive treatment in the US as soon as possible, I may die anytime due to internal bleeding because my blood could not clot.

I was on medication and I had to sleep in a cot surrounded by pillows to prevent me from knocking into hard objects. My parents had to take me to the hospital almost everyday for blood tests. There was once when the doctor had to draw a sample of my bone marrow, and the nurses had to press me down for over an hour for the doctor to do so. I believe the pain was excruciating for an 8-month-old, and I cried until my tears turned pink, and my body was bruised from the struggling while the nurses held me down. I can imagine the tremendous pain it caused my parents. They must have felt helpless as a young couple and found it hard to accept that their first child had to experience such suffering.

My family was not wealthy then, and it was beyond their financial means to send me abroad for treatment. Being a Taoism practitioner, my father brought me to various Taoist temples to gain blessings from the gods, and I even became a ‘godchild’ of these gods. For 9 months, they continued to seek advice from Taoist priests and put me through several Taoist rituals and rites. However, my condition did not improve.

My father then turned to traditional Chinese Buddhism, and prayed to the Guanyin. At the back of his mind, he remembered that his eldest sister was practicing a sort of Buddhism which chanted Nam-myo-ho-renge-kyo. However, their relationship was going through a rough patch at that time, and he did not seek her help. Moreover, he was skeptical about that ‘Japanese’ Buddhism she was practising. One day, as he was reciting the Guanyin chant, the phrase Nam-myo-ho-renge-kyo came out of his mouth. He was surprised by the freudian slip, and decided to seek his eldest sister’s help to practice Nichiren Buddhism proper.

At first, only my father chanted. He participated in discussion meetings and was an active YMD. My mother was very skeptical about chanting and was angry that my father was spending much time on daimoku and Soka activities. Two weeks after my father started practicing seriously, the doctor found that my platelet count was increasing. It was a good sign, and it was an actual proof which motivated my mother to chant. My mother joined my father in chanting and discussion meetings, and vowed that if I recovered speedily, she would convert to Nichiren Buddhism and enshrine the Gohonzon.

Two weeks after my mother practiced seriously, my parents took me for another checkup at the hospital. I took a blood test, and the nurse notice something abnormal. She apologized to my mother for a mistake and requested for me to retake the blood test. Again, my blood showed unexpected signs. My platelet count was normal. I had fully recovered! The doctor was pleasantly surprised and asked what my parents did. They told him that they simply chanted daimoku. Although he was a Christian, he encouraged my parents to continue chanting because the religion worked for them, and me.

Within 1 month of serious chanting and dedicating their lives to the practice of Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism, they changed poison into medicine. I believe my parents and I have transformed our karma. Subsequently after we received the Gohonzon, my grandparents and relatives started chanting as well, and have seen for themselves the power of this wonderful Buddhism.

I believe that it was my mission to be born with an illness so that I could fulfill my vow as a Bodhisattva of the Earth. My father told me that if he was wealthy then, he wouldn’t have chanted because he could afford to send me for treatment abroad. For over 23 years, my family has been happily practicing Nichiren Daishonin’s Buddhism, and we have seen several actual proofs in our lives. My father and mother continue to be active in Soka activities, and my siblings and I are fulfilling the role of serving our members and protecting the organization and Sensei.

I’ve never shared this testimonial in written form, and I thought today is not just a day to celebrate my birth and my continuous good health, but also a day to repay my gratitude by sharing this testimonial. I also vow to dedicate the rest of my life to sharing this Buddhism with others and follow my mentor’s footsteps in fulfilling peace and happiness of mankind.

Source: http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/04/06/fea03.asp

Broadening the vision of human rights

Daisaku Ikeda

The reality of today is that people in many places around the world are deprived of their basic human rights and freedoms and struggle under the heel of oppression

“Human rights are the essence of the reason and spiritual values that characterise humanity, the manifestation of the most noble qualities of the human being.”

These are the profound words of Austregesilo de Athayde, president of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, one of the active participants in the process of drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

Human rights

The principles voiced in the Declaration have since been codified in the form of various international human rights instruments and have further been enshrined in the Constitutions of many countries. The Declaration stands as a powerful beacon in humanity’s struggle for human rights.

However, the reality of today is that people in many places around the world are deprived of their basic human rights and freedoms and struggle under the heel of oppression. In addition to armed conflicts in various regions, extreme poverty and shortages of food, drinking water and medical supplies claim nearly 24,000 lives everyday.

In East Asian tradition, one’s 60th birthday signifies the completion of a cycle of life, and opportunity to reflect and reassess. What is important now is to heighten people’s awareness of human rights, to return once more to the spirit in which the UDHR was created and ensure that people around the world deepen their commitment to bringing human rights to life.

And we also need to ensure that human rights are positioned at the heart of the normative framework under which humankind operates in the 21st century. The core of the UDHR consists of “first-generation human rights” – which are essentially related to civil and political rights – and “second-generation human rights” – economic and social rights.

Since the UDHR was promulgated, and with the achievement of independence by countries in Africa and Asia in the second half of the 20th Century, increasing attention has been given to “third-generation human rights” – the so-called solidarity rights which include the right to development, to a safe and healthy environment, to peace and to access humanity’s common heritage.

Abuses and approach

Two trends become apparent as we review the history of human rights. The first is a shift from a reactive approach of protecting people from human rights abuses to a more proactive approach of engagement in realizing a better life and a better society. The second is a shift from a focus on the rights of individuals in isolation to a broader, more inclusive emphasis on human solidarity and creative coexistence with the environment.

Ultimately, the promise of human rights can only be fulfilled through the development of a rich spirituality rooted in a respect for the lives of others and heartfelt concern for the natural environment.

It is by taking action for the sake of others, for the sake of society, and for the sake of future generations that human beings can grasp the significance of our having been born in this world and can experience genuine fulfilment and happiness. This is also the true significance of Athayde’s statement.

‘Ocean of life’

According to the Buddhist understanding of interdependence, nothing in this world can exist in isolation. We exist within a web of mutually supporting and sustaining relationships. In a sense, humanity is one family, interconnected through the “ocean of life” that is the Planet Earth.

Any attempt to build personal happiness or societal flourishing on the suffering of others cannot, in the long term, succeed.

More than 100 years ago, the first president of the Soka Gakkai, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1871-1944) the founder of Soka education who was imprisoned for his opposition to Japan’s militarist regime and died in prison – surveyed the development of international society and called for the world to move from military, political and economic forms of competition to an age of “humanitarian competition.” This may be understood as a call for a change in our sense of values, to a striving for the welfare and happiness of both the self and others.

Unprecedented problems

Our world today, faces unprecedented problems such as the environmental and financial crises. Without a global solidarity and a conscious commitment to peaceful coexistence both within human society and with the systems of life that support us, it is becoming clear that there is no future for us. We have reached a point where we each need to strive in our own unique way to make the greatest possible contribution to the realization of human rights.

Rosa Parks, the mother of human rights in the U.S. once spoke of the advice she received from her mother: “My mother taught me self-respect. She said, ‘There’s no law that says people have to suffer.” She stressed it was important not only to respect others, but to be the kind of person other people respect.

Contributing to others, working for the sake of others, is not a matter of duty. It is not simply a matter of morality. It is the highest pinnacle of our lives as humans. As can be strongly affirmed by mothers around the world who cherish life, to be able to contribute to the happiness of others is, indeed, a human right.

Contributing to others opens the path of greater value than the quest for material possessions. This is the path toward the flourishing and blooming of the fathomless world of the human heart.

The times when I have most intensely felt and experienced the inner reality of creation have been those times when I have thrown myself wholeheartedly into a task, when I have carried through with that task to the very end. At such times, I experience a dramatically expanded sense of self. I can almost hear the joyous yell of victory issuing from the depths of my being.

This sense of fulfillment and joy is the crystallization of all the effort-each drop of sweat, each tear-expended to reach that moment. Life’s inherent creativity, its dynamic vitality, is brought to the surface only through the strenuous exertions of a life of consistent action.

Such a way of life will meet with storms and heavy rains, times of seeming defeat. But the creative essence of life is never crushed or vanquished by such things. It is sustained by knowledge of the brilliant rainbow whose bright arch will eventually stretch across the inner expanse of your being.

Indulgence and indolence produce nothing creative. Complaints and evasions reflect a cowardly spirit; they corrupt and undermine life’s natural creative thrust. When life is denuded of the will to struggle creatively, it sinks into a state of hellish destructiveness directed at all that lives.

Never for an instant forget the effort to renew your life, to build yourself anew. Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway of life itself. This is not an easy task. Indeed, it may be the most severely challenging struggle there is. For opening the door to your own life is in the end more difficult than opening the door to all the mysteries of the universe.

But to do so is to vindicate your existence as human beings. Even more, it is the mode of existence that is authentically attuned to the innermost truths of life itself; it makes us worthy of the gift of life.

There is no way of life more desolate or more pitiful than one of ignorance of the fundamental joy that issues from the struggle to generate and regenerate one’s own life from within. To be human is much more than the mere biological facts of standing erect and exercising reason and intelligence. The full and genuine meaning of our humanity is found in tapping the creative fonts of life itself.

The struggle to create new life from within is a truly wonderful thing. There is found the brilliant wisdom that guides and directs the workings of reason; the light of insight that penetrates the farthest reaches of the universe; the undaunted will to see justice done that meets and challenges all the assaults of evil; the spirit of unbounded care that embraces all who suffer. When these are fused with that energy of compassion that pours forth from the deepest sources of cosmic life, an ecstatic rhythm arises to color the lives of all people.

As you meet various trials and difficulties, thus polishing all the many facets of the jewel which is life, you will learn to walk that supreme pathway of humanity. Of this, I am confident, and I am confident too that those who embrace life’s native creativity now stand and will continue to stand in the vanguard of history. Bringing the creativity of life to its fullest flowering is the work of human revolution. Carrying out this kind of human revolution is your mission now as it will be throughout your lives.

~ By Daisaku Ikeda
(Source: http://ikedaquotes.org/creativity.html)

我不要咸鱼翻身，我要当鲤鱼跳龙门！:)

(see The Dragon Gate, SSA Times, Issue 360, pg. 8)

Updated a picture and a video of our CFG 2008! Yes finally!

The blog has been experiencing a higher traffic recently as people are searching for materials related to 3.16 Kosen-rufu Day! It’s really exciting to see that members from all over the world are preparing for 3.16!

I’ve found two articles online related to 3.16 Kosen-rufu Day. See Relevant Reads.

Also, you can look up The Human Revolution Vol 12, Chapter 4, “Successors”. Sensei wrote about the preparations for that meeting, the challenges, the event and Mr. Toda’s speech. It’s a very important and much referred to chapter in The Human Revolution.

The site maintainer hasn’t been too diligent at updating. :/

BUT we are back! Up and running!

If you haven’t, check out Ikeda Sensei’s 2009 Peace Proposal here!

We have been kept busy busy with our SKC Chapter Friendship Gathering which will be held on 20th Sept 2008, 8pm at MTA, TSC.

The youth will be putting up a dance item and we’ve been grooving and doing our moves!

A LIFE DRAMA OF CHANGING KARMA INTO MISSION
By Aoki Masao (Yamanashi Prefecture, Nirasaki City)

This experience is the result of chanting vigorous daimoku and reading Ikeda sensei’s guidance over and over again.. It is a life drama full of joy that, without the support and mercy of my wife, family, siblings and comrades in faith will not be born. It is definitely not an experience of my own, but the common joy I share with my comrades.

In Sensei’s guidance, he says ‘please accumulate good fortune and advance bravely by experiencing the greatness of Buddhism yourself and so by telling that to others’. During these six months, I have nearly experienced death and have realized therefore the greatness of the Gohonzon, the importance of gratitude towards Ikeda sensei and the importance of life. No matter what happens, chant Daimoku. Pray earnestly for the sake of Kosen-Rufu. I think its is wonderful being a member of Soka Gakkai.

On the afternoon of 21 Nov 01, I heard the explanation of my illness from my doctor, ‘Fifth stage of Malicious Lymph cancer’. I could hear the rest of his explanations… without doubts, I asked, ‘Does that mean I going to die?’ The doctor seemed to be choosing his words,’ Yes, I think you could think it that way….’ I could not think of what to say next. I have been hospitalized for three months since 16 Aug, and after many tests, the doctors have not been able to tell me the exact problem. I have had suspicions of my condition, but after receiving ‘death sentences’ from three doctors, my body and mind froze. I asked the blood specialist again, ‘How long can I live?’ ‘If you are young, a few more weeks, if you are more than 50, then think of it has a few months.’ he replied.

My body has not been acting normal since June, by July I felt discomforts in my chest and my stomach was bloated up. Come August, my weight has increased from 67kg to 80kg, and I could no longer lead a normal life. It has been six months since then. I have only six more months to live. At most 100 days before I could not move. I shook my head when I think that I will have to die when the sakura are in their blossom. I left my wife with the doctor, went back to my ward, lied on the bed and tears burst out. No words could describe the sorrow I felt then.

I want to go home! I want to be with my family! I want to go back to a room with the Gohonzon! My daughter is still 16. I want to give her the fatherly love that she needs. I want to create more good memories for her. Also, am I going to end up an ungrateful disciple? What am I going to say to all who have helped me out all this while? I have lots of things that I want to do. I have had just recovered from an intestine cancer operation February the year before. And yet this had to happen to me.

Ms Muramatsu, the nurse came in. She asked in a gentle voice. ‘Mr.. Aoki, what would you like to do?’ I told her all he regrets I have and that I want to go home. Life in the hospital is no longer bearable. I have seen the patient of the bed in front of me, beside me, and even friends I made in the lobby, they have all suffered from the side effects of chemotherapy, got transferred to personal wards and in the end, never returned. My wife came back from the doctor’s and nodded when I told her I was going home. With complicated feelings, and unknown death ahead, I left the hospital.

Even after I got home, the death devil got ahead of me, my life condition sank and Gongyo and daimoku was only conducted as a formality. Though I was told of my approaching death, all I could think of was to commit suicide. I thought of dying at the mountains, the river, the valley, etc. I burnt my clothes in the backyard and changed paper of the shoji doors in preparation of my funeral. The death devil really makes one lose his strength to live. It makes uses of the illness of the heart. It makes fun of the human soul. What’s more, it strangely makes you feel at ease.

It was during this time, my wife’s friend; Ms Hayakawa who has overcome cancer twice came to visit, together with Ms Kobayashi from Kofu. Ms Kobayashi started to speak without much ado, ‘You must overcome cancer by chanting daimoku!’ She had her own style of speaking, a style that was full of confidence, confidence of the immense power of the Gohonzon and Daimoku, and the merciful heart of Ikeda sensei. Perhaps because I did not brace up with those words, she went on to a harsher tone. ‘Mr. Aoki! You were told that you are going to die, aren’t you? Your life condition is that being eaten up by the devil right now! Please chant daimoku that will break this devil, chant till your legs are worn out, please chant at least 10 hours a day! Isn’t this just the right time for you to chant daimoku from the bottom of your life?’ I was dazed by these harsh words from a person whom I have met for the first time, words from a lady who is much younger than myself. But I’m glad she did. My blood seemed to flow backwards and my body became hot. I came to my realization then. This is indeed the voice from Heaven, my Shoten Zenjin! Courage to challenge myself surged up. I immediately sat down in front of the Gohonzon. That day I chanted till late night; the next day, from six in the morning till late night. Same for the following day and the next, I just chanted and chanted. I chanted 50 hours in three days.

In President Akiya’s encouragement postcard were the words,’ penetrate your whole body with sonorous daimoku.’ I can really understand the meaning of the word ‘penetrate’ now. I have never heard of anyone who died from chanting too much daimoku; only heard of people getting better or cured. With that in mind, I chanted 10, 12 hours day and night in front of the Gohonzon. In the middle of the night when the sick devil attacks, I get out of bed and chanted. No matter day or night, I felt most at east in front of the Gohonzon. I became convinced that, I could destroy the illness of the heart and the death devil, with the power of daimoku. My life condition was stronger, and I regained energy to fight on. I chanted with the ichinen that, chanting is the only big job I had in this world. Without saying, my wife, kids and comrades chanted for me too.

At this time, my hair dropped whenever I tried to comb it. Dandruff fell like snow, my body became itchy and I suffered from diarrhea. Nevertheless I chanted, like I was confronting the Gohonzon, with a loud voice as if I were screaming or yelling. Gradually, I felt more peaceful. I took up the volume six of the ‘wisdom of the lotus sutra’ and started reading.

In the beginning of the chapter of the Medicine King, Ikeda Sensei says, ‘what is the purpose of life? It is to change one’s life condition’. ‘When you face the Gohonzon and chant, the Medicine King of your own life starts to work. The power of one’s own life is what heals sickness… Courage surged and my life was on fire each page and each guidance I read. I devoured the pages with joy. The floods of Sensei’s guidance filled my head and chest and I felt like singing from the bottom of my life. The ‘Song of Joy’ and ‘Dance of Joy’ were the songs of life. When the channel of life is in tune with the Gohonzon and daimoku, and feelings for sensei and the gear of life fits together, even as an ordinary man, the workings of Buddha will appear and cause impossible things to happen. From the bottom of my heart, I felt fortunate to have met the Gohonzon and Ikeda sensei, and to be a member of Soka Gakkai. When I told my wife about how I felt, she said,’ I’m sure it’s all part of the Gohonzon’s plans for you to fall ill so that you can realize all these! You have realized things that you would not have realized if you have not had contracted cancer twice consecutively in two years’ time. Gohonzon has saved you from your filthy life. It has changed you from a self-conceited man to a person who can make efforts for the sake of others.’

During this period of time, I often saw images of people who had passed away due to cancer coming for me. I will always scream out that I would not go with them, chant daimoku and read sensei’s books. The person who prays most for Kosen-Rufu; the person who makes most efforts in the world, that person is Ikeda sensei. I sincerely prayed for sensei’s good health everyday. Then I realized that, there are many people who are protecting sensei in the daytime, however only Mrs. Ikeda will be by sensei’s side at when night falls. Kosen-Rufu will not advance if Mrs. Ikeda is not in good health. Then I resolved to pray for Mrs. Ikeda too.

When I have chanted about 1 million daimoku, I saw the image of myself presenting my experience of overcoming cancer at the Yamanashi kaikan. At this time, chanting daimoku is not unbearable or obligation, but has become enjoyable and I could feel time passing very fast. It was no longer daimoku of just shouting out loud but daimoku of smooth rhythm that echoes my body.

Come January 11, for a change, my daughter suggested that we go for a movie. We went to watch the animation ‘Spirited Away’; a movie that I thought is based on Buddhist thinking right from the beginning. The words of the main character Haku shook my heart. ‘Please let me work here! … Even if you are refused, you must keep praying. Those who do not work in this world will become animals.’ I could not help but say out loud, ‘Gohonzon, please leave me in this world. Please let me work in this world. Let me work for Kosen-Rufu!’

January 13, keeping it from me, my wife met up with Mr. Matsumura from the Doctors Group and Mrs. Sugawara. It was to make arrangements for me to go to the hospital again. Mrs. Sugawara made every effort and managed to get the local hospital to refer me to a well-noted doctor in a hospital in Tokyo. Shoten Zenjin is starting to work for us. I was to visit the hospital that I hated so much again.

January 17, all four members of our family got up and did Gongyo and chanted daimoku in the early morning. We took the 7am train. I could see our house from the platform. Tears flowed, as the thought that I might not be able to see this house again if I had to be hospitalized came to mind. At the hospital, I met with the doctor Mr. Nishinarita who kind of resembles Toda sensei. He looked at the referral letter and said, ‘it must been hard on you for the past six months’, and after various tests, he told me to go back for the results in a week’s time.

January 24, together with my wife and eldest son, we went to the hospital. Three of us could not say a word out of anxiety. My name was called. The doctor looked through the test results. Finally the doctor looked up at me and opened his mouth. ‘Based on all the tests we have done, we have found no abnormalities. But, as a doctor, I cannot accept it, judging from your previous cancer test results from the local hospital. I’m sure you will not believe it either, let’s run a few more tests that we normally do not do.’… My wife knelt down on the floor and said,’ doctor, I am sorry to interrupt, but does that mean that the cancer has disappeared?’ ‘Yes, that is based on the results here. However we will have to conduct a bone-marrow test on the 28th before we can conclude. It will be quite painful but it will be the final test. It’s usually a test to confirm the presence of illnesses, but this time it is the other way round. Unbelievable.’ I said boldly, ‘I chanted more than 400 hours of daimoku before I came to this hospital. I believe this is the result of my prayers!’ The doctor and the interns standing behind smiled and nodded. The moment we came out of the room, my wife took my hands and said in a voice like she was trying to calm herself down, ‘you have recovered! The cancer has disappeared! Namyo-ho-ren-gekyo!’ Even my son who is usually a cool person nodded again and again, ‘that’s great, that’s great!’ As for me, it was like a dream…

January 28, I went to the hospital with my wife. The last test; extraction of bone marrow was excruciating. The result was to be out on the February 14. During this period of time, besides chanting daimoku, we also made efforts for shakubuku. We managed to shakubuku the husband of a young Mrs.. February 10, it was my 54th birthday. Together with my family, we went to the Gakkai Headquarters and five of us chanted daimoku side by side.

Finally, it was February 14; I went to the hospital with only my wife. We arrived 5 minutes earlier but the doctor was 20 minutes late due to a meeting. It was a long 20 minutes wait. The doctor finally came. ‘I have put all the data in order. From my point of view as a doctor with many years of experience, this is something that cannot be understood by common sense. I can only say that this is an exceptional case. All your results show no abnormalities. You can go back to live a normal life from tomorrow.’ ‘I was left in this world. I am given work in this world.’ 8 months since the illness started; 3 months since I was given the ‘death sentence’; days of chanting daimoku; days of reading sensei’s guidance… My wife stayed kneeled down on the ground. She bowed deeply and cried, expressing her gratitude to the Gohonzon, Ikeda sensei, fellow comrades, and all others, and also the doctor. I was also so grateful and touched that the moment I stepped out of the room tears just flowed down. It was feelings beyond just happiness or joy. ‘I made it because I had my wife with me..’ I expressed my gratitude to the Gohonzon for sending the best WD to be my wife. The first job for me who have prayed to have work in this world is to talk about my experience. I resolve to change my karma into my mission with daimoku, and build the drama of Kosen-Rufu to a higher level!