RELIGION or POLITICS - Why Buddhism?????

Hello again, wonderful people, thanks for coming back, so here is more on the subject of Nichiren Buddhism and life's problems. The last ended on Personal Relationships, and why it is important to tackle a problem between two people. (see last blog),

Not doing it --like in clash of desires for instance -- usually for fear of no knowing what the consequences will be, or perhaps simply because of dislike of conflict, can easily lead to a build-up of resentments which, when finally expressed, can be immensely destructive.

The story of the "mild-mannered" civil servant who, in 1987, was jailed for strangling his wife of 26 years of marriage, ostensibly because she simply moved his favorite mustart from its usual place at the dinner table, is an extreme, but true, example of this.

One of the natural consequences of the close link between problems and suffering is that people tend

to confuse the one with the other. For example, if you are unemployed, it is vert probable that you are also
unhappy; you will probably think that you are unhappy because you are unemployed.

While it may be very well be true that you would probably be happier in work that out of it (though this is

debatable, in view of the number of people who complain about their jobs), strictly speaking your un-

happiness is not because you are unemployed but, rather, because you feel helpless inbeing unable to

find a job. In other words, it is not so much our problems which cause us to suffer as our INABILITY to overcome them. Remember, our natural tendency as humans is always to find out reasons outside ourselves, in our environment, to excuse what really is our own shortcomings.

Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism teaches that it is our fundamental attitude to problems and the suffering

which usually accompanies them that determines the extent to which we win or lose in creating a happy

life.  The Chinese, for example, write the word "crisis" using two characters, one of which means "danger", the other "opportunity". The crucial issue, then, is whether or not we can recognize the opportunity amidst the danger. Daisaku Ikeda writes:

Society is complex and harsh, demanding that you struggle hard to survive. No one can make you happy. Everthing depends on you as to whether or not you attain happiness... A human being is destined to a life of great suffering if he is weak and vulnerable to his external surroundings.

That's all for today, friends, you are greater than you think.   Cheers  CJ  (Check back soon)