RELIGION or POLITICS ???...Illnesses of the MIND

(I must remind that the past few blogs, the contents therein and others forthcoming, are taken from the book "Unlocking the Mysteries of Birth and Death." written by Daisaku Ideda, President of Soka Gakkai International, a Society of lay people who practice Nichiren Buddhism, members of which are in over 180 countries around the world.)


Hi Ho y'all, twas the day and night before, what Christians and fundamentalist call Christmas, and so to those, Merry Christmas. And to the rest of us, relax and enjoy the, for the most part, happy atmosphere of the celebrants around us.

Now, to get on with it, I completed the last of the series on Causes of Illnesses, with Karmic diseases. But for today I wish to extend a sort of clean up to the whole series with "Three functions of the Mystic Law. The Mystic Law is represented by the phrase Nichiren Buddhists chant, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, (the title of the Lotus Sutras)  and parts will be referred to in this blog, which has to do with health and disease.

     According to the Lotus Sutra, even a Buddha who embodies the ideal state of life will never be completely free of ailments.  What ultimately matters is our ability to mobilize the innate healing power of our lives.

        The cultivation of this healing power depends on our individual will.   The role of will in curing a person's illness is becoming ever more apparent.   For example, if we are shocked and weakened when we discover we have a serious disease, we are much more likely to succumb to it than if we refuse to accept the news as a death sentence and elect to fight the disease.   Our will power affects our body's ability to produce natural "medicines"  --- hormones, enzymes and antibodies  -- which it marshals to combat negative influences an preserve life.

    Willpower thus has a major part to play in helping us take full advantage of our native healing abilities.  Willpower in this sense refers to how deeply we can grasp, how strongly we can tap into, the true aspect of our lives, which, according to Buddhism, comprises infinite potential and cosmic scale.   This type of will-power derives from absolute confidence in the vastness of our existence, and a strong sense of purpose and responsibility to this world.

     The strength of Buddhist medicine lies in the development of the Buddha nature from within, which provides the key to activating the unlimite potentials and energies inherent in the individual human life.

      Myo, a syllable of Myoho (as in Nam-Myoho Renge Kyo) means "mystic" or "beyond comprehension", and it describes a continually creative force that pulses in every healthy entity, sustaining its activity.  This force has three general characteristics: renewal, perfection and openness.

     As Nichiren implied by writing "Myo means to revive, that is, to return to life,"  the Mystic Law ---Nam-Myo-Renge-Kyo -- enables us to unleash new life force from within.   In a broader sense, this indicates that we have the power to transform ourselves from sickly persons into healthy and happy ones.

     Nichiren also wrote:  "Myo means to be fully endowed, which in turn has the meaning of  'perfect and full'... To illustrate, one drop of the great ocean contains within it the waters of all the various rivers that flow into the ocean, and a single wish--granting jewel, though no bigger than a mustard seed, is capable of showering down the treasures that one could wish for with all the wish-granting jewsls."   Each of our individual lives is fully endowed with all of the potential that exists in the cosmos.   When the Mystic Law is brought into play, it orchestrates our spiritual and physical functions in superb harmony, vitalizing our vast innate potential.   As as result, the greatest healing influence  -- our own unhampered life force  --  rises to the occasion and enables us to overcome even the most virulent disease.

     In the context of health, this passage, explains that the Mystic Law enables us to reveal "the depths of the secret storehouse," which is the Buddha nature, and "open" our existence to the environment.  In other words, we can establish a foundation from which we can always actively and positively engage with our environment, transmuting all of its influences into beneficial ones.

So much for today, friends.  No matter your relgious bent, this can still give you food for thought. You must learn to rccognize your own spiritual power and this in keeping with the Nichiren Buddhis tenet, of taking full responsibility for yourself. You'd be surprise on how this affects your true happiness being who you are.  So until monday, when I will have a great presentation of our great Constitution, take care.
     Cheers      CJ