First let me express my sincere appreciation to you and exclaim how wonderful it is you are taking this first step into faith and practice of the Lotus Sutra in Nichiren Shu. Repeatedly in the Lotus Sutra the Buddha welcomes the questions put to him by the various persons in the congregation. During the course of working through this book I am certain you will have many questions and definitely you will be asked many questions. This journey you are beginning is not a solitary one. Unfortunately I don’t know your individual circumstance so I don’t know if you will have access to an inmate sangha or if you will have a priest visit you from time to time. Know this, though it may at times be of minimal comfort, I will be thinking about you and those who are practicing the Dharma incarcerated.
When I was first introduced to Nichiren Buddhism in 1969 I still recall the sense of being at home, of being where my life needed to be. That night as I left my first sangha activity I recall feeling such great excitement. This was especially noteworthy because this was a very low point in my life. I was in the Marine Corps, just 19 years old, opposed to a war in Vietnam, which I might possibly be forced to participate in. I was in deep despair and even contemplated the futility of living any longer. Yet that first night I immediately felt hope.
Looking back over these many years of practicing the Lotus Sutra I am frequently in awe of the great fortune I have had and how it all began that one night. My life today is so much more than I had ever dreamed possible, and I honestly believe it is due to faith and practice of the Lotus Sutra.
It is my hope that someday in the future you will look back on this beginning and be amazed at how your life has changed and how you have grown in unimaginable wonderful ways. It won’t be easy; change never is, especially when the thing we wish to change is our own lives, our own basic tendencies, our own natures. Depending upon your age as you begin you may have accumulated a number of years of unskillful living which you will be working to undo even while possibly experiencing the effects of those past actions. Though I certainly enjoyed more freedom in the Marine Corps than you do in prison, in many ways the environment in both situations was beyond personal control.
Initially my practice was met with great opposition by my commanders. In fact within only a few weeks of beginning I was threatened and told that I was not allowed to practice Buddhism. Yes, in America that is what I was told. My liberty to come and go, to leave the base, to do anything other than go to training and the chow hall was taken away. I was confined to barracks essentially. Here I was just beginning and already I had to sever my connection with the sangha. And here I was in America where freedom of religion is one of our rights, something that had just been denied to me. I was told that if I didn’t give it up, if I didn’t quit my top secret security clearance would be taken away which would have meant immediate reassignment to Vietnam and ground forces. I was both scared and angry.
Here I offer a possible lesson for you to hold on to and consider its value to you in your interactions in the prison. I called my leader in the sangha, the person who actually had first spoken to me about Buddhism and Nichiren. I explained to him what had happened and I told him that I was going to write to my congressman about the incident. He asked me to pause for a moment and consider what he was going to tell me. He said, yes you can certainly write to your congressman, that is your right. However something to consider is that your military personnel file with have a stamp right on the cover, this was during the time when records were on paper, and the stamp will warn everyone “Congressional Intervention.” The action, while your right, has long lasting consequences and may be something you reserve for a last resort. He then asked me to consider the promise of the Buddha of enlightenment regardless of circumstances, and the promise of the Lotus Sutra to be able to change any place we are in to the Buddha’s Pure Land. He suggested that perhaps I might want to put this to a test, why not give it six months and see if things change. What he was encouraging me to do was to consider a response as opposed to an immediate reaction.
Taking time to consider alternate responses is challenging. It isn’t immediate and that can be frustrating. I can say that by following the advice given to me I did indeed change my situation. Within only a couple of months I had gained back my liberty to leave base and attend sangha activities. By the end of six months the person who was most vigorously opposed to me practicing Buddhism was asking me for information and answers to questions. And by the end of the six months I was given a meritorious promotion. Two more times during my four years on active duty I would face similar opposition to my practice. In every instance I choose to respond the same way. By the end of my time every promotion I received throughout that four years was meritorious and in every instance the obstacle was overcome.
I don’t know what your situation will throw at you in opposition to your practice. I know what some of the inmates I have worked with over the years have experienced. I know though without a doubt that through your practice and through your following the teachings of the Buddha you will prevail eventually. Remember you have some significant effects to work through resulting from previous causes. It isn’t impossible, it won’t be easy. I am guessing though that some of you have experienced worse things in your lives, and you know all about struggle.
This will not be a journey of looking backwards. Buddhism is not a belief system of guilt or regrets. Buddhism’s focus is always and ever on the present, for in this present moment lies the key to your happiness both now and on into the future. And it is the present moment, which I invite you to celebrate and hold sacred. For in this moment as you begin a life-long practice, that a new you will emerge. Just as the beautiful lotus blossom grows from the mud and emerges pure and clean so too you life will rise up from the sufferings and tribulations and from that muddy swam your enlightened self will manifest. The potential is already present in your life, even if you don’t believe it to be so. The Lotus Sutra is the ultimate teaching of the Buddha given so that all people will be able to equally manifest an enlightenment equal to that of all Buddhas.
“I will expound this sutra of the Great Vehicle to them,
And assure them of their future Buddhahood, saying:
‘You will attain the enlightenment of the Buddha
In your future lives.’” (Lotus Sutra, Chapter II)
This is the promise of the Buddha, this is the guarantee the Buddha teaches in the Lotus Sutra. This promise applies equally to all living beings, which includes you.
Beginning here I would like you to start keeping a weekly ‘Gratitude Journal’. I’ve already talked about how you may face some challenges, especially when it comes to keeping a record of things. I don’t know your security situation so you will need to determine what you feel safe doing. Let’s just say that you will do the best your situation allows always trying for the optimum. In this case the optimum is to write this down.
What is a ‘Gratitude Journal’ you may be asking. Simply put this is a once weekly activity of sitting down and writing out in a list all of the things you are grateful for in your life. At first, depending upon where you are emotionally or spiritually, there may be nothing that comes to your mind. If nothing is popping up, then write down breathing. I am every moment of my life grateful for the fact I am breathing. Yes, I realize it is a simple thing and perhaps you may even laugh. It’s true isn’t it, even for you? So there you have your first item.
What comes next I’ll leave up to you. Please take your time and try to come up with things. This can be things you would miss if you didn’t have them. It might be things you are thankful you don’t have so it might write ‘I am grateful they don’t use whips’. Whatever comes to your mind write it down. Eventually you can move away from being grateful for the negative things not happening. Keep writing until nothing else comes to your mind. After you are finished doing this reread what you have written and chant as much Odaimoku, Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, as you possibly can. While you are chanting let a sense of gratitude and thankfulness arise within your spirit. Your mind may wander, it may get distracted, that is just fine, don’t fight it let your mind go where it needs to and when it is finished you will naturally come back to the list. Over time you will get better at coming back to your list much faster.
I would suggest and recommend that you make it a part of your regular weekly schedule to once a week set aside time to write in your gratitude journal. You can keep the gratitude journal as part of your regular journal if you keep on, or you may simply keep a gratitude journal. Which ever option you decide do it, and do it regularly. You may notice that your list looks the same every week and you may ask what is the point. Let’s go back to the very first item I suggested you write down. Breathing, just because you write this week after week, does that make it any less important in your life? Breathing is always important, so why not be thankful. You may indeed find that your list remains the same week after week. Over time though I suspect it will grow little by little.
Here is a psychological effect keeping a gratitude journal provides. It has been proven to reshape a person’s outlook on life. It helps to remind us of things that are meaningful and important. These are things which often get pushed aside as we are constantly faced with the unpleasant things, the difficult things, the things that don’t go right or the way we want. In short the gratitude journal helps to remind us that our lives are not all bad.
Let’s spend a moment on distractions or interruptions. These things will happen. Someone may call out to you, they may not be used to what you are doing. You may even get teased about your practice. Try to be at peace with this, it will go away eventually. Remember what I did with the bullies. It works the same with teasing. As long as you don’t react to it and instead choose how you will respond eventually they will loose their interest. It will be how you choose to respond that will determine if they have the energy to continue. Your anger will feed them, it will nourish their actions, it is as if they are hungry ghosts who feed off of anger. It’s hard to do, dam hard sometimes, it does work. Remember you, your practice, and your enlightenment are worth it.
