A Guide to the - Rissho Kosei-kai

Knowing Your RoleIt seems as if each and every human being has a unique way of living, yet in another wayeveryone seems very much the same. For example, while desiring to place importance on theirown feelings and individuality, the majority of Japanese feel that they are alike in sharing amiddle‐class lifestyle. When it comes to the essential quality of all phenomena, we mustremember that everything‐‐not only human beings, but also grass and trees‐‐consists of asingle, all‐pervading element.However, the manner in which this element is manifested varies. No two people are exactlyalike. By becoming aware of these differences, we can know what makes each person's way oflife unique. On the plains and in the mountains, the cedar forests are a deep green. In autumnthe oaks, maples, and sumacs tint the mountains yellow and red. The eulalia heads flow in silverwaves. The bellflowers put forth their lovely violet blossoms. And the bases of large trees arecovered with blankets of incomparably beautiful moss. This is what in Buddhism we call jinenhoni, the spontaneous working of the universal law, and because of it the beauty of natureincreases in radiance. Each thing has its own individual beauty, and all things interactharmoniously. How would it be if each flower and plant were to insist on equality in size, color,and character? Our world would become characterless, and furthermore, would gradually die.For example, if all the plants were to soar toward the sky and become evergreens, the sunlightcould not penetrate to the undergrowth, the nutrients in the soil would be depleted, and all thetrees and plants would die. That is why there is such a complex, diversified distribution ofplants in nature today.Perhaps human beings have forgotten that they are all essentially equal and that, at the sametime, everyone has their own individuality. I wonder if we press for equality in name only andwhether everyone has the unnatural desire to become a large evergreen.There is a Japanese proverb about a crow that tries to imitate a cormorant. In the same way,when one loses sight of one's own uniqueness, everything gets turned around. On the otherhand, some people become negligent in the belief that they are worthless. This, too, is shirkingresponsibility.Each human being is blessed by the gods and buddhas with a role that only he or she can carryout. It is a pleasure to watch a carpenter plane lumber or a gardener prune trees. Each time Isee such people at work, I am impressed with their skill, and I feel refreshed. This is the beautyof being oneself. In this big, wide world there is a place that only you can fill. By doing yourbest, you live in a way that is worthy of the role you are entrusted with, and fill the place thatonly you can fill. You are neither pressured nor constrained by anyone else. As an old sayinggoes, when one concentrates on one's work and does one's best, "Food will be on the table,and the sun will rise." If one is satisfied with what follows, one gains peace of mind.We are constantly measuring ourselves against expectations others have of us. Men try to bemanly, women womanly; teachers try to be good teachers, and students good students. On thejob, some people try to be, for instance, good bank clerks or good trading‐company employees.Recently it seems that fewer and fewer people cling to these admittedly ambiguous standardsand that more and more people have come to believe that the best way to live is to do as youwish. Their reaction against professional standards may be due to their feeling constrained bythe requirement that they fit into one single mold, but this seems to me a grand illusion. Itmight seem that one can live as one likes if one is free from having to measure up toexpectations, but this does not mean that there is any great goal to be achieved this way.Rather, is it not often the case that one is simply swayed by the small, insignificant self? Insteadof giving way to self‐indulgence, if one devotes oneself to improving one's abilities, one willsurely be able to realize one's potential. In the process of realizing your potential, your47