A Guide to the - Rissho Kosei-kai

Self‐EsteemThe word conceit is never used in a positive sense. It means excessive pride in one's abilities.Benjamin Franklin, a member of the committee that drafted the American Declaration ofIndependence, once said something to the effect that no matter how conceited one might be,the conceit of others gets on one's nerves. Since everyone shares that attitude, the word hasnegative connotations.Probably everyone feels superior to others in some way. I have a certain amount of conceitmyself. But I believe that making it a source of energy for cheerful living is a rather clever wayto live. Being conceited or vain means being attached to oneself, affirming oneself, and lovingoneself. Therefore, although a puffed‐up person may appear foolish, he or she will be able to gothrough life cheerfully, with a sense of well‐being and a positive attitude. Moreover, though atfirst such an attitude may border on overconfidence, before long one may actually developgenuine self‐confidence. I have seen many cases where this has been true. This approach to lifenot only makes one happy, but also produces radiance and benefits society.The exact opposite of this is the inferiority complex. Because one depreciates oneself in everyconceivable way, one's life is unhappy. Those nearby feel that one is dreary and disagreeable.Since others do not respond favorably and turn their backs, one's sense of inferiority ends upgrowing more and more acute. When we investigate the origin of this sense of inferiority, wefind that it springs from a minor sense of inadequacy. If we feel that we have one or two minorflaws‐‐something to do with personal appearance, figure, health, intelligence, ability, athleticprowess, family, or academic background‐‐that sense of inadequacy can harm our wholeattitude. We come to feel completely worthless and end up making ourselves unhappy, with nohelp from others.By way of clarification, a sense of inferiority is different from a temporary feeling of self‐disgust.When we fail in some way or some meanness arises within us, we feel wretched. But this kindof momentary aversion to oneself is the action of a healthy spirit, the generative power thathelps a person become a better human being. An inferiority complex, however, serves only tomake one obsequious and cave in.One of the first astronauts said that our planet looked blue from above. If he had been able tosee the over four billion human beings that live on this blue planet, he would surely have seeneach one as a similar dot on the face of the earth. Without having to fly as high as a spacecraft,we can climb to the top of a mountain or tall building and see how humans appear as meredots on the ground below. From that height we cannot distinguish men from women, the wisefrom the foolish, or the intrepid from the fainthearted. If we place ourselves in their midst werealize that we, too, are just like everyone else. From this more encompassing point of view, webegin to feel that it is useless to fret over trifles, and we begin to be impressed at howenergetically everyone is working to get along in life.Through its subtle workings, nature produces a great variety of human beings. It is becausethere are so many different people that our world is brought into equilibrium and is so full ofinterest. How would it be if everyone were made from the same mold with identical facialfeatures, physiques, and capabilities? Admittedly, there might no longer be such a thing as aninferiority complex, but it would be just as well for the human race to be replaced by robots.Superficially, everyone seems to have unique elements of beauty and ugliness, wisdom andfolly, strength and weakness. But deep inside, everyone has the same buddha‐nature. Onegrain of sand, one blade of grass, one single human being: the existence of each of these thingshas a cause and serves a need. This is a truth beyond refutation. If one gives some thought to49