Find your gateway to happiness

Find your gateway to happiness

February 2024

Find your gateway to  happiness 

Transformed by the grace of Nichiren  Buddhism, Ashish Virmani stresses the  importance of adopting a spiritual path on  life’s journey When I was introduced to Buddhism 25 years ago, my life was at an all-time low. My journalistic career  had gone off the rails, I was unhappy with my family  life, and my health and mental stability were in question. In  such circumstances, my mother, who was concerned about me,  introduced me to Nichiren Buddhism practised by Soka Gakkai  International (SGI). I must admit that I have not looked back in  these last 25 years. Not only did I go on to build an above-average  career in journalism for 18 years after that, but  with the practice of spirituality, I was able to  recover my health and mental stability, and  build a harmonious family life. I discovered  a spiritual mentor in Daisaku Ikeda, the  president of SGI, who changed the trajectory of  my life with the simple and practical teachings  of Buddhism.  

It was in the teachings of Buddhism that my  Japanese mentor so lovingly imparted to me  through his writings and videos (I never met  him personally) over the course of the last  quarter century that I truly found resonance.  Many of them were teachings that had come  down from the last 3,000 years in the orthodox  lineage of the founder of Buddhism, Gautama  Buddha, while others were the teachings  of a 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren  Daishonin, who preached Buddhism to the  samurai as well as common people of Japan.  

The way of Buddhism 

So, what have I learnt that changed my life  around? Here is a thumbnail sketch of what  worked for me in the hope that it may be useful  to you in some way: 

According to Buddhism, the Law of Cause  and Effect is the operational principle of  the universe. If there is one law that is the  fundamental principle of the universe, then  this is it. Buddhism says that our present reality  is the result of the causes we have created in  the past with our thoughts, words, and actions,  and our future is the result of the causes we  create in the present. Therefore, if we want  good effects to manifest in our lives then we  must create good causes. On the other hand, if  we create bad causes, then we will reap their  negative effects in our lives. 

Nevertheless, it is much easier said than done.  As we are subject to the laws of karma, we are  

all born with influences of our past lives— including the choice of our parents—that  predispose us to certain ways of being and  behaviour. This is why two children, even twins,  born in the same family can be so different in  their behaviour, aptitudes, and inclinations.  

Some children are born with or develop  disabilities in their lifetimes, while  others can turn out to be prodigies or  geniuses. Some children lose their  parents or protectors early, while  others live till the children have  attained ripe maturity as adults.  Some children are exposed to war  and conflict zones early in life, while  other children live out lives in relative  peace their entire lifetimes. And  then there are all sorts of  combinations and degrees  of these and other factors  that make a person’s  life happy or unhappy.  Buddhism and the Eastern religions  would attribute the  differences to the good  or bad causes these  souls have created in  previous lifetimes. As  they say, where there is an  effect, there  must have  been a cause,  even if it was  in a different  lifetime. 

There is hope The good news is that, as Nichiren Buddhism  says, we can most certainly change our destiny  by the actions we take in this lifetime. Since  we are unaware of our previous lifetimes and  the causes we have created therein, and only  know the latter by the effects we experience  in this lifetime, there are ways to alter one’s  destiny from bad to good and vice-versa.  And a genuine spiritual practice is the most  effective way of converting a bad destiny  to a good one. Because, in a true spiritual  practice, one of the first things we  learn to differentiate between are the  thoughts, words, and actions that  can result in happiness as against  those that cause suffering; and  we usually are taught a practical  method to get to them. Buddhism is the pursuit of  happiness. There is a story  in the Buddhist canon, of  Shakyamuni Buddha  (as Gautama Buddha0 is also known) and  his disciples that  illustrates this,  directly from the  

founder’s mouth:  

One day, Aniruddha,  

one of Shakyamuni’s  

ten major disciples,  

who was partially  

blind, attempted  

to mend a tear  

in his robe.  

H o w e v e r ,  

because he  

could not see, he  

was unable to thread the  

sewing needle. In his frustration, he muttered:  “Is there no one who will thread this needle  for me and so gain good fortune [by helping a  practitioner of Buddhism]?” 

Someone approached him and said: “Allow me  to accumulate good fortune.” 

Aniruddha was stunned. For it was unmistakably  the voice of Shakyamuni Buddha. 

“I couldn’t possibly trouble you,” he protested,  adding, “Surely, one such as yourself, World Honoured One, does not need to gain any  benefit.” 

“On the contrary, Aniruddha,” Shakyamuni  Buddha responded, “there is no greater seeker  of happiness in the world than myself.” 

Shakyamuni Buddha went on to teach  Aniruddha, who was still not convinced by his  words, that the pursuit of happiness has no  bounds. Shakyamuni told Aniruddha: “Of all  the powers in the world, and in the realm of  heaven and human beings, the power of good  fortune is foremost. The Buddha way, too, is  attained through the power of good fortune.” 

It is also an undeniable reality that the world  we live in seems to have too many obstructions  and obstacles to good fortune. From a Buddhist  

perspective, the earthly realm is considered to  be a play or tussle between the forces of light  and the forces of darkness, and negativity and  unhappiness often seem more plentiful than  good fortune and happiness. Yet there are ways  to alter our karmic balance of good fortune, the  foremost of which is seeking and maintaining  a genuine spiritual practice which leads us to  all kinds of methods to garner good fortune  through awareness, right intentions as well as  actions, and benefitting others. Speaking from  personal experience, I have noticed that it is  usually very difficult to benefit others without  a strong spiritual framework to lean on for  you will likely be misjudged, misunderstood,  criticised, and at the extreme, even persecuted,  if you attempt to do so in the world we live  in. Yet it is an undeniable fact that a human  being cannot gain genuine happiness without  benefitting others, and that is a very different  kind of happiness from the kind that stems  from status, power, and wealth, which are  considered fleeting forms of happiness in the  spiritual paradigm. 

I have noticed that it is usually very difficult to  benefit others without a strong spiritual framework  to lean on for you will likely be misjudged,  

misunderstood, criticised, and at the extreme, even  persecuted, if you attempt to do so in the world we  live in. 

Awakening 57 

Spirituality anchors you in truth and clarity 

Changing the inner landscape  

Two things have turned my life around in  these last 25 years: the first is the concept of  what we in Nichiren Buddhism call ‘human  revolution’ which is common to practitioners  of several differing faiths the world over. That  is, the foremost aim of spiritual practice is  for us to bring about a change in our inner  reality— to elevate ourselves internally—and  to consequently bring about a change in our  conduct and behaviour, which will make us  more considerate of others, more accountable  for our actions, and responsible citizens of  society, our country, and the world. We usually  can’t do this without a spiritual practice, and it  often takes years of scraping, buffing, polishing,  and shining as we work through the differing  levels of our beings—our thoughts, feelings and  emotions—before we can begin to see ourselves  more clearly. Then we can have the courage  to take responsibility for our thoughts, words,  and actions, and the consequences thereof. I  have been able to polish myself to an average or  above average level after days, weeks, months,  

58 LifePositive | FEBRUARY 2024

and years of chanting a mantra addressed to  the object of worship that is the mandala in  Nichiren Buddhism. And then, of course, there  is the vital influence of a mentor, in my case,  Daisaku Ikeda, whose writings and explanations  of Buddhist doctrine in contemporary terms  have guided and comforted me on a daily basis,  especially in both good times and bad. Having  a mentor or guru is not a bad thing at all; on  the contrary, a genuine mentor can speed up  one’s progress on the spiritual path by several  lifetimes that it might otherwise take to come  to the spiritual truths solely through one’s own  efforts.  

Human beings are varied in their natures and  personalities; no two people are exactly the  same. Yet no matter how different or contrasting  people may be, most spiritual disciplines  concur that we must strive to look at their  good points and downplay their weaknesses  or shortcomings. However much a person may  conflict with our world view, they have their  own unique mission or life purpose to fulfil.  

And we must respect that. That doesn’t mean  that we have to see eye-to-eye with everybody  or even like everybody—there might always be  certain people we may not get along with in our  environment—but we should not disrespect  anybody or behave in a churlish manner. At  least that is what spiritual disciplines say. And  the truth is that, in reality, it may take years  of refinement before we can achieve such  equanimity. But that is precisely an aspect of the  ‘human revolution’ that we talked about earlier,  and we should strive towards it consistently. 

Seek and you shall receive 

I would say, if you are unhappy with your  life, seek a genuine spiritual practice first  and foremost—of any denomination—that  resonates most thoroughly with you. If you  have an avid seeking spirit, you are sure to find  it. This can be done with some exploration of  your environment—through your reading,  the plentiful videos available on YouTube,  or through trusted friends. It is also a truism  that “When the disciple is ready, the Master  appears.” In other words, when a genuine seeker  has undergone a sufficient transformation, they  will find a genuine teacher who is just right for  them. 

There are varied and often contrasting spiritual  

paths because people have different personalities,  aptitudes, and inclinations, and this is the way it  should be. It can never be that ‘one size fits all’  and nor has it ever been so in human religious  history. That being said, each spiritual path is  an organic whole and has its own principles and  precepts which may differ from other spiritual  disciplines. However, once having chosen and  embarked upon your particular spiritual path,  you should ideally remain true to it to the end.  

It is equally true that a sizeable section of the  population may try different spiritual paths  before they settle on one, or use elements of  various spiritual disciplines to custom-craft  their own unique path. There is no absolute  right or wrong; it is all a matter of one’s unique  path or dharma. 

For spiritual seekers, spirituality is the ultimate  aspiration of human life. Human life in its most  essential form, for them, is not about status,  fame, prestige, or wealth. It is about spiritual  progress and attainment, which comes from  dedication to a true spiritual path. Yet, only very  few humans can come to this realisation in the  course of their lifetimes. If you are one of the  lucky few who can, then you are on the way to  attaining the supreme treasures that a human  being can possess. 

Ashish Virmani, a mainstream journalist for over 18 y