This is the prompt used to generate this Gemini Notebook article: Considering Charles Sheldon’s 1896 novel “In His Steps,” are there any similar movements in Nichiren Buddhism that seek to have those who chant Namu-Myoho-renge-kyo embrace the four Sublime Attitudes or other fundamental Buddhist practices?
Person_chanting_and_community_activism
The Writer, Gemini NotebookCharles Sheldon’s 1896 Social Gospel novel In His Steps introduced the famous question, “What Would Jesus Do?”, inspiring believers to move beyond passive theology and apply Christian ethics directly to economic inequality, poverty, and social reform. In Nichiren Buddhism, a remarkably parallel impulse exists—one that seeks to translate faith in Namu-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō into active social transformation, human rights, and the alleviation of suffering.
This social imperative is rooted in Nichiren Shōnin’s foundational principle of Risshō Ankoku (“Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land”). Based on the Mahāyāna doctrine of the nonduality of life and environment (eshō funi), Nichiren Shōnin taught that personal spiritual practice cannot be separated from the state of society. Where the Lotus Sutra is embraced, the physical and social world is transformed into a peaceful Buddha land.
Throughout the 20th century and into the present day, several key movements within Nichiren Buddhism have sought to operationalize this vision, challenging practitioners to embody the four sublime attitudes—Lovingkindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Equanimity—in direct response to societal crises.
Girō Senoo & The Emerging Buddhist Youth League (Buddhist Socialism)
The closest historical parallel to Sheldon’s Social Gospel movement arose in the 1930s with Girō Senoo (1890–1961) and the Emerging Buddhist Youth League (Shinkō Bukkyō Seinen Dōmei).
Deeply moved by the plight of impoverished tenant farmers, urban laborers, and economic crises during the Interwar period, Senoo declared that he wished to “throw off Saint Nichiren’s old coat”—by which he meant stripping away stagnant, institutional clericalism to revive Nichiren Shōnin’s radical, compassionate spirit for the modern era.
Under the banners of “faith and love” and social justice, Senoo argued that preaching abstract sermons while ignoring real-world exploitation was contrary to the Buddha’s intent. He mobilized young Lotus Sutra followers to intervene in labor disputes, defend impoverished agricultural workers, and critique rampant greed, seeking to establish an earthly Buddha land founded on economic equality and human dignity.
Nipponzan Myōhōji & Ven. Nichidatsu Fujii (Active Pacifism & Civil Rights)
Founded by Ven. Nichidatsu Fujii (1885–1985), Nipponzan Myōhōji is a monastic and lay movement that takes the chanting of the Odaimoku directly into the streets as a form of non-violent social protest (shugyō).
Appalled by the devastation of World War II and the atomic bombings, Fujii embraced absolute non-violence, taking the Lotus Sutra’s Bodhisattva Sadāparibhūta (Jōfukyō or “Never Disrespectful”) as the ultimate model for daily behavior. In the Lotus Sutra, Bodhisattva Sadāparibhūta bowed in reverence to every person he met—even those who reviled or attacked him—recognizing their innate Buddha-nature.
Nipponzan Myōhōji monastics and lay followers embody “What Would A Buddha Do?” by conducting long peace marches, beating hand-drums (uchiwa daiko) while chanting Namu-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō, actively opposing nuclear proliferation, supporting Native American civil rights struggles, and building Peace Pagodas worldwide as beacons of universal harmony.
Modern Lay Movements & “Buddhism in Daily Life” (Risshō Kōsei-kai & Sōka Gakkai)
In the postwar era, large lay organizations emerged to bridge the gap between sacred chanting and civic responsibility:
Risshō Kōsei-kai: Co-founded by Nikkyō Niwano, this organization interprets the parables of the Lotus Sutra as direct directives for peace, human rights, and personal development. They instituted the “Donate One Meal” campaign—where members regularly skip a meal and donate the savings toward UNICEF, disaster relief, and international poverty alleviation—and engage extensively in United Nations peace initiatives.
Sōka Gakkai: Championed the concept of “Human Revolution” (ningen kakumei) and the ethos that “Buddhism is daily life.” This framework teaches that the inner transformation achieved through chanting Namu-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō must express itself in tangible daily behavior—fostering community harmony, promoting peace education, and engaging in grassroots volunteerism.
The Core Principle: Faith Expressed as Daily Behavior (Shugyō)
All of these movements draw their ultimate legitimacy from Nichiren Shōnin’s insistence that true faith is measured by how one treats others in daily life. Citing the Sushun Tennō Gosho, Nichiren Shōnin reminded his follower Shijō Kingo that “the true purpose of Śākyamuni Buddha appearing in this world was to teach us how to behave ourselves on a daily basis.”
Just as Charles Sheldon called on Christians to ask “What Would Jesus Do?” in every social decision, Nichiren Shōnin taught that when you chant Namu-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō with sincere faith, your daily conduct becomes the very manifestation-body (niryāna-kāya) of the Buddha—transforming Lovingkindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Equanimity from abstract ideals into a living, social reality.
Dividing the preachings of fifty years in His lifetime into two, provisional and true, Śākyamuni Buddha Himself clearly declared that we should discard provisional sūtras and seek refuge in the true sūtras. Thus, it is stated in the second chapter on “Expedients” of the Lotus Sūtra that the Buddha preached provisional sūtras in forty years or so because He was afraid that “the people would be unable to understand and sink in pain if He praised only the way to Buddhahood.” He, nevertheless, was also concerned that “if I guide people merely with Hinayāna dharma, even just one person, I would be committing the sin of greed.” Therefore, in order to avoid committing such a sin and upholding “His basic purpose of leading people into Mahāyāna teaching,” the Buddha expounded the Lotus Sūtra, achieving His purpose.
Shugo Kokka-ron, Treatise on Protecting the Nation, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 1, Page 25
Conceptual Summary
This artwork on silk captures the moment of esoteric transmission from Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra, where Śākyamuni Buddha (Shaka Nyorai) entrusts the "hidden core of all the Buddhas" to Medicine-King Bodhisattva (Yakuō Bosatsu), shown reverently holding a sūtra scroll at the bottom right. The central Buddha, seated on a lotus throne beneath a canopy, radiates golden light over a jewel-encrusted casket representing the treasured, protected sūtra. To guard this teaching from the "jealousy" and "delusion" of non-believers (visualized as a dark, cowering demon at the bottom left), fearsome Buddhist guardian deities (Heavenly Kings) stand vigilant in ornate armor, wielding weapons to ward off destructive forces. Celestial apsaras (tennyo) and protective deities hover in the clouds, creating a spiritual shield. Utilizing traditional Japanese mineral pigments, inks, and gold leaf, the composition juxtaposes divine light with dark earthly ignorance, reflecting the Buddha's assurance that the teaching is eternally guarded by spiritual forces despite human rejection.
Iconography & Character Identification
Item 1: Deities/Figures Featured:
Śākyamuni Buddha (Shaka Nyorai): The central, illuminated Buddha seated on a lotus throne, raising his hand in a preaching gesture (mudra).
Medicine-King Bodhisattva (Yakuō Bosatsu): Seated at the bottom right, wearing elaborate Bodhisattva robes and halo, holding a sacred scroll (representing the Lotus Sūtra) with an offering vase/urn nearby.
Heavenly Guardian Kings (Dharmapālas / Guarding Deities): Two heavily armored warrior deities in dynamic, protective poses on the left and right, brandishing weapons. The lower-left guardian tramples a small, dark demonic figure (amanojaku), representing the taming of fear, jealousy, and delusion.
Apsaras / Celestial Maidens (Tennyo): Four gracefully flying celestial figures in the upper clouds, playing music, making offerings, and scattering blossoms.
The Sacred Reliquary/Casket: Situated in the center below the Buddha, a glowing, golden container representing "the store of the hidden core" (the Lotus Sūtra).
Item 2: Text Translations:
双子座 (Vertical Kanji Signature, lower right): "Futago-za" (meaning "Gemini").
ジェミニ (Red Square Hanko/Seal, lower right): "Jemini" (transliteration of "Gemini" in Katakana).
Medicine-King! This sūtra is the store of the hidden core of all the Buddhas. Do not give it to others carelessly! It is protected by the Buddhas, by the World-Honored Ones. It has not been expounded explicitly. Many people hate it with jealousy even in my lifetime. Needless to say, more people will do so after my extinction.
The Buddha makes this declaration to Medicine-King Bodhisattva in Chapter Ten of the Lotus Sūtra. For us who recognize how the Buddha’s teaching transforms our lives and the world, it can be hard to imagine that anyone would reject it. However, there are beings who are so filled with fear and delusion that they mistake the Buddha’s good medicine for poison. While we are committed to leading all beings to enlightenment, we realize that we are not alone in our efforts. The protective deities and the Buddha himself are always working to benefit all beings. In our current capacities, we may not be able to reach everybody immediately. We should not let this discourage us. The least we can do is hope in our hearts for the happiness of all beings, even if they are not accessible to us.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
I’m convinced there are no coincidences. Just as I was considering What Would A Buddha Do and Charles Sheldon’s Social Gospel, a book arrived in the mail. I had ordered this book a month before from the Princeton University Press and forgotten about it.
The book is “How to Truly Love: An Ancient Guide to a Life of Kindness.” This is a translation of the 5th century Indian Theravada scholar Buddhaghosa’s ninth chapter of his Path of Purification. Maria Heim offers an introduction followed by a Sanskrit and English bilingual explanation of the Four Sublime Attitudes – Lovingkindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity.
In her introduction, Heim points out that these attitudes are a vehicle that delivers genuine freedom:
Love, and related experiences like compassion and sympathy, not only benefit others–they also free our own minds from the constrictions and distortions of anger, hatred, envy, discontent, cruelty, and indifference that otherwise enslave us and make us miserable. Love, sympathy, and compassion can cast off these painful shackles and replace them with the freedom to flourish in solidarity with others.
How To Truly Love, Page xiii
The best way to imagine the Four Sublime Attitudes is to consider a mother with four children.
She feels lovingkindness toward the little one, wanting him to flourish; she feels compassion toward the sick child, wanting him to get well; she feels sympathetic joy toward the youth, rejoicing in his beauty and success; and she feels equanimity toward her grown-up son as he manages his own affairs (though she has, of course, never stopped loving him). The challenge is to take these very natural dispositions that we already feel toward our loved ones and extend them further and further out toward mere acquaintances, and then even hostile people, extending them eventually in every direction universally. The more we can do so, the more both we and those we encounter in the world are flooded with these happy and peaceful experiences.
How To Truly Love, Page xv-xvi
It is the expansion of these attitudes beyond immediate family to the entire world that is the challenge. In the context of Nichiren’s teachings, this is what’s meant by concentrating on the 3,000 Existences in a Single Thought Moment.
As we will see with all of the sublime attitudes, the attitude must be directed toward a specific someone, a living flesh-and-blood person toward whom you can get the emotion flowing. There is nothing abstract about this practice: it involves real emotions toward specific beings (“beings” is mentioned advisedly, as it is not just humans toward whom we will want to feel universal friendliness).
You’ll want to start where it is easy and the emotion comes naturally. We will see that Buddhaghosa does not think that you should start with enemies or even neutrals, because feeling lovingkindness toward them is just too hard at first. Instead, you should start by feeling lovingkindness toward yourself since it is very easy to long for your own happiness. The idea is to get kindness flowing, for a mind full of kindness can’t at the same time hold hate or anger. There may also be deeper psychological truth in his insisting, against possible detractors, on starting with loving yourself. He perceives that those who hate themselves can never truly love another. It may be that much hatred, cruelty, and apathy are, at bottom, the result of self-loathing.
How To Truly Love, Page 3-4
It is also very interesting how the concept of Emptiness – no self – is utilized here.
Persons are real up to a point, but on closer analysis they are only a collection of constantly changing momentary events. So the person I am angry with now is not the “same” person who initially caused me distress. Like me, they are changing all the time, and like me, they are conditioned by a complex set of processes that I can disaggregate and analyze. In fact, looking for the stable, unchanging essence of this person on which to target my anger (and anger always wants a target), I find that they dissolve into these changing parts. Toward whom, toward what, am I actually angry?
How To Truly Love, Page 10
Lovingkindness negates anger and compassion seeks to eliminate the suffering of others.
Compassion is wanting that someone suffering will be relieved of it. As with lovingkindness, one works gradually to feel compassion universally toward all beings. But to start, one begins with where it is easiest, and again with a concrete and specific person. Buddhaghosa thinks that even the most hard-hearted among us will be moved when we see a truly wretched person with hands and feet cut off and begging on the street, so we should start here to get the feeling flowing. But failing to find such a person (and we should hope such sights never occur!), we still need an actual being to focus on as the object of our compassion.
Here he takes a perhaps surprising turn: start with a guilty criminal being led to his death. Buddhaghosa thinks that reflecting on this person, who may seem to be happy as he eats the delicacies of his last meal, will be an easy object of compassion. No one will think he is actually happy as he faces his executioner; anyone considering the horror of his impending death will react with dismay. Unlike many Western conceptions of compassion, there is no sense that compassion should be directed only toward innocents, those who do not “deserve” their suffering.
How To Truly Love, Page 126-127
Sympathetic joy is simply sharing with the joys of others, even your enemies.
It is your genuine delight when good things happen to others, even to your enemies. Sympathetic joy is the removal of envy and discontent, both of which can be ubiquitous and often largely unrecognized features of our lives.
Western moral sense theorists also note that we often sympathize with happy others. We can readily shift from a sour mood when arriving at a joyful party or hearing a friend’s good news. Parents enjoy unalloyed happiness at their children’s success. What would life be like if we expanded these feelings, and shared the pleasure of all beings? Buddhaghosa recommends starting with the fun-loving pal whose easy cheerfulness is infectious. Once the feeling flows, we can extend it to others, with each new embrace of joy breaking down the walls of our own narrow self-regard, envy, and discontent.
How To Truly Love, Page 142-143
The final Sublime Attitude is equanimity. This should never be confused with apathy.
Equanimity is to be built on the foundation of the other three – only when one has flooded all beings equally with lovingkindness, compassion, and sympathetic joy should one step back from these warm feelings and aim for a less reactive and more peaceful attention to beings. Since the first three attitudes involve sizing up the experiences of other beings with strong feelings about them, they involve judgments. Such judgments of “resentment and approval” are, Buddhaghosa says, “too close.” In contrast, equanimity involves stepping back and cultivating a feeling of impartiality, equality, and neutrality toward others. It stays unruffled through the ups and downs of beings’ experience. And it reminds us of the Buddhist aspirations to achieve, perhaps above all, the freedom that comes from a truly peaceful mind.
How To Truly Love, Page 150-151
In Nichiren Buddhism, the ideal way to practice is demonstrated by Never-Despising Bodhisattva. Can we truly see the Buddha nature in all beings without manifesting Lovingkindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy and Equanimity? Without the Four Sublime Attitudes, are we truly bowing to the inherent Buddha nature in all beings?
Everyone, you and I and heaven and earth, know that the Buddha is a man of truth. It is not one or two persons but hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of people who know this. Gods, dragons, and asura demons in the triple world of illusion (realm of desire, realm of form and formless realm) know it. All the people, gods, men of the Two Vehicles and great bodhisattvas who have gathered together from all over India, four continents of the world, six heavens in the realm of desire, realm of form, formless realm and from all the worlds in the universe know this. They all heard the Buddha condemn the men of the Two Vehicles. Upon returning to their own lands, they told everyone what they had heard from Śākyamuni Buddha in the Sahā World. Therefore, everyone in the entire universe without exception knew that such men of the Two Vehicles as Kāśyapa and Śāripūtra would never achieve Buddhahood and that they therefore should not give offerings to them.
Nevertheless, the Buddha suddenly retracted His words and stated in the Lotus Sūtra, preached in the last eight years, that the men of the Two Vehicles could obtain Buddhahood. How could a large assembly of men and gods believe in this? Not only did they find it hard to believe, they began finding contradictions between the Lotus and earlier sūtras. As a result His preachings over fifty years were about to be judged false. While they were wondering whether or not it was that the Buddha had not revealed the truth during the first forty years or so of His preaching and that it was a demon in heaven appearing to be the Buddha who preached the Lotus Sūtra in the last eight years, the Buddha seriously proceeded to define the times, places and names of those men of the Two Vehicles as future Buddhas. That is to say, the Buddha declared in which lands and when they would attain Buddhahood and what disciples they would have then.
Lord Śākyamuni Buddha in effect seemed to have contradicted Himself. It was not without reason that non-Buddhist heretics (gedō) laughed at Him as a big liar. Accused of contradiction in His own words by the dumbfounded crowd of men and gods, Lord Śākyamuni Buddha tried in vain to dispel their doubts by explaining them away one way or another. Just when the Buddha was having a difficult time to quiet them, the Buddha of Many Treasures of the Hōjō (Treasure Purity) World to the east emerged from the earth in front of Him aboard the great Stupa of seven treasures, 500 yojana high and 250 yojana wide, and ascended up high in the sky. It was as though the full moon appeared over the mountain range in the midst of a pitch-dark night. From this great Stupa of seven treasures hanging in the sky without touching the earth or sky sounded the crisp voice of the Buddha of Many Treasures attesting that Śākyamuni Buddha spoke truly. It is declared in the Lotus Sūtra, chapter 11 on the “Appearance of the Stupa of Treasures”:
Just then resounded the loud voice of the Buddha of Many Treasures in the stupa of treasures praising Śākyamuni Buddha, “Excellent, excellent! You, Śākyamuni Buddha, have preached to this large crowd the Sūtra of the Lotus Flowers of the Wonderful Dharma, representing the great wisdom of the Buddha, who perceived the absolute truth in every phenomenon and who makes no distinction among all living beings. It teaches the way of bodhisattvas, and is recognized and upheld by various Buddhas. You are right; You are correct. What You, Śākyamuni Buddha, have preached is all true.”
Then Lord Śākyamuni and His funjin Buddhas manifested in various worlds all over the universe too attested to the truth of the Lotus Sūtra as it is stated in its twenty-first chapter of “The Divine Powers of the Buddha”:
At this point, Śākyamuni Buddha displayed a great superhuman power in the presence of a large crowd, including not only the countless bodhisattvas, such as Mañjuśrī, who had long lived in this Sahā World, but also other men and non-human beings. He stretched out His broad, long tongue upward until its tip reached the Brahma Heaven and emitted the rays of light from all of His pores to shine on the entire universe. All Buddhas sitting on the lion-shaped thrones under the jeweled trees in their respective worlds in the whole universe also stretched out their broad, long tongues and emitted countless rays of light.
“Then Śākyamuni Buddha,” says the twenty-second chapter on the “Transmission” of the Lotus Sūtra, “sent back those funjin Buddhas who had come from all over the universe to their homelands, and said to the Buddha of Many Treasures, ‘May this Stupa of the Buddha of Many Treasures be where it was.’ “
Kaimoku-shō, Open Your Eyes to the Lotus Teaching, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Doctrine 2, Page 40-42
Conceptual Summary
This painting interprets the sacred promise from Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sutra, rendered in the classical Kamakura-period Buddhist art style. The visual narrative centers on the encounter between Śākyamuni Buddha (Shaka Nyorai) and Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen Bosatsu). On the right, Śākyamuni sits on an ornate tiered lotus throne, his golden halo radiating outward as he listens to the vows of his bodhisattva. To the left, Fugen Bodhisattva appears in majestic, adorned robes, riding his iconic six-tusked white elephant. He is depicted in a gesture of reverence, making his sacred vow to safeguard those who keep the sūtra.
In the bottom left, the natural world transition to rough, darker earth, capturing the "defiled world" and highlighting the small, humble monk practicing below—visualizing the "dirt under a fingernail" metaphor of the scarce devotees. Above the devotee, guardian deities (dharmapalas) emerge from swirling clouds with protective energy, manifesting Fugen's vow to defend the faithful. Subtle gold leaf, natural mineral pigments, and aged silk textures tie this grand assembly together, illustrating that while the practitioner seems alone on a vast earth, they are enveloped in the invisible, immense protection of the universe's great protectors.
Iconography & Character Identification
Item 1: Deities/Figures Featured:
Śākyamuni Buddha (Shaka Nyorai): Seated on the right upon a multi-tiered lotus throne, shown in a teaching gesture with radiant halos.
Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen Bosatsu): Seated on the left upon a majestic six-tusked white elephant, with hands in anjali mudra (prayer) to deliver his vow.
The Humble Practitioner: A small monk kneeling in prayer at the bottom left, representing the rare individuals practicing the Dharma in a defiled world.
Guardian Deities (Dharmapalas/Devas): Two armor-clad protectors surrounding the practitioner, symbolizing the unseen forces and protective aura promised by Fugen.
Item 2: Text Translations:
Kanji Signature ('双子座'): Gemini (literally "The Twins" or "Gemini" constellation)
Hanko Seal ('ジェミニ'): Gemini (written in Katakana script)
Thereupon Universal-Sage Bodhisattva said to the Buddha:
“World-Honored One! If anyone keeps this sūtra in the defiled world in the later five hundred years after [your extinction], I will protect him so that he may be free from any trouble, that he may be peaceful, and that no one may take advantage [of his weak points].”
Universal-Sage Bodhisattva (Fugen, Samantabhadra) makes this vow to the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Eight of the Lotus Sutra. In this world of conflict, it can seem like very few people are practicing the Buddha Dharma with us. Nichiren compared those beings alive in this world of conflict to the amount of soil in the whole earth, while those who keep and practice the Lotus Sūtra are like the dirt under a fingernail. The vow of Universal-Sage reminds us that innumerable beings support our practice and that in turn, we support them with our practice.
The Daily Dharma is produced by the Lexington Nichiren Buddhist Community. To subscribe to the daily emails, visit zenzaizenzai.com
That work prompted a visitor to tell me, “I don’t understand how chanting the Odaimoku substitutes for the Eightfold Path.” I answered with my Faith and Practice in Nichiren Buddhism, which included four Gemini Notebook discussions of what Nichiren taught about practice. The final article included this:
Strict practice is not a works-based means to attain a future Buddhahood, but rather the active, necessary expression of a Buddhahood that is already inherently present within you.
But what constitutes an expression of that inherent Buddhahood? How should my life display this expression of Buddhahood?
For many years I have suggested Nichiren Buddhists should focus on demonstrating the Six Perfections – charity, morality, patience, vigor, meditation and wisdom. But my work in Gemini Notebook convinced me that Nichiren would not have focused there. For the Fall Higan week I explained why followers of Nichiren don’t need to adhere to these provisional teachings. (See “Nichiren Shōnin’s Teachings on the Six Perfections”)
And so I’m still trying to visualize how followers of the Lotus Sutra can express this inherent Buddhahood that is activated by chanting Namu-Myoho-renge-kyo.
This is all a way of introducing why I recently explored the “What Would Jesus Do?” movement. Not the 1990s evangelical fad, but the original Social Gospel movement spawned by Congregationalist minister Charles Sheldon’s 1896 bestselling novel “In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do?”
There are many parallels between the end of the 19th century and today.
The visitor to the church who inspired the movement was a homeless man:
“I lost my job ten months ago. I am a printer by trade. The new linotype machines are beautiful specimens of invention, but I know six men who have killed themselves inside of the year just on account of those machines. Of course, I don’t blame the newspapers for getting the machines. Meanwhile, what can a man do? I know I never learned but the one trade, and that’s all I can do. I’ve tramped all over the country trying to find something. There are a good many others like me. I’m not complaining, am I? Just stating facts. But I was wondering, as I sat there under the gallery, if what you call following Jesus is the same thing as what he taught. What did he mean when he said, ‘Follow me?’ The minister said” here the man turned about and looked up at the pulpit “that it was necessary for the disciple of Jesus to follow his steps, and he said the steps were obedience, faith, love and imitation.”
In His Steps, Page 13
Henry Maxwell, the pastor in the novel who starts the “What Would Jesus Do?” crusade, offers this after the movement starts applying Christian ethics directly to social problems like poverty, labor exploitation, and economic inequality, seeking to improve the material conditions of the marginalized:
“What would Jesus do?” Suppose that were the motto, not only of the churches but of the business men, the politicians, the newspapers, the working men, the society people – how long would it take, under such a standard of conduct, to revolutionize the world? What was the trouble with the world? It was suffering from selfishness. No one ever lived who had succeeded in overcoming selfishness like Jesus. If men followed Him, regardless of results, the world would at once begin to enjoy a new life.”
In His Steps, Page 251
As a child in the 1950s and 1960s I attended the Pacoima Congregational Church in Los Angeles. This church still taught Charles Sheldon’s Social Gospel. On one memorable occasion the pastor of the church, Paul Kittlaus, organized a can drive to benefit the Delano Grape Strike workers. I collected cans and traveled with other members of the church to The Forty Acres, the community center headquarters of the 1965 strike in Delano, California. I don’t remember much about this event. I was just 13 years old. Still, it is possible this Social Gospel ideal lingers in me today as I consider how best to express my inherent Buddha nature.
In Sheldon’s book, a wealthy heiress who is considering how she can better direct her legacy to help the poor ponders:
“I think we are beginning to understand,” said Virginia, “the meaning of that command, ‘Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ I am sure I do not know all that He would do in detail until I know Him better.”
In His Steps, Page 153
In reading the book, I was struck by the realization that I don’t wonder what a Buddha would do. I mean, that’s what all of that provisional teaching was designed to instill in the Buddha’s followers. And Henry Maxwell’s suggestion that “No one ever lived who had succeeded in overcoming selfishness like Jesus” overlooks that man who lived 500 years earlier in India, a man whose teachings may have inspired Jesus during the “Lost Years” between ages 12 and 30.
The human body is equipped with two shoulders — left and right — and a god resides on each one. One of the gods is called Dōmyō-jin and the other is Dōshō-jin. The King of the Brahma Heaven, Indra, Sun Deity and Moon Deity cause these two gods to protect us from the time of our conception in the womb to the end of our lives, by sticking near us like our shadow and eyes. They report to the heavenly beings about our misdeeds and virtuous actions without fail. This is preached in the Flower Garland Sūtra, which is expounded by Grand Master T’ien-t’ai in his Great Concentration and Insight, fascicle 8.
Shijō Kingo-dono Nyōbō Gohenji, A Reply to the Wife of Lord Shijō Kingo, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Volume 7,
Followers II, Pages 121-122
Conceptual Summary
This 1:1 painting, executed in the style of Heian and Kamakura-period Japanese Buddhist art, visually narrates Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. It depicts the massive cosmic journey of the Brahma Kings leaving their luxurious palaces, shown nestled in the swirling clouds in the upper left, to pursue a newly appeared Buddha. The vast, starry void represents the "one thousand billion worlds," dotted with tiny cosmic realms, miniature tiered pavilions, and spiral galaxies rendered in soft mineral pigments and gold leaf. At the forefront, Brahma King Great Compassion (Bonten) leads a procession of celestial kings on colorful, auspicious clouds, gesturing toward a brilliant, piercing beam of golden light emanating from Shaka Nyorai (the historical Buddha) seated in the upper right. His serene presence signifies the ultimate destination of their spiritual quest. The worn silk texture and traditional patterns emphasize the reverence with which these creators search for the rare and precious Buddha Dharma.
Iconography & Character Identification
Item 1: Deities/Figures Featured:
Brahma King Great Compassion (Daibon Ten’o): The leading deity at the forefront of the celestial cloud procession, adorned with elaborate robes, a crown, and a halo, gesturing forward in reverence.
Fellow Brahma Kings (Bonten): The retinue of celestial monarchs traveling alongside Great Compassion on the auspicious, multi-colored clouds.
Shaka Nyorai (Siddhartha Gautama / Historical Buddha): Seated on a jeweled lotus throne within a multi-layered golden halo in the upper-right corner, emanating the divine light sought by the traveling kings.
Item 2: Text Translations:
双子座 (in black ink, bottom right): "Gemini"
ジェミニ (inside the red square hanko seal): "Gemini"
Let us go even to the end of one thousand billion worlds,
And find the place from where this light has come.
A Buddha may have appeared somewhere in the universe
In order to save the suffering beings.
These verses are sung by the Brahma King Great Compassion in Chapter Seven of the Lotus Sūtra. He invites his fellow Brahma Kings, creators of entire worlds, to leave the luxury of their palaces to find a Buddha who is leading all beings to enlightenment. They value the Buddha’s words more than anything that they have created for themselves, and know how rare it is to encounter an enlightened being. These kings give us an example of how we can learn to treasure the Buddha Dharma.
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The true Buddhist way does not exist outside of the truth in the mundane world. It is stated in the Sūtra of the Golden Splendor, “If one fully understands the worldly law, one knows the Buddhist law.” It is preached in the Nirvana Sūtra, “Non-Buddhist scriptures and commentaries in the secular world all were in reality preached by the Buddha. They are nothing but Buddhist teachings.” The Lotus Sūtra, fascicle 6, also declares, “All the activities and daily works of people in the secular world do not contradict the truth preached by the Buddha.” Collating the two scriptural citations from the Sūtra of the Golden Splendor and the Nirvana Sūtra with that from the Lotus Sūtra, Grand Master Miao-lê explains the mind of the Buddha. According to Grand Master Miao-lê, although the two sūtras (the Sūtra of the Golden Splendor and the Nirvana Sūtra) seem doctrinally profound, their doctrines are superficial when compared to the Lotus Sūtra. Namely, in those two sūtras the worldly law is explained in connection to the Buddhist law. In the Lotus Sūtra, however, the worldly law is interpreted as the totality of the Buddhist law. The pre-Lotus sūtras preach, “Everything is begotten from the mind, which is like the great earth. Grass and trees which grow on the earth is like all things that exist.” The Lotus Sūtra, on the contrary, states, “the mind is the great earth, which is grass and trees.” The pre-Lotus sūtras would say, “Mind is as clear as the moon, and as pure as a flower,” whereas the Lotus Sūtra would say, “The moon is nothing but mind, and flower is nothing but mind.”
Contemplating this, I am sure that the bale of polished rice you donated is not just a bale of rice; it is life.
Jiri Kyuō Gosho, Phenomenal Offering and Noumenal Offering, Writings of Nichiren Shōnin, Faith and Practice,
Volume 4, Page 105
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