In re-reading Nikkyō Niwano’s Buddhism for Today as part of a 34-week Rissho Kosei-Kai in North America (RKINA) advance course on the Threefold Lotus Sutra, I was struck by his description of Śāriputra’s realization at the start of Chapter 3, A Parable:
Śāriputra felt ecstatic with joy when he realized that there was an open gate for him to enter into the real enlightenment of the Buddha the instant he regarded the buddhas’ tactful ways themselves as valuable.
Buddhism for Today, p53
This is understanding by faith. We realize that a gate has been left open for us and we need only enter. Practice is then essential if we are to advance. Nikkyō Niwano stresses that this is not magic or superstition:
When a religion decays, it is likely to be rejected by thinking people because it teaches that one can be reborn in paradise by merely uttering a magic formula. If that were all, it would not be so bad; but sometimes it preaches that no matter what evil one does, one can be saved and go to paradise if only one buys a certain talisman. The real salvation of the Buddha is not such an easy matter. We cannot be saved until we not only learn the Buddha’s teachings but also practice them and elevate ourselves to the stage of making others happy by means of them. The Buddha’s teachings can be clearly understood by anyone and are consonant with reason and common sense; they are not a matter of magic or superstition.
Buddhism for Today, p54-55
Nikkyō Niwano goes on to make a strong argument for why being reborn in a heavenly realm is not a panacea. But the effect of that argument for me is to underscore the role of the protective heavenly deities and their “magical” intervention. Nikkyō Niwano writes:
The “heavenly beings” are beings who live in paradise. They seem to have no trouble or anxiety and so apparently have no need to listen to the teachings of the Buddha, but in fact that is not the case. As already mentioned, because the ideal way of human life is always to advance, not even heavenly beings can feel true joy unless they listen to the still higher teaching of the Buddha. They cannot truly feel joy unless they constantly practice good for the sake of the people who live in the Sahā-world. This is a distinctive and profound feature of Buddhism. To suppose that one can be free from care forever and lead an idle life once one has gone to paradise is a naïve and shallow belief.
Buddhism for Today, p55
I feel “thinking people” can leave open the possibility that one benefit of our Buddhist practice can be the unseen “magical” help from the deities who vowed to protect the keeper of the Lotus Sutra. (See Are the Gods Gone?)
British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke famously said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Perhaps the same can be said of any sufficiently advanced Buddhist practice.
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