At the end of the series of stories of heavenly kings coming to the Buddha, the last group of them says:

May these blessings
Extend to all,
That we with all the living
Together attain the Buddha way.

This is an important expression for Rissho Kosei-kai and for many other Buddhists as well. It is a kind of summary of the heart of Mahayana Buddhist teaching. The expression “with all the living” is a way of reminding ourselves that we are related to all, and that the highest Buddhist practice is doing something for the good of all.

To speak of doing something for the good of all is a way of talking about serving the Buddha. Nothing is good all by itself. Good is always a blessing for somebody. It is relational. Our own personal good is always limited, limited in part by the very limited scope of our experience, our knowledge, and our compassion. The good of our family is larger, less limited, than our individual good, but still very limited. The good of the community is larger than the good of our family. The good of the nation is larger than the good of our community. The good of all people is larger still. But all of these are still limited goods.

The Buddha, who is in all times and places, is not so limited. That is why “serving the Buddha,” “doing the Buddha’s will,” and similar expressions have the meaning of doing something for the good of all, of working for the common good. But doing something for the good of all should not be seen as opposed to doing something for our own good.

The Buddha never asks us to completely give up our own interests, our own good, to be completely selfless, to serve only the good of others. The Buddha does ask us to go beyond our own good, to understand and to feel deeply that we are related to a whole cosmos of living beings, and to know that it is by doing something for the good of all that we ourselves can realize our own highest good – the buddha in us.