Our Primary Responsibility as Human Beings

Shakyamuni Buddha passed way 3,000 years ago but his soul still lives on. He became one with the cosmos. From our view, the universe is vast. It is, however, but one, large lifeform when perceived through the eye of a Buddha. The life of this vast universe is the life of (Hon Butsu) the Original Buddha itself. The world where we live is the pure land of the Buddha, and this Buddha land, as such, is called (Jojyakkodo) The Eternal Pure Land. We, being ordinary people without this perception, choose to instead vandalize this world through our selfishness and become out-of-control. The world becomes a difficult place to live in with the killing of each other through war and the destruction of the environment as a result of satisfying selfish, human interest. As human beings, we should share the responsibility for the sufferings of each other and the difficult world in which we live. We must come to understand that as our primary responsibility as human beings.

Journey of the Path to Righteousness, p 27