When I visited a history museum in Boston, I learned about history that people were sustained by pioneering spirit and Puritan faith and sought for life of material base establishment and richness. There was an idea that there was happiness in sufficiency of both material and spirit. It became an aim life obtaining fortune itself through economic activities and it came to be considered that pursuit and achievement were happiness. And as a result of these American values becoming common knowledge around the world, it came to bring limits of the earth by depletion of resources and global warming. This history teaches us that the result of human’s endless pursuit of desire is the loss of the foundations of happiness and peace itself. Human beings must realize the thing. However, even in the face of such a crisis, countries around the world are in a frenzy to economic development. Behind the scenes, Buddhism that preaches control of desire, Christianity that preaches faith to God, Judaism and Muslim became helpless and lost leadership to human spirit.
I have learned Buddhism for 60 years since I became a monk. I majored in cultural anthropology and history of social thought at university. Because I had a dream that I wanted to build a peaceful world by Buddhism. There are teachings of mind such as “A little covetousness”, “Gratitude”, “Meditative concentration”, “Wisdom” and “Nature” in Buddhism. They believed that if humanity made this a pillar of mind, happiness and peace would surely be achieved. However, we realized that the real human world was far from ideal. Now that I have reached 70 years of age, I have some hope that an opportunity to try to aim sustainable society is beginning to build in the world. I think that the whole world is quickening period which gropes for new values; I think that we make Buddhism that preaches control of desire, interdependence and mutual sacrifice reaffirm as this human world’s cycle and harmony of religion of philosophy and we must exercise real worth as practical religion
The value of the existence of religions in the world does not lie in the maintenance and development of its school. Nor is it only to pray for peace of nation or people to which we belong. It is no longer time for the earth to overcome all differences and aim for spiritual restoration. To do this, we need to appeal to each believer for a shift in values against lifestyle. “The right to get happiness” is human rights common to all humankind. And it should be equally guaranteed to children who will live in the future. To do this, there is no other way to begin but to learn about human kind, to know how to live in accordance with the truth and to practice it. I think that the time has finally arrived.
When I say Buddhism, you may take it like sectarianism, but I do not have such a narrow perception. I do not like spectacular religious activities and so on, either. I hope that everyone plows a field on a fine day, reads Buddhist writings on a rainy day, becomes aware of universal Buddhism which is dug up from the depths of human and I want you to practice it. From now, I would like to give you messages about such Buddhism.
