Our Buddhist philosophy is based on Shakyamuni's Lotus Sutra
and its teaching that every human life is endowed
with the state of Buddhahood and is therefore worthy of the highest respect.
The purpose of faith is to enable every person to realize the state of Buddhahood
in order to enjoy a life of happiness and help others do the same.
Starting from ourselves and the people around us,
this happiness will then spread out to society and the world.
This is the main purpose of our faith as Buddhists, as practitioners of Nichiren Buddhism
and as members of the SGI.
Our Buddhist practice contains three fundamental aspects, namely, faith, practice and study.
Faith means to believe in the teachings of Nichiren which are based on Shakyamuni’s Lotus Sutra.
Buddhist sects in general pray to statues of the Buddha. We do not worship such statues.
Our faith is based on the Gohonzon established by Nichiren.
This is in the form of a mandala depicted on a scroll and is a physical representation of the essence of the Lotus Sutra.
Our daily Buddhist practice is conducted before this mandala.
Besides having faith in this mandala and chanting "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo" facing it, we have to take action.
We cannot let our faith remain simply a concept only in our minds, we have to take action.
Taking action comprises two aspects. One aspect is "practicing for oneself."
The other aspect is "practicing for others."
The purpose of this faith, other than improving our own circumstances, is to benefit others.
To tell others about our experience and the teachings of Buddhism is part of practice for others.
Next is study: to study the writings of Nichiren Daishonin and discover how he interpreted the Lotus Sutra.
We also learn from SGI President Daisaku Ikeda's guidance.
He uses modern terminology to explain how we can manifest our Buddhahood in a way appropriate to contemporary society.
This is why we need to study, and why faith, practice and study constitute the basis of our activities.
We do more than just chant. It is also significant that we are involved in promoting peace, culture and education,
three elements that enrich our lives and through which we can contribute to society.
Chanting was all I did in the beginning, but I then started to participate in SGI activities.
I also began to understand the meaning of this faith
and I became involved in activities related to peace, culture and education.
I join in local cultural festivals that we organize as part of our contribution to the community.
When disasters occur, we carry out relief work.
Then there are educational activities.
We have a wide variety of activities for our members who are students.
For instance, teams are sent to visit schools in remote mountainous areas to assist the children there.
I remember when I was a participant about ten years ago, when we first started organizing this event.
We started off as strangers, but by the time we left, the children seemed to see us as friends.
The event gave us tremendous joy.
In the process of helping others, our own life, our character and everything around us changes.
Although when I first joined SGI, I was just concerned about my own interests,
as I continued to take part in SGI activities,
I began to understand the significance of peace, culture and education from the perspective of Buddhism.
The more I participated, the more I changed for the better.
I often say that before I started practicing this Buddhism, I was more self-centered and narrow-minded.
After I took up faith, I feel that I became more generous in nature and I was more willing to help others.
We call this transformation of our character "human revolution."