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Like a Mother’s Love
Nichiko Niwano, President of Rissho Kosei-kai
 Kindness Is Being Forgotten
As I may have already mentioned many times,
the world today thinks highly of having things
streamlined and efficient. Of course, achieving this
requires a great deal of planning and effort so as to
benefit the largest number of people. It is a fact,
however, that in putting economic interests first,
the act of showing others consideration and
empathy—kindheartedness—is at times being
ignored and abandoned. Also, with so many people
prepared from infancy to compete in various qualification
tests to the point that their ultimate goal of
landing a good job excludes all other interests,
there is no denying that for kindhearted people who
are not able to adapt to such a situation, modern
society can be an increasingly difficult place in
which to live.
In other words, the relentless pursuit of the profit
goal can result in casting aside the important mindset
of respect for other human beings, and this leads
to an increase in people who are harmed spiritually or even are afflicted by illness.
I think that the key phrase in putting the brakes
on this trend, and the way of thinking that will
resolve it, is “like a mother’s love.”
In considering what a mother’s love is and how it
functions, we can see the way to healing other
human beings.
Kindness Has No Gender
Last June, the soccer World Cup tournament was
held in the Republic of South Africa. I think most
of you may know about the participation of the
Japanese national team, and how one member of
that team missed a kick in the penalty shootout and
lost the game for Japan. After the match there was
someone’s suffering and putting the person at
ease—even in such small acts we can recognize the
working of something like a mother’s love.
It is written in the Shrimala Sutra that “[One] will
become the unsummoned friend of all living
beings, give comfort to the multitude with great
compassion, and empathize with the world like a
Dharma-mother.” This basically means that one
should become a person who, when other people
are suffering, accepts their suffering as one’s own,
and without asking goes to them as a deeply compassionate
friend and extends a hand and comforts
them with the selfless love that a mother bestows
on her child.
To realize a world in which that type of kindness
and compassion is valued and consideration is
shown to everyone, we members of Rissho Koseikai,
who strive to lead our lives according to the
teachings of the Buddha, cannot simply and
thoughtlessly turn each page of our daily lives, but
must practice showing consideration to the people
around us. In order to recognize what is important,
however, occasionally there may be the need for a
kind of paternal strictness, too.
In the Parable of the Burning House in chapter 3,“A Parable,” of the Lotus Sutra, an elderly father
does not carry his children out of the house when it
is engulfed in flames, but instead devises a plan to
have them leave the house of their own accord. He
does not directly use his own hands to save them,
but instead gives them advice and warning that
causes them to become aware of the danger and
reach safety on their own. Naturally, such fatherly
thoughtfulness is also an example of parental love.
Let us determine to show kindness and consideration
wherever and whenever people are suffering
physically or spiritually, whatever the conditions.
October 2010
From “Kosei” Translated by Kosei Publishing
Read past Guidance messages from President Niwano.
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