Death makes no distinctions; it comes to everyone. There may be no such thing as a death that one can accept gladly with complete peace of mind. That is precisely why “liberation from birth, aging, illness, and death” becomes one of life’s major themes. Furthermore, because everyone must eventually face death, the greatest happiness comes from savoring the joy of being alive right now and living in the present moment in harmony with others.

That said, even in a world that appears shrouded in darkness and has a seemingly unforeseeable future, there is a powerful message that asserts every one of us can do something. This concept, articulated by the renowned Eastern philosopher Masahiro Yasuoka (1898–1983), is called “the practice of illuminating one corner [of the world] with one lamp—the practice of illuminating the world with ten thousand lamps.” “Rather than complaining about the darkness, light a lamp. / We s

In this day and age, how can we foster societies that are easy to live in, where everyone is kind to one another, and where the spirit of living together and the spirit of reciprocity—the great foundation of human life—develop effortlessly in every quarter? The Buddhist teaching of “the mutual inclusion of the ten realms” means that every mind mutually possesses every other mind in the ten realms of living beings, and therefore, we all inherently possess the mind of a buddha