Sometimes you have a meeting that ultimately fails to reach any conclusion, despite heated discussions that go on all day long. This happens when you fuss over nothing but minor details which are unrelated to the basic points.
If you hold discussions with people having determined how much you can contribute to further a project along and have also decided how much you are willing to sacrifice to do so, you will reach a decision right away. But instead, you harangue people with all the reasons that you can’t do something. When you look at why your meeting ended that way, you’ll find that it was because you had been intent on making sure you didn’t wind up at a disadvantage.
A tree can become overgrown, and when it does its branches and leaves thicken so much that they obstruct the breeze and block out the sunlight, causing the tree to wither. For an organization too, if it is careless it will attach great importance to its branches and leaves that have grown too lush, and with everyone worrying only about their own divisions, the organization tends to lose sight of the basics.
The aim of Rissho Kosei-kai lies in helping people embark on the Buddha Way, so that we travel the Way together with others to reach true happiness.
To keep our eyes fixed on this basic point, we have to wisely decide what branches to trim and which to preserve.
Nikkyo Niwano
Kaisozuikan 9 (Kosei Publishing Co. 1997), pp 50-51
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